Tell us about your books
Hush Hush is the story of a lonely girl who gains a terrible power and nearly loses herself. Espy, newly moved to a small island in the Mississippi River, has no friends except her invisible friend. She meets Tonka, a mysterious creature in a cicada husk, who tells her that he can help her get friends. He teaches her how to use a mysterious power called the Lines, but as Espy grows in popularity, she begins to suspect the power has dangerous consequences.
Strays is the story of a boy named Rodney, spending the summer with his strange uncle, in a strange house, who befriends a little lost demon whom he names Pinwheel. Together they discover a demonic plot to destroy the world. Unsure he can trust his uncle, Rodney and Pinwheel must find the Alvarium Maleficarum, the hidden gateway which allows the demons to enter the material world, and destroy it.
Which books did you enjoy growing up?
My father read us many books while we lay in bed: George MacDonald, Narnia, Tolkien, which have so shaped my imagination that it’s hard to point to particular influence. As I began to read, I added science fiction to my diet, Star Wars, Ray Bradbury, but continued to anchor myself in fantasy with Lloyd Alexander.
What is your favorite food or foods?
Sandwiches. So versatile, yet so handy.
Tell us about your pets
I have a beautiful cat named Ursula, named after the writer Ursula Le Guin. She is an elegant creature, luxuriously furred, playful and sneaky. I never understood how a poet like T. S. Eliot could write a book of poems about cats until I began living with cats of my own. Sadly, my first cats are no more (Bradbury who lived dangerously as a kitten and Wolfe who has translated herself into pinlight).
What inspired you to write?
I would put my children to bed telling them silly stories told on the fly. One of them was a parable of the little lost demon that eventually turned into Strays. I continued to tell them bedtime stories until they were ready for books. Amidst the classics that I loved (and the classics that I missed growing up), I intermixed my own books.
Where is your favorite place to read?
I have a chair that my wife salvaged. It is wood, thronelike, and covered over with a fur blanket. It sits in my den where the light always shines. I have spent many hours there.
What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
I like to talk about my reading. I teach literature, so I have ample opportunity to talk about the greatest works. Occasionally, I have bounced ideas off students, honing a story here or there.
What did you learn when you were writing your first book?
Push through. I got two thirds through my first manuscript when I realized that I had overlooked an enormous loophole. The whole story had to be reworked. I was distraught, but after shelving the book for a few months, re-tinkering in my head, I set out to fix it over Christmas, and then finished it that summer. That drive to push through gave me the energy to do it once more with my second book (when I once again discovered a flaw in the narrative). Stories don’t have to be told perfectly the first time, that’s what revision is for.
As a child, what did you want to do when you grew up?
I said I wanted to write and I liked how adults responded when I told them that. After a while, I realized that I better start writing if I wanted to make that true. I had many friends and teachers along the way that encouraged me, I never left reading behind, and finally, after numerous short stories and poems, I dove in on a book.
What is a writing tip for aspiring authors?
Read. Read lots. Everyone says that. But if you really want to learn the craft, take your favorite book and after reading each chapter, write a brief summary of the events, and then a list of questions that it raises, things that you are interested in, and observations. As you work deeper into the book mention where questions are answered, how people are changed, and identify repeated words, actions, and ideas. This will give you insight into how stories are told.
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