6/11/2006

A MONKEE'S EVOLUTION
With a new children's picture book, ex-band member Micky Dolenz has a new gig.

By Kelly Milner Halls
Special to the Denver Post

For what seemed like decades - in fact only two seasons (58 episodes) - Micky Dolenz played a drummer on the hit '60s television series, "The Monkees."

As an 8-year-old, I faithfully watched. After nap time with the Three Stooges, the Monkees' zany antics seemed familiar and made me smile. With that history disclosed, I give you "Gakky Two-Feet," a children's picture book by former Monkee, Micky Dolenz.

Gak is a guy unlike the quadrupeds in his hominid tribe. For him, walking on two feet feels more natural than galloping around on all four. It makes him oddly different, a fact his normal bug- and berry-eating counterparts never let him forget. But like most picture-book protagonists, his oddity eventually helps him save the day.

Even if the plot premise isn't altogether original, the prehistoric setting most certainly is, as is the possible series Dolenz would like to see unfold. We caught up with Dolenz in a telephone interview to find out what inspired this delightful romp and the books that may soon follow.

Question: What inspired you to write a children's picture book?

Answer: A few years ago, during the celebrity book trend, another publishing house called and asked if I would be interested in adapting the lyrics to a Monkees song into a children's book. That presented several problems. First, I didn't write the songs so I didn't own the rights. Second, it didn't excite me much because I couldn't think of any that would lend themselves well to a children's book. The way I have to work in any field is my muse has to show up. She's a beautiful woman wearing a satin dressing gown and holding a 9mm semi-automatic weapon. She's tough. She wasn't there for that one.

Q: Enter Gakky Two-Feet. What changed?

A: I have a subscription to Scientific American magazine, read it faithfully. I read an article about the evolution of hominids and bipedalism, and a story popped into my head about the first hominid to walk on two feet. I've always had an interest in anthropology. I've always tried to imagine what it must have been like to be there for those pivotal moments in evolution; moments of epiphany, like when the first person manipulated fire or discovered how sharp flint could be.

I knocked the first draft out in a couple of hours. A year later, I was introduced to editor Nancy Paulson at Elaine's in New York. I mentioned in passing that I'd written a story, and she said, "There are an awful lot of those books out there, but send it in." I did, then, lo and behold, I got an e-mail back saying she loved it and I should come in so we could talk about it.

Q: How did you feel about the editorial process - revisions, for example?

A: How I take revisions or any criticism depends on who's offering it. It's the same reason I don't really read reviews, good or bad. It goes back to getting a really great review from a writer who had seen and written about one of my shows. I was so pleased I called her up to thank her and to ask if she wanted to know the next time I would be in town to perform in a show. She was very nice but explained she wouldn't be covering other shows - that she was the food editor and was just sitting in for the entertainment writer for that show.

So if I take criticism seriously or make revisions, the suggestions have to come from someone qualified to make them in the first place. From Nancy, absolutely, I paid attention.

Q: What changes did she suggest?

A: Most of them had to do with the mechanics of a picture book. For example, I had suggestions on illustrators, artists I liked. Nancy explained that it's customary for the editor to find a good match for the writer, and I loved what David Clark did - the illustrator she picked for the work. I gave him some reference materials because while I agreed it was important that the characters be kid-friendly, I also wanted them to be based on anthropological research. David and I e-mailed back and forth, and he came up with preliminary drawings.

Q: So all the revisions were based on illustrations, none on the text?

A: Some changes in the text were also made because I discovered to my pleasure and surprise, that some things are said in the illustration so the writer doesn't have to repeat them. It's a picture book, not a book with pictures in it. The whole becomes greater, more important than the sum of its individual parts. And while I made suggestions, you don't keep a dog, then bark yourself. I trusted David and Nancy. And I was beyond happy with the results. It was better than what I had ever imagined myself.

Q: What legacy do you hope Gak offers a new generation?

A: In this case, I guess the moral is, don't be afraid to be different because different may turn out to be to your advantage. That's what "natural selection" means, isn't it? When we say that nature selects, it doesn't come out of some office of selection - there is no human stamp of approval. It's more practical. It's born of necessity. "Different" has taken on such a negative connotation. I'd like to change that. Differences are not bad.

Q: You've coined the term, "anthro-mythology," to describe "Gakky Two-Feet." Are there other anthro-mythological tales in the works?

A: Yes, I hope so. I'm working on one about the first musical instrument, the first flute you could play and actually alter the pitch. It was discovered in a cave in France and dates back something like 65,000 years ago, to the Neanderthals. And I can see it as a great series - fun little stories that explore prehistoric firsts - first fire, first wheels, first flute. They aren't meant to be textbooks. They are playful. They are fables. Obviously, Gakky-Two Feet and the other characters I'll create didn't exist. But the evolutionary events that inspired them were real. That's what intrigued and interested me. Without that spark, I wouldn't have done it.

