Author Q&A
During the course of this website's creation, emails were sent out to authors asking them questions.
This is a list of all of their answers.
Eric Berlin, Richard Paul Evans, Stuart Gibbs, Chris Grabenstein, George Hagen,
Eric Berlin
Author of The Puzzling World of Winston Breen
Q: Did you hide any secrets in your books?
A: "A teeny one, in The Potato Chip Puzzles. It has nothing to do with the story, but there's an extra little message in the BAR word search, for those who know to look for it."
Q: What other careers did you think about before becoming an author?
A: "This assumes that writing is my career! It isn't. A lot of writers have "real jobs," and I'm no exception. I work for a company that produces a great many of those puzzle magazines you see on the supermarket newsstand. I enjoy writing and making puzzles, and those paths do bring in some income now and again, but they are strictly a sideline."
Q: Do you have advice for beginning writers?
A: "Yes! It's rather basic advice -- advice you might hear from anybody -- but the reason so many writers offer the same advice is because it's the truth: If you want to be a writer, you should read a lot of different things -- all kinds of books, magazines, newspapers, blogs, cereal boxes, comic books, dictionaries, recipes, ANYTHING. And you should write a little every day. What should you write? Whatever you want. It can be short, it can be long. It can be a story, it can be an observation, it can be a bit of dialogue. If you read a lot and you write a little something every day, you will become a good, effective writer."
Stuart Gibbs
Author of the Spy School series
Q: How do you choose the names for your characters?
A: "I collect names that I like and save them for when the time comes to name new characters. (Although sometimes, I name characters after friends)"
Q: Which of the books you have written was your favorite?
A: "I don't really have a favorite book of my own. I work far too hard on all of them to say that one is better than the others."
Q: What's your favorite thing about writing?
A: "I've always enjoyed writing, ever since I was your age [8th grade], so the fact that I get to do it for a living makes me feel very lucky."
Chris Grabenstein
Author of the Mr. Lemoncello's Library series
Q: Did you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?
A: "In each Lemoncello series book, there is a hidden puzzle for readers to find and solve. Readers can find hints and clues in the Author's Note at the back of the books."
Q: How do you choose the names for your characters?
A: "Some, like Kyle Keeley and Charles Chiltington, I just made up. Mostly because of the way they sounded. Several of the players in the library, however, were named after the winners of my 2011 “Scary Fun Summer Reading Challenge.” Anyone who read my Haunted Mysteries and one other book, answered a few questions to prove they had actually read the books and emailed me was entered into a drawing.
Sierra Russell was the grand prize winner so she because a “featured player” in the great library escape game. Other winners included Kayla Corson, Sean Keegan, Yasmeen Smith-Snyder, Rose Vermette, and Bridgette Wadge.
All the librarian names, including Yanina Zinchenko, came from inspirational librarians I have met in my travels as an author.
And J.J., the voice in the ceiling, is named after my wife who is a professional voice over actress and would definitely be the voice Mr. Lemoncello wanted in his ceiling tiles.
Q: Have you ever thought about using a pseudonym while writing? If so, why did/didn't you?
A: "I never thought about using a pseudonym...but I did wonder if I should be Chris or Christopher Grabenstein. I decided Christopher sounded like a snooty guy who wrote romance novels. I also haven't needed to use a pseudonym, which some authors utilize to give them the freedom to write stories from different genres than what they are known for.
George Hagen
Author of the Gabriel Finley series
Q: Did you hide any secrets in your books that only a few people will find?
A: "I left a few unexplained details in my first Gabriel Finley book because I expected to write a sequel, and wanted to leave readers with a few questions. The most obvious question was why Pamela Baskin’s mother seems to treat Gabriel with such unkindness, and regards Corax so favorably."
Q: What other careers did you think about before becoming a writer?
A: "When I was a boy, I thought seriously about being an archeologist. I loved visiting ancient sites (and still do). I was ten when I read a book about the discovery of the boy Pharoah Tutankhamen’s tomb, and thought that was about the most exciting adventure anyone could have."
Q: What is the thing you struggle with most while writing?
A: "I struggle most with the beginning. Those first sixty pages are the most difficult. I find getting all my characters and events in the right order is very tricky. It’s like introducing strangers who’ve never met; I’m introducing my reader to my characters and I want them to get along and feel sympathy for each other. I spend a lot more time writing (and rewriting) the beginning of my tale."
Richard Paul Evans
Author of the Michael Vey series
Q: How long does it take you to write your books?
A: About 6 months.
Q: Which of the books you have written is your favorite?
A: The whole Michael Vey series.
