HAPPY NEW YEAR !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As 2009 rushes to meet 2010... it's pop-the-champagne time, cheer-like-mad time... And just be party-harty time!

Wishing you all a healthy Happy New Year that's a blast all the way!!!!!!

INTERVIEW: Young Adult Writer Josie Bloss, Author of Band Geek

Welcome to “Totally YA". For every interview I will be introducing a literary personality discussing their books written especially for adolescents and teenagers around the world

Today’s interview is with Josie Bloss. She grew up in East Lansing and attended the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. She was a member of the best college marching band in the country and a staff reporter for the Michigan Daily and the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.

After obtaining a degree in Political Science, she tried to decide if she wanted to be a lawyer while wrangling paper in several large Chicago law firms that are attempting to take over the world. Finding herself uninspired by global domination, she decided to relocate to somewhere more quiet and write instead.

When not mining her high school journals for material and wishing there were marching band options for adults, Josie enjoys obsessing over various TV shows, karaoke and all things theater. Josie Bloss lives in Bloomington, IN.

E.I. Tell us about your book “Band Geeked Out” for young adult? What inspired you to write it and what drew you to attract the YA readers?

JB: BAND GEEKED OUT is the sequel to my first novel, BAND GEEK LOVE. It follows the main character, Ellie Snow, as she navigates the tricky time around making decisions about college. Everyone in her life has an opinion about what she should do, and Ellie has to figure out how to stay true to herself. Writing about that time of life is very interesting to me, since it's the stage a lot of teenagers are making their first big decisions about what to do with their lives. That's what I love about YA lit in general...there are so many "firsts" to explore.

E.I. What was your biggest challenge or obstacle while writing and creating the characters Ellie Snow, Alex, and Connor? Did you work them out in advance, or did they evolve as you wrote the story?

JB: The characters definitely evolved while I was writing the story, which was the biggest challenge! Sometimes it was hard to keep them all in line, to be honest. But it was a lot of fun to watch them grow and see how that growth changed the plot.

E.I. If you were asked to read a page from this book, is there one that you would select to share?

JB: Page 33, when Ellie meets the fascinating and intimidating Alex Campbell on a college tour and everything changes.

E.I. With two books under your belt, and a third one coming February 2010, how have you evolved as a writer?

JB: I am growing in confidence in my process. And I'm certainly getting accustomed to the stages I go through when I write a book...the initial deep infatuation with a new idea, the sprint through the first 100 pages, the slowly growing depression that it might not work, the bliss when I figure out how to tie it all together, and the crazy race to the end. I'm able to have more fun at this point, and to just let it happen. ALBATROSS, my book coming out in February, was a joy to write, even though it involved a painful topic.

E.I. As a first time YA novelist, do you feel more pressure, feel insecure or are you able to separate all that from your own creative process?

JB: At this point, I've learned how to separate it fairly well. I expect that I'll always feel a little insecure about how my books will be received, but while I'm working on them, I'm usually able to relax and enjoy the process. I hope to get better at that as my career moves forward.

E.I. Give us three "Good to Know" facts about you. Be creative. Tell us about your first job, the inspiration for your writing, any fun details that would enliven your page.

JB: Fact #1 - My first job was as a waitress in a retirement home - I still think it's the hardest job I've ever had! I guess I'm glad that I started out with it so everything I've had since seems easy in comparison.

#2 - I've never been able to keep a plant alive. This is probably why I've been too nervous to ever own a pet, even though I adore animals.

#3 - Though I was a band geek in high school and college (like Ellie Snow), I've since become a big old theater nerd. I love all aspects of theater, and recently spent a few months stage-managing a production in the town where I live. I've also discovered that writing short plays is a nice creative jolt when I'm stuck on a book.

E.I. Ms. Bloss, thank you for contributing to my blog. It has been a pleasure for me to get to know you, and your work a little better. Would you like to end your interview with a writing tip or advice for young aspiring writers?