Q: Would you have liked "Gakky Two-Feet" if you had read it as a child?

A: Yes, I think I would have. I loved Dr. Seuss. I loved science fiction. I read Grimm, Golden Books. I read Bradbury and "War of the Worlds" at a very early age. I wrote in reaction to that reading, a story about these guys making a trip to the moon to discover great, giant lizards.

Reading at school, especially about math and science has always been tough. They can be dry subjects - just the facts. It takes an exceptional teacher with a flare for drama and color to bring them to life, and I distinctly remember having a teacher like that when I was young, about 11. He was like Mr. Wizard. He'd make it interesting for me. I hope my children's books follow that same track.

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Gakky Two-Feet

By Micky Dolenz, illustrated by David Clark

Dutton's Children's Books, 32 pages, $16.99

	Authors Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson. September 2004 from Hyperion.

Author Interview

Famous Lost Boys Visit Never Land Anew
By Kelly Milner Halls
Special to the Denver Post

Peter and the Starcatchers

by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson

Hyperion, $17.99

449 pages

When J.M. Barrie (1860-1937) wrote Peter Pan just before the turn-of-the-century, he probably didn't take kids like five-year-old Paige Pearson into consideration.  Because after her father, acclaimed suspense novelist Ridley Pearson (The Body of David Hayes, Hyperion) read her the classic sea yarn, many of Paige's questions -- like how did Peter meet Captain Hook -- remained unanswered.

Piqued by his daughter's curiosity, Pearson set sail on a new adventure, a Peter Pan prequel, with a modern day “Barry” by his side. In September of 2004, Pearson and his friend, humorist Dave Barry (Boogers Are My Beat, Crown) launched the not-so-good ship Never Land and a new kind of magic with Peter and the Starcatchers (Hyperion, $17.99).

Pearson and Barry mastered the quick pacing of a rare young reader phenomenon -- a boy-friendly page-turner  -- in chronicling Peter’s trek toward Barrie’s more familiar story. But there is also a sparky new heroine on board – and she’s tougher than Wendy and Tinker Bell combined.   

“I’ll be honest,” Barry said in a telephone interview.  “Molly is my favorite character. I felt more in touch with her than Peter.”

"I think that's because we both have daughters," Pearson agreed. "We both didn't like how weak Wendy was in the original story -- how subservient she was to Peter."

"We wanted to write a great adventure story with a young woman character like our own daughters," Barry continued, "who are pretty much kick butt little girls."

So Molly Aster became more than the obedient teenage daughter of the British Ambassador to Rundoon, the Never Land’s dangerous island destination.  She became a Starcatcher-in-training, a girl charged with protecting the ship’s mysterious cargo from falling into – and onto – the wrong hands.  She also became the object of the clever orphan Peter’s subtle but emerging adolescent desire.

“Whenever we wrote a Molly and Peter scene,” Pearson said, “we were very aware that this was happening between a boy and a girl.” 

“Yeah,” Barry agrees.  “We were in touch with that 13-year-old ‘Maybe we SHOULD take a shower,’ realization.”

Together, Molly and Peter unite to keep powerful magic from the ranks of the evil. But even as we witness the priceless sea chest being carried on board, we know the task will not be easy. Pearson and Barry foreshadow the ominous wonder as a motley crewmember lifts the sea chest from the dock, and experiences a rush of euphoric scents and sensations, including these:

“Alf could see light now, swirling around his head, colors and sparkles, moving to music, dancing to the sound of bells, yes it was bells, tiny ones, by the sound of them, and it was a sweet and joyful sound, though Alf could hear something else in it, something that seemed to be trying to tell Alf something.  He strained to hear it, he wanted to hear it …”

“That was Mr. Pearson,” Barry insists, “It was Ridley’s idea from the start to have a mysterious treasure on board. The whole plot evolved from that single idea.”

“But the fact that it was Stardust,” Pearson counters, “That was all Dave. And that was the point.  We knew we wanted this to be a magical book. So the treasure had to be something incredibly important. Dave came up with that idea.”

Email collaboration, Pearson and Barry insist, was the true magic driving Peter and the Starcatchers – regardless of who contributed individual plot twists or mystical pauses. And the end results, say both writers, more than justified the parallel means.  

“I just love this book,” Pearson says. “I’m so proud of this one. I even love the illustrations, the packaging. It just came out so well.  And part of it is writing it with someone like Dave.”