JB: I think the hardest and most important thing to do is simply to finish something. If you learn how to clear out distractions and keep yourself focused until the end, you're already a success!

To learn more about Josie Bloss, please visit her website

Photo of Josie Bloss by Adam P Schweigert

To purchase her books, please visit AMAZON and Barnes & Noble

HAPPY HOLIDAYS

I hope that you are all celebrating with your friends and family this holiday season.

I'd like to thank each and everyone for your support and generosity. It has been a joy to work with all of you in person and online.

All your wonderful messages and efforts in getting involved with my blog meant the world to me. I'm deeply grateful to all of you.

Best wishes, peace and joy of the holiday season be with you all throughout the coming year.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE !!!!!!!!

INTERVIEW: Larry Gonick - Best known for his book “The Cartoon History of the Universe”

Welcome to “Totally YA". For every interview I will be introducing a literary personality discussing their books written especially for adolescents and teenagers around the world

Today’s interview is with Larry Gonick. He is a cartoonist best known for his book The Cartoon History of the Universe, a history of the world in a comic book form, which he has been publishing in installments since 1977.

Mr. Gonick has also written The Cartoon History of the United States, and he has adapted the format for a series of co-written guidebooks on other subjects, beginning with The Cartoon Guide to Genetics in 1983. The diversity of his interests, and the success with which his books have met, have together earned him the distinction of being "the most well-known and respected of cartoonists who have applied their craft to unravelling the mysteries of science" Drug Discovery Today, March 2005.

Since 1990 to 1997, Mr Gonick penned a bimonthly Science Classics cartoon for the science magazine Discover. Each two-page comic discussed a recent scientific development, often one in interdisciplinary research.

He was a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT in 1994 through 1995. In 1997, his 14-issue series, Candide in China, published on the WEB, described Chinese inventions.

Larry Gonick also writes the Kokopelli & Company comic that appears in the magazine Muse and the satirical, anti-corporate comic “Commoners”.

E.I. Would you share some early insight into who you were as a teenager? What were you like? Please tell us more about Larry Gonick-- the man behind the award-winning writer and now a comic author?

LG: I grew up in Phoenix, where there was a lot of space to play outdoors. As little kids, we lived near huge vacant lots that were great places to make forts, run around, and step on these huge thorny burrs we called bullheads. Our feet got very tough in summer. My grade school, Grandview, had a 440-yard track, a couple of baseball diamonds, and many outdoor basketball courts. I was outdoors a fair amount. But I was basically a bookish kid, and rather shy. Not into tinkering or hardware. More on the theoretical side, though I can fix a faucet if I have to. Good student. Somewhat alienated, though I didn't feel this so acutely until high school. It came as a great relief when I finally met a few other outsider-intellectuals, who became proto-hippies soon thereafter.

Growing up, I had no specific goal for adulthood. Part of the reason was that I knew very few adults who weren't teachers (as my parents both were), so there was a lack of role models. I used to say I'd be either a writer or a mathematician—I was pretty good at both—but really had little idea what that would look like in real life. In college, I kind of backed into majoring in math, because I could get A's in it, and there wasn't much support for creative writing at Harvard in those days. Four years flew by, and I suddenly found myself applying for graduate school in math, which in those days pretty much meant going on to an academic career, without ever having consciously chosen that life path.

But I always liked to draw, too, and after college I picked it up again. One thing led to another, and in 1972 I dropped out of math and into cartooning.

E.I. What is it about the art form of writing cartoon text books that enchants you the most?

LG: What one thing? One? Thing? Um... it's a thing with several ingredients. Let's put it this way: the medium's ability to combine text and images into a narrative rhythm that delivers humor, opinion, and information all at once—in a way that's hard to forget!

E.I. What do you find to be the hardest part of writing it? Do you have sheets of newsprint covered in a story board all over your walls?

LG: No, the walls aren't covered. I do a page breakdown of each "volume" (a 48-page unit) on a single sheet of 9 x 12 sketchbook. And that's one of the easier parts. The hardest thing by far is writing the first draft. It's always too long by a factor of 3, and I'm conscious of that fact as I write. This generates an uncomfortable running internal argument with myself about nearly every sentence. I put down a few words and then think "but...", and then agonize about it a while, and then coach myself to follow through with that sentence and worry about editing it later, after it's written, etc. Just exhausting! Everything else is more or less fun.

E.I. What was your biggest challenge in writing “Cartoon History of the World”? How did you decide what level of details your reader will accept? Did you work them out in advance, or did they evolve as you wrote the story? How did you overcome these challenges?

LG: The level of detail is pretty much determined by one consideration: does the story make sense? I aim to put in everything necessary to make the story coherent, and very little else. In retrospect, I think I could have left more out of Modern World, Part
2. There's always a tradeoff between details and the big picture, and when you see the big picture, often really good jokes pop up. So, if I had to do it again, I think I'd put in more humor and less about, say, Kaiser Wilhelm II.

In a work of this complexity, pretty much the entire narrative framework is developed ahead of time. I used to wing it more, but now I'm convinced it pays to get organized.

E.I. How do you know where you will go next with your story? All the fascinating historical events and topics that have managed to slip through the gaps of common knowledge?

LG: In some sense, the main impulse for doing cartoon histories was to highlight the stuff that slipped through the gaps, as you put it. I'm a revisionist historian, or was when I started. Part of the point is to satirize received historical wisdom and the historians who promote it, especially when that received wisdom contains tendentious distortions, in other words, not to put to fine a point on it, the received wisdom serves the interest of the ruling class. And believe me, it isn't hard to find neglected and important information. When I started out, decades ago, there was a gold mine of data about women, minorities, and the underclass that had barely entered mainstream historical discourse. Later on, of course, this became mainstream historical discourse, at which point a lot of important narrative history dropped out of books, so paradoxically, by the end I was trying to restore some of the national-history type material that seemed absurdly traditional when I started out!

For example, I was horrified to discover not long ago that an 8th-grade history class had never heard of Magellan. I mean, really!

It also soon became clear to me that a lot of European history made much better sense in the context of Eurasian history, and this pointed me in the direction of Constantinople, first as a Byzantine capital and then under the Turks, not to mention China and India, which were the real centers of the world once upon a time. In the current book, this shows up in the very important role played in 18th-century European affairs by the decline of the Ottoman Empire.

Another example would be the British abolition of slavery in the early 1800s. I'm not aware of a parallel development anywhere, so it seemed to be a fruitful subject of study, and I spent many pages discussing it.

Another would be the birth of the Dutch Republic, which I covered in Modern World, Part 1.

E.I. If you were asked to read a page from “Cartoon History of the Modern World” is there one that you would personally select to share with your fans? And why?

LG: I just flipped through the book, and I really couldn't pick out just one. I like 202-203 for graphics. P. 39, introducing Napoleon, may be a good start. Not too complicated, and summarizes his exalted opinion of himself.

E.I. You are the most well-known and respected cartoonists in the writing community who have applied your craft to unraveling the mysteries of science, you were a Knight Science Journalism Fellow at MIT and now an award-winning writer. Do you ever feel pressure or insecure, or are you able to separate all that from your own creative process?

LG: I always feel pressure and insecurity, but it has nothing to do with upholding a reputation. It's more about all the inadequacies I see in my own work. I'm a perfectionist without the time or ability to perfect things.

E.I. What would you tell those authors considering applying to an M.F.A. program? In your opinion how important is it for a writer to have a writing degree?

LG: This is one I have no opinion about. It does seem to be important to have a writing degree if you want a day job teaching creative writing. But whether or not writing programs produce a certain kind of writing is a question I'm not qualified to answer.