“That’s it,” Barry continues. “Usually, by the time one of my books comes out, I see nothing but the flaws.  But with this one, with Ridley, I’ve had the opposite feeling. And the kids at the signings are so great. My assistant is a kid’s fiction nut, and she’s been telling me this for years.  But it seems as though the children’s literature audience is more interested in the value of the story. They just seem like they’re more into it than the mainstream adult crowds.”

Devout new Starcatcher fans are already clamoring for more Peter.  And according to Pearson, they won’t be disappointed. “There will be a sequel,” he says. “One more older Peter book, and several shorter books written for the middle grade readers.”

“Not only that,” Barry chimes in, “but we think it’s going to be a terrific story. We’ve already got it outlined – and that’s Ridley’s influence again. He’s the strict one. I never outlined before.”

Is there also a Starcatcher movie in the making? “We hope so,” Pearson says, though he admits the release of Universal’s 2003 version of Peter Pan makes live action an unlikely consideration. And both insist if the books are sold for big screen adaptation, they probably won’t be demanding creative control.” 

“It’s like when you sell a house,” Barry says.  “You don’t come back later and say, ‘Hey, I don’t like what you did with the kitchen.’”

Did Peter and the Starcatchers answer all of Paige Pearson’s original questions?  “Yeah, I think so, most of them,” Pearson says. “But there will always be others.”

And that’s okay, according to Barry, who fondly explains why they’re up for the Paige Pearson challenge.  “For one thing, Ridley and I are both pretty immature at heart,” he says.  “And we both really like good stories.  In fact, I would have loved reading this book when I was a kid.”

“And if you write what you really would like to be reading,” Pearson concludes, “it’s hard to go wrong.” 

Judging from Peter and the Starcatchers enduring double-digit Amazon.com sales rating, thousands of book buyers have signed on for the Never Land’s maiden voyage. Stardust or not, thousands of readers obviously agree.

Chris Crutcher:  
The Essential Guide to Children's Books and Their Creators

Editor, Anita Silvey (New Revised Edition, 2002

Unedited passage by Kelly Milner Halls

NORTH AMERICAN AUTHOR OF FICTION. B. 1946. Chris Crutcher’s mother Jewel gave birth to her second son in Dayton, Ohio, near Wright-Patterson Air force Base -- where her husband John was stationed as a pilot – on July 17, 1946. Six weeks later, the family moved to the remote and sparsely populated logging community of Cascade, Idaho that became the heart of and inspiration for so many of his stories.

Casual observers assume Crutcher grew up an avid athlete, based on the recurring sports themes within his fiction. But he insists he was forcefully recruited. In a town so small, he says, every boy played – like it or not -- just to guarantee ample numbers to form a team.  His older brother, John lived for the challenge of athletics. But little brother Chris played mostly by default.

Humor was Crutcher’s calling as a boy. He made his mother, his sister, his teachers and his classmates laugh with such regularity, he once considered stand-up comedy as a possible trade. He joined that comedic edge with journalism in 1961 with “Chris’s Crumbs,” a column for his high school newspaper. But his work as a novelist wouldn’t begin for two decades.

Crutcher graduated high school with anemic grades and headed for Eastern Washington State College (now Eastern Washington University) in 1964. He swam competitively with teammates who would inspire his second novel, “Stotan!” (1986) and studied psychology and sociology between meets. After earning his B.A., Crutcher worked with concrete in Texas for a year before returning to EWU for a teaching certification in 1969. He went on to teach at several schools, including in Monroe, Washington with fellow EWU graduate Terry Davis – the start of what would be a pivotal friendship for both novelists.

Crutcher was promoted from teacher to director at Oakland, California’s Lakeside School – a “last chance” academy for troubled kids. Seven years later, after watching Davis write and publish “Vision Quest” (1980), Crutcher’s own stories started to emerge. He resigned his position at Lakeside, packed his VW and headed back to Spokane. A year later, “Running Lose” was complete but not yet published (or making money). So Crutcher sought employment.

He was hoping to do something simple, like selling athletic shoes, but he landed a job with Spokane’s Child Protection Team instead. Though he was an intuitive child advocate, Crutcher insists he never imagined his life would take that turn. He went on to become a child and family therapist with the Spokane Community Mental Health Center, and later with a private therapy group, also in Spokane. Working with severely troubled teens and families had a powerful impact on the balance of Crutcher’s work.

“The Crazy Horse Electric Game” (1987), “Chinese Handcuffs” (1989), “ short story anthology “Athletic Shorts” (1991), “The Deep End” (1992), Crutcher’s only mainstream novel to date, “Staying Fat for Sarah Byrnes” (1993), “Ironman” (1994) and “Whale Talk” (2001) each explore the crushing impact of human struggle and the triumph of survival in its wake. They celebrate loyalty and friendship and diversity. But mostly, they herald the healing power of inclusion – connection, as he calls it.

“There is very little about life that isn’t about connection,” Crutcher says. Being inside rather than outside can change any individual’s life. His message has been so broadly received, Crutcher has been awarded some of the industries top honors, including back to back California Young Reader Medals, the ALAN Awards from the Assembly on Literature for Adolescents of the National Council of Teachers of English (1994, 1995), the NCTE’s National Intellectual Freedom Award (1998), and the ALA’s Margaret L. Edwards Lifetime Achievement Award (2000) for a his commitment to serving young adults.

by Kelly Milner Halls, Special to The Spokesman Review

Author/artist James Gurney first rocked the realm of dinosaur fiction in 1992 with the release of Dinotopia: A Land Apart From Time.

The New York Times called Gurney’s mystical tale of intelligent dinosaurs and their peaceful kinship with man (and the breathtaking oil paintings that went with it) “the kind of children’s book an adult has to read.”

Literally thousands of book enthusiasts across the chronological boards agreed, landing Gurney a spot on the New York Times best-seller’s list. His 1995 sequel, Dinotopia: The World Beneath followed in those same thunderous footprints. And Dinotopia: First Flight, a prequel released this month, is expected to do just as well.

Given the imaginative scope of this Dinotopian empire, it’s not surprising to learn Gurney was a quiet dreamer as a boy growing up in California. The youngest of five children, he often found himself alone and lonely. Left to pilot most of his imaginary adventures solo, he drew from stacks of old magazines. And even as a child, he expressed those lofty visions through art.

I’d sneak out of my room after everyone thought I was asleep, he says, and escape into the world of National Geographic magazines. Then I’d take those ideas to my room, and teach myself to draw.

Gurney harbors few regrets about his sometimes-solitary upbringing. In fact, he credits the time alone with making Dinotopia, and his entire career, possible. Even as a child, he made different plans for his own family — plans to which he has faithfully adhered.

“When I was a kid, the television was always on,” he remembers. “Attention we might have given each other was spent on TV. Then, when I was about 10 years old, we had a two-day blackout. Instead of watching TV, we got out all the old board games, musical instruments, and read books together by the light of a kerosene lantern. I loved that feeling so much, I wanted to create it for my own family.”

There are no electronic entertainment gadgets in the Gurney family’s New York home.

We have no television and no VCR. We spend our time together in more old-fashioned ways,” Gurney says.

Jeanette, his wife of more than 15 years, wholeheartedly embraces the choice.

Gurney leaves his home workshop at about 5:30 very afternoon. I come downstairs and help set the table for dinner, he says. From then until 9 is our family time. Each of our two sons takes turns making plans for how we will spend the evening. We might have a puppet show or read from an adventure book, play a board game or learn origami or accordion playing.

Do Gurney’s sons Dan, 12 and Franklin, 10, object to the nontraditional entertainment?

“Not at all,” Gurney says, “We have so much fun at our house that it is often the place neighborhood kids love to come and visit.”

Even Dinotopia projects have become family fare. First Flight is not only an adventure story, it’s a board game.

As board game fanatics, the Gurneys put the game together with key factors in mind. “We decided it should be easy to learn, Gurney says. We wanted to mix strategy in with a little chance. And we thought no one should succeed at the expense of someone else.”

Obviously, there are rules that also apply to Gurney’s way of life.

Gurney says, “Dinotopia really stands for the best of what’s inside each of us. I would be happiest if I know my books brought out that little bit of special magic each one of us has to share.”

	Author Richard Peck

Richard Peck:
Elegance for Readers Young and Old

Children's Writer's & Illustrator's Market 2003

by Kelly Milner Halls

Considering he's been published for three decades, it's hard to believe children's novelist Richard Peck started writing late in life. But a twenty-year teaching career advanced a literary calling that, like the winged-heeled Hermes, almost immediately took flight, once it began.

Thirty-plus novels later, Peck's standing seemed to have peaked when he was given the American Library Association’s Newbery Award in January of 2002 for "A Year Down Yonder" (Dial, 2000), until George W. Bush upped the ante. Flanked by First Lady and former librarian Laura Bush, the President of the United States named Richard Peck a National Humanities Medal Recipient, and slipped the gleaming hardware around his neck, April 22. 
   
Devoutly opposed to both vulgar language and censorship, Peck is exactly what his champions suggest he is – a true original, held in high esteem almost by both his peers and his readers. On a personal level, as well as in fiction, he has countless stories yet to tell, as this question and answer interview reveals.

CWIM: When was your first book published, and how many have you written since then?

Richard Peck: Let’s see…I’m not sure how many. I know the first one was published in 1972, and I’ve written a book a year ever since. If I’m not writing a book, I’m thinking about writing a book, though the Newbery did cost me one.

CWIM: How do you feel about winning the National Humanities Medal in April of 2002?

Richard Peck: Oh, it was like the Newbery – another bold from out of the blue. I’m honored, or course. This is the first time a children’s book has medalled. But I don’t know what to think about it. Mrs. Bush has done so much for literacy and young people. Last fall, the weekend before September 11, she hosted the first National Book Conference – a high moment in my life. There were 60-some writers featured. We read from our works in tents on the grounds of the Library of Congress and the U.S. Capital. Hundreds of people were expected to attend. I think thousands actually came. Mrs. Bush didn’t just lend her name to it, she made it happen.  Three days later, that world came to an end. And we discovered that now, more than ever, we need to read to our children. Let yours be the last voice your child hears before they go to sleep.

CWIM:  You’ve written at least 34 books. Which one do you consider your best work, and why? 

Richard Peck: All of these awards have come to me for later books. So I am apparently not the best judge of my writing. But I believe “Remembering the Good Times” is the best work I can do. It centers on a subject I think needs to be considered by the young. It dramatizes the classic signs of suicide. I was glad teachers used that book in schools because I don’t write them for me. I write them for young people. I certainly didn’t see a Newbery for “A Year Down Yonder,” a sequel to “A Long Way from Chicago.” When the phone call came, it was, as I said, a real bolt from the blue. I’d received the silver medal for “A Long Way from Chicago,” two years before. Astonishing. 

CWIM: You are well loved by your peers and colleagues. Does that mean a lot to you, their admiration and friendship?

Richard Peck: It means everything to me. When I gave my acceptance speech in June for the Newbery, it was my opportunity to thank my colleagues. In children’s literature, we don’t feel competitive with each other. We’re not at each other’s throats. We see each other as floating faculty. It’s a wonderful group of people.

CWIM: You mentor new writers. Why are you so generous in that respect?

Richard Peck: I always like to do that. When editors send me a first book by a new novelist, I think, “How exciting. What does this new voice have to say?” When I read Chris Crutcher’s first novel, “Running Loose,” I found that as I came to the last few pages, I was standing. That was a very good sign.

As I get older, am longer in the field, I could begin to fear they’ll know things I don’t know and sweep me out. But if I embrace them, and learn from them, I am still one of them. That’s the wonderful thing about writing. It’s not like football and ballet. It doesn’t matter how old you are. Seeing these new writers, young people starting out, keeps you anxious – reminds you not to rest on your laurels.

CWIM: Did anyone step up to mentor you when you started writing?

Richard Peck: No. Nobody. Except for a pile of 30 young adult novels, I did it all on my own. Those were my only companions. And frankly, I never expected the book to be published. But some of my early books did well. “Are You in the House Alone,” won an Edgar Allen Poe Award. It was my first real recognition among my peers, and it seemed to me, invalid. I didn’t see the book as a mystery.

CWIM: It sounds like you have more stories to tell.

Richard Peck: I do. I’ve decided I’m going to do more historical fiction. One of my most helpful resources as a writer is the school visit. I have the opportunity to talk with young people about what they’re reading and doing. And I find they don’t read any history. That may seem like a reason NOT to write history. But it’s also a reason TO undertake it. I love insinuating history into a story. That is what interests me the most, right now.

CWIM: Why the jump from contemporary fiction to historic?

Richard Peck: When I started out, it was a field of contemporary books on contemporary issues. And they were the books that excited me when I began. Chris Crutcher’s “Running Loose” came just after I started. Terry Davis’s “Vision Quest,” so true it almost couldn’t be marketed to young people. Since I had just come from teaching, that immediacy appealed to me. Now that I’m older, I’m more concerned about history. I ask students, “What year was your parent born?” and to my dismay, many do not know. Imagine having so few roots. Imagine not having heard your own parents’ stories and really listened. It’s tragic.

CWIM: Did you listen as a boy?

Richard Peck: I think I did. As you may have noticed, there is an elderly person in all of my novels -- not a traditional older people, but rather a feisty survivor.  I realize you can’t write a novel with the intent to change people. But you can hope to get their attention and make them think. I never name the town where Grandma Dowdel lives. That’s purposeful. I don’t want to. I want my readers to imagine their grandparent’s town. Imagine, my books are even translated into Japanese, so those young people can imagine a setting in Japan, assuming it translates well. The Japanese translator actually got my phone number and called, completely puzzled. She was out of her depth because these books were written in dialect. She said, “Don’t let the door hit you where the dog bit you. What means that?” 

CWIM: You are famous for your distinctive characterizations. Which of those characters most closely mirrors Richard Peck if any?

Richard Peck: Well, they are all me, of course. As I write, I play all the parts. But I put them together as composites based on other people’s memories. I go to my country cousin’s and ask, “What did your grandmother tell you about life here?” I do a lot of research in the library, too. But I want to go to living people who have had those stories handed down, as well. I don’t use them as they are remembered. But I might think of parallel stories the facts inspire.

CWIM: How do you keep historic characters authentic?

Richard Peck: You have to come up with a voice that does not sound contemporary; even if it isn’t a voice you can hear. When I was a kid, elderly people remembered going to the fair, but now all those voices are gone. I try to remember the rhythm of their speech in order to capture the past.

CWIM: Speaking of speeches, you do a lot of public speaking engagements. Do you prepare your statements in advance?

Richard Peck: I do prepare, because I don’t like what comes out of my mouth when I’m not prepared. I think about the rhythms of speech, perfectly illustrated by poetry. In fact, I always put poetry -- my own or someone else’s -- in my books to make the point that poetry and prose are not so different.

CWIM: There is a new trend in YA literature, novels written in poetic prose, including books by Sonya Sones (What My Mother Doesn’t Know). You have been a poet in your day. Have you ever considered writing a novel in poetic form?

Richard Peck: Sonya Sones is so talented, yes. She is another of the young people I like to read and embrace. It wouldn’t occur to me to write a whole novel as poetry, but who knows? The day may come when I stop admiring people and start ripping them off. Sonya has already influenced my prose. She has a gift and a very convincing voice. Poetry doesn’t tolerate one extra word. 

CWIM: Are you adversely affected by any of the writers you currently read?

Richard Peck:  I am influenced by adult writing. I very often find it long and indulgent. I am in a field where I want to be. In children’s literature, we could never resort to pornography to mask bad writing.  Ours is a work of delicate balance between word and deed. A novel that is all action is a video game. A novel that is all talk is a chat room. Thankfully, we have something better to offer – a ticket out of town and a message -- that nobody grows up in a group. You grow up in spite of the group, because you find your own way. When you discover you can find your own way, it’s empowering.

CWIM: You grew up in Chicago. Many of your books are set in Chicago. How did you wind up living in New York City?    

Richard Peck: My childhood dream was to live in New York. I decided early on, I wasn’t going to settle down anywhere – even in Chicago -- until I’d tried New York. When a teaching job in New York came along, I thought I would go for a year or so. That was in 1965, and I’ve been here ever since.

CWIM: How soon after you came to New York did you start writing?

Richard Peck: I discovered the publishers within the first year.  But we ought not be too nostalgic. It wasn’t easy, even then. When I entered the field in 1971, a very prominent author told me I could not make it in this field. “Johnson is not in the White House anymore,” he said, “so the great society money is no longer raining down on schools. The great days are over, dried up, finished.” But he was wrong. And there are opportunities now that weren’t there when I got started – the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, for example.

CWIM: What will it take for a would-be writer to make it today?

Richard Peck: If you have two qualities -- a love of language and a curiosity about other people – you have a hope in this business. So many young people can’t manage it at 21 or 22-years-old because they have not learned to listen. And writing is about listening. People are very generous with their stories.

CWIM: Since you were a listener, an observer, do you use personal experience in your books?

Richard Peck: I never write about my own memories.  Everybody tends to be revisionist and stereotypical about their own memories. Everyone thinks they had to walk through the snowdrifts to get to school. I’ll have an occasionally realistic break-through – yes, I did have to negotiate with my father in order to get the car to go on my own date. And yes, I never let anything keep me from winning a full scholarship to college. But nobody would read a novel about that. Other people’s memories are the truly rich stores.

CWIM: You just re-released, “Invitations to the World,” a nonfiction book last spring. Wasn’t that about your memories?

Richard Peck: That’s really about writing and teaching and young adult books and my career. I wrote it as “Love and Death at the Mall,” in 1994, and the publisher said bring it up to date. I was revising it last summer when 9/11 came. Then the whole world seemed out of reach.

CWIM: What skills did you take from teaching and apply to your work as a writer?

Richard Peck: On a teaching day, you don’t have time to think about yourself. You’re aware that you’re the oldest person in the room, perhaps. But you’re surrounded by these voices. You’re too busy to think about yourself. It’s not so different as a writer. I’m not worried about me, when I write. I’m worried about the page.

CWIM: According to the Educational Paperback Association, you once said, “I fell easy prey to teachers. My mother had read to me and made me hungry for school and books. But my teachers betrayed no interest in my ideas.” How did that affect your desire to write?

Richard Peck: I think it’s very hard to teach people to be writers. It’s especially hard if the teacher is not a writer. But I did learn the concept of discipline before pleasure – a concept we no longer have the authority as educators to impose. But my teachers would never put a grade on a rough draft, so I never turned one in. And I never sent a rough draft to a publisher.

CWIM: Are you concerned about today’s children and their families? Do you sense a lack of that same strict discipline?

Richard Peck: It’s missing from the home and the school. My mother made a writer out of me in the first five years of my life, so I had something to take to school. I had a sense of the narrative and vocabulary.  In fact, I had a 9^th grade vocabulary in the first grade. I wrote and spoke in emulation of the adults in my life. Parents today have abandoned that opportunity. So kids emulate the strongest teen leader. As a result, the peer group has replaced the parent.

CWIM: You seem to have a fairly conservative mindset. You are very careful bout not using “bad” language. And yet your books are banned. How can you explain that?

Richard Peck: Well, I have written ghost stories. And “Are You in the House Alone,” was about a rape. But censorship isn’t really about books. It’s about control. Every word a writer writes is censorable, because there are failed parents looking for a scapegoat. Book burners never have happy home lives.  So you have to give yourself permission not to let it impact you – not to self-censor.

CWIM: Now you turn to historical fiction – the Civil War. How can you win young people over to fondly remembering the past?

Richard Peck: All writing is a search for our roots. We, as a species, don’t like the idea of coming out of a vacuum. So we are compelled to create an alternate set of memories, to replace those we don’t have. If we want to convince our young people that history is not dry, we will need to turn it into a family story. Think of it. The Civil War wasn’t just a series of battles. It was brother-fighting brother. We must capture that on the page. Give history a human face.

CWIM: You sound like a teacher again when you talk about historic fiction.

Terry Trueman: The Price of "Honor"

By Kelly Milner Halls

Children's Writers & Illustrator's Market 2002

       With steady sales and advice from mentors Chris Crutcher (Whale Talk) and Terry Davis (Vision Quest) to encourage him, 54-year-old first time novelist Terry Trueman felt confident he could brave the pressure of writing a follow-up book. Then came the American Library Association’s 2000 Printz Honor announcements.

       In the twinkling of an eye, “Stuckin Neutral” became much more than a proud debut. The Spokane, Washington author’s first stab at young adult literature was suddenly awash in ALA acclaim. Trueman and his second novel now stood in the shadow of unexpected Printz Honor fame.  

       Has the weight of success been overwhelming? “If I had any sense it would be,” Trueman laughs. “But mostly it’s been really, really fun.”

       With obvious talent and veteran HarperCollins editor Antonia Markiet (who once served as the legendary Ursula Nordstrom’s editorial assistant) in his corner, Trueman’s optimism is undoubtedly warranted. As her other writers – from Maurice Sendak to rising star Alex Flinn – would certainly agree, a great team can work together to build a great book.

       How did a teacher from the Pacific Northwest win the Printz Honor and stellar editorial assistance?  As this interview reveals, Trueman credits hard work, good solid advice, and an extra helping of beginner’s luck for his good fortune.  

Question: When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?

Trueman: I'm not sure I've ever been more clear about wanting to be a writer than when, at 17, my high school Creative Writing teacher, Kay Keyes, told me I had talent. It was the first time a teacher had ever said such a thing. But I didn’t give writing a serious, "professional" until I started writing “Stuck in Neutral,” at the age of 48. I got up every morning at 6 a.m. and worked hard until somehow the twisted and turned its way into pure pleasure. That’s when I knew I wanted to be a writer--when I became one.

Question: When did you begin to recognize you could be a “successful” writer, and is there a distinction?

Trueman: To me the distinction has more to do with having the time to do what you want to do with your time. If what you want to do more than anything else is write, and you get that gift through the writing you undertake, you’re a success.  In other words, whether I make $24,000 a year or $50 million (no, I've never seen anything like that kind of money), if I can pay for my writing habit/addiction, I’m a success.

Question: Was “Stuck in Neutral” your first “first novel?” Or did others actually come before it?

Trueman: I wrote a number of bad novels before I reached the emotional, spiritual and intellectual maturity to finish “Stuck in Neutral.” Each effort taught me something about what NOT to do. One of them, a terrible story entitled, “Confessions of a Balding Boy,” taught me the greatest secret of all, which is--find some way to tell the truth.  “Stuck in Neutral” came about because I am the father of a profoundly developmentally disabled son, like the character Shawn from the story. Living through this "worst-thing-that-ever-happened-to-me" experience gave me insights into the story that I would not have otherwise had.  Would I trade the success of “Stuck in Neutral” for my son Sheehan to have a normal life? Of course. I'd trade my life for that (although that’s easy to say because it's not a realpossibility). But that’s not how life works. So instead of saving my son, I hadto settle for saving myself. “Stuck in Neutral” has been an enormous step towards doing that.

Question: Did you have any idea that “Stuck in Neutral” would be so well received?

Trueman: It was a surprise. I had hoped it would find an audience. And I knew it was pretty good – compelling, powerful and a "big" theme kind of story. But you never really "know" what will happen. I had a great team around me who had more faith than I did.

Question: Did your editor give any indication she thought “Stuck in Neutral” was something special?

Trueman: Toni (Antonia Markiet) loved the book, or I should say she loved the book she saw hidden in what she first received. She made me prove I could cut a third of the novel before she offered me a contract. But she was absolutely right about what the story needed. I think she had high hopes for it, but she's very wise, intuitive and, I think she would agree, superstitious. So she never let me talk about the possibility of winning any significant awards.

Question: When did you know you'd been nominated for the Printz?

Trueman: I knew I was on the list of "final nominations" -- over 250 titles -- a few weeks before the January 15th vote. I didn't figure I had a snowball's chance in hell of actually taking homean award. The competition was incredibly stiff. There were all these amazing writers -- Gary Paulson, Walter Dean Meyers, Jerry Spinelli; and all of these terrific books -- the newest Harry Potter, the late Tupac Shakur's poems, Lance Armstrong's courageous book.  I figured if that was the competition, I was extremely unlikely to medal or honor.

Question: Was there any buzz prior to the official nomination?

Trueman: The only “buzz” you hear about when you live inSpokane is from a bee [laughter].  That makes Spokane sound pretty bad doesn't it. I don't mean it like that. But the kind of buzz that tips a book into that kind of success doesn't reach Spokane. We're more about meatloaf and Jell-O molds, god bless us!

Question: You teach at a community college in Spokane. What was the reaction from your colleagues?

Trueman: It's interesting. Many of my colleagues have been enormously supportive and happy for me. But a few became more distant. I don't know if that's about jealousy or the simple fact that I am an amazingly lazy, lackadaisical, sloppy person.  I've always been the guy least likely to deserve, much less achieve success. I was a lovable loser and then I became an overnight success. That appears to have been too large a paradigm shift for a few of my colleagues. So be it. My students -- every one of them – have been thrilled, excited and supportive at all times and in all ways.

Question: You have an impressive stable of support from other YA novelists. What has been their reaction to your honor?

Trueman: You’re talking about Terry and Becky Davis and Chris Crutcher. I've met lots of other terrific YA writers since “Stuck in Neutral” started doing so well, but Terry, Beck and Crutch were ALWAYS there, from the very beginning. I could never have done it without them.

Question: Now the hard stuff. How did it feel to know David Almond took the award?

Trueman: David who? Just kidding. I think both “Skellig” and “Kit's Wilderness” are marvelous books--brilliant and powerful. I'm honored to be mentioned in the same breath as David Almond and delighted that “Stuck in Neutral” is linked to his book through the Printz awards. It's funny, but the Printz gold medal award is given to the best book, in the judgments of the voters -- then whether ANY honor books exist is decided afterwards. The first year of the awards, only three honor books were named. It's not really like the Oscars, where four out of five big winners suddenly become "losers."  "And the winner is . . . ." Give me a break! If you get a nomination you're a winner!

Question: How do you top the nomination? Your screenplay project?

Trueman: I'm not sure the screenplay tops the Printz nomination, but working with Craig T. Nelson to co-author a screenplay based on MY novel? Yeah, that's a pretty good start! [laughter]  No, nothing will ever top the Printz honor because it was so unexpected. A first novel by a 50-year-old rookie? I mean, who’d have thunk it? Still, I suppose winning an Oscar would be pretty cool (sorry Antonia. [laughter] I know, I know, I've cursed my luck!).

Question: How did Nelson find out about “Stuck in Neutral?”

Trueman: Craig's nephew Bobby is my accountant. Small world, huh? He gave his uncle the book and Craig loved it.  His production group Family Tree Production bought the option for a TV movie-- and we may still end up there -- but for now we're looking at a feature film.

Question: Has it been tough fine-tuning your second novel, after the overwhelming success of  “Stuck in Neutral?”

Trueman: If I had any sense it would be. But mostly it’s been really, really fun. I do think that "Stuck in Neutral" set the bar rather high. But David Almond’s “Skellig" only won an honor in 1999 then came back and won the gold medal in 2000. I could live with that! [laughter]

Question: Where do you hope to be in ten years?

Trueman: God, I'm 54 now. I hope to be healthy and sharp enough to be writing better than I am today, better than I ever have. I hope to be like the poet Bukowski, who didn't start earning his living as a writer until he was fifty either. I'm only afraid of death because I'll miss some people, and because I won't be able to write anymore. But ten years from now? I don't know. Ask me the same question then.