E.I. Mr. Gonick, Thank you for contributing to my blog. It has been a pleasure for me to get to know your work a little better. Would you like to end your interview with a writing tip or advice for young aspiring writers?

LG: Edit yourself mercilessly, but not while you're in the middle of writing.
The Cartoon History of the Modern World, Part 2
Raw Materials

To learn more about Larry Gonick, please visit his website

To Purchase his books, please visit AMAZON and Barnes & Noble

INTERVIEW: Claude Izner - French Author of Murder on the Eiffel Tower: A Victor Legris Mystery

Welcome to “Totally YA". For every interview I will be introducing a literary personality discussing their books written especially for adolescents and teenagers around the world

Today’s interview is with Claude Izner who is actually the nom de plume of two French sisters, Liliane Korb born in 1940 and her sister Laurence Lefevre born 1951 who wrote hugely successful books.

After colorful and separate careers they started working together as secondhand booksellers on the Right Bank of the Seine in Paris many years ago. They are experts on nineteenth-century Paris.

The sisters have been writing together for over ten years. Their early novels written together were targeted at younger readers, and they two sisters turned to detective fiction since 1999. They jointly write the popular Victor Legris series of crime novels. Legris is a bookseller in the late 19th-century Paris who is also an amateur detective. The books were originally bestsellers in France.

Liliane initially worked as chief editor before becoming a bookseller. She has participated in writing several of audiovisual performances and plays.

Laurance becomes a bookseller at the same time as her sister in 1970’s. Alongside her work as publisher she wrote two novels for adults in which from the society of men of letters an award.

E.I. Would you share some early insight into who you were as a teenager? What were you like? Please tell us more about Laurence Lefèvre -- one of the women behind the Claude Izner num de plume?

C. I. When I was a teenager ? Well, I was a rather lonely person, who liked to dream and above all to read, all sorts of novels, plays and poems. Not only mystery stories, but also science-fiction, XIXth century english litterature such as Dickens and the Brontë sisters, American novels (Steinbeck, Erskine Caldwell, Richard Wright, Carson Mac Cullers,etc...), Russian novels (Tolstoï, Dostoieveski) or plays (Tchekhov), and so forth. But also comics (Tintin by Hergé !)

And who liked to go to the movies. I still do !

E. I. What is it about the art form of writing detective mystery that enchants you the most?

C.I. Lilian and I like to give us challenges : will we be able to invent a mystery and to solve it ? It gives us a frame inside which to put everything we are fond of, humour, tenderness, popular language, and of course a little fear (not too much !) And our love for old Paris.

But we wrote many other kind of books, in particular for children, so we do not consider ourselves "crime specialists" !

E.I. How do you imagine audience as you are writing your detective novels? Do you try to do character development, chapter outlines, various novel-related brainstorming? Do you have sheets of newsprint covered in a story boards all over your walls?

C.I. We do not imagine our audience, let them forgive us ! We think that we must first entertain ourselves, in order to please other people. We talk a lot. We make "sketches" exactly as, I think, a painter. We try some "tricks", if we are not satisfied we cut them off, we try other ones ! It is long and tiring but worth while ! It thrills us.

The walls...I live in a small flat, so the papers are in drawers or on the table where my computer awaits me !

E.I. What was your biggest challenge in developing the character of the Parisian bookseller, Victor Legris in your book “Murder on the Eiffel Tower”? Did you work them out in advance, or did they evolve as you wrote the story? How did you overcome these challenges?

C.I. The bigest challenge ? To make Victor and Tasha, and all the characters around them, as real as possible, To re-invent 1889 Paris so as to insert in all that stuff a non-realistic story - as are almost all criminal stories !

We had no ideas of what would come off the magical hat ! It was like building a house : you have to put a brick after another...and look at the result : is the house a solid one ?

E.I. How much of Victor Legris life is planned out in your head? How do you know where you will go next with any of your characters?

C.I. Nothing is planned. Of course, each year we write a book taking place in a chronological suite, from 1889 to 1900 (we are now in 1898). We know that some changes will happen in Victor's and other characters'life, but we invent by and by ! We try to ignore where we go, to be "fresh" and inventive...except with the central plot which is the main bone of the skeleton...and the biggest challenge !

E.I. If you were asked to read a page from “Murder on the Eiffel Tower” is there one that you would personally select to share with your fans?

C.I. The page that I would choose would be the first I wrote, the very first of the series, which begins in the american edition p.5 by these words : "Wearing a tight new corset that creaked with every step, Eugénie Patinot walked down Avenue des Peupliers.". I wrote it in summer, without any documentation except an old map of Paris, and without guessing what would be Eugénie's fate ! We still know this phrase by heart ! Then, some weeks later, Lilian wrote the prologue.
And the adventure began, for us !

E.I. How do you weave so much suspense and elements of information into your stories and yet you keep them so fast-paced?

C.I. It is for us a mystery ! We choose a short part in one year, we invent a plot, a plan, chapter after chapter. Then we search in old newspapers and books what happened during these weeks. Then...the ideas some !

We have to try to put some order in all these informations ! We like a fast rythm. Do not forget that Lilian was a film editor, and that we both loved cinema, especially old films (for instance americain classical ones). We are "visual", we have to see the scenes.

E.I. Many writers describe themselves as "character" or "plot" writers. Which are you? And what do you find to be the hardest part of writing?

C.I. Without characters, no plot. Without plot, no book ! I do not know if we are more gifted for this or that. I think that in fact we could manage with any plot, because we could fit it to our own mind, which is a fantaisist one !
We for instance love Hithcock and his "Mac Guffins" !

Anyhow, the plots...they is a limited number of them ! What gives savour to a story ? The characters, the way you show them, the way they think and talk, the errors they make, as Victor, who is not a great sleuth ! This is our authors' small credo...

E.I. You are well known in Internationally as a former chief editor before becoming a bookseller, you also participated in writing several of audiovisual performances and play? What is one thing you would change if you can do it all over again?

C.I. It is Lilian, not I, who was a former chief editor. She worked with great documentarists such as Jean Rouch, Joris Ivens, also with Peter Brook, Maurice Pialat, among others. Maybe she would have liked to direct movies, but it is very difficult, many reponsabilities. Writing is more simple, no producers, no comedians...

I, myself, do not regret the life I had, selling old books gave me freedom.

E.I. Your book has been translated into different languages and has been published all over the world and now a bestselling author. Do you ever feel pressure or insecure, or are you able to separate all that from your own creative process?

C.I. It seems a dream, being translated : we never thought this could happen ! But we stay the same as before. We still doubt of ourselves. Of course, we separate our anxiety (it is rather frightening, even if exciting) from the writing process. When the book is finished, now, we sometimes pity our translators, so many jokes and popular expresssions !
Maybe, being "Claude Izner", that is a third person, helps us to feel more secure !

E.I. Ms. Lefevre, Thank you for contributing to my blog. It has been a pleasure for me to get to know your work a little better. Would you like to end your interview with a writing tip or advice for young aspiring writers?

C.I. Advice ? I do not consider me a teacher...All I would say is : be yourself, forget the teachings, read a lot, create what you like. Then...work, do not be sure to be the greatest writer, be humble and believe in yourself at the same time. Choose to write science fiction, or fantasy, or love stories, or criminal investigations, or poetry, if this is what you prefer. Do not be too serious ! Do not hope to change the world...but be happy if some people appreciate you.

There is not one unique way, life is a rainbow even if the sky is often very cloudy. Choose your colour and try to feel joy, because life is also very short...

Photo of Claude Izner (Liliane Korb and Laurence Lefèvre)by Monika Katz

To purchase their books please visit AMAZON

INTERVIEW: New York Times Bestselling & Award Winning Author- Charles Shields

Welcome to “Totally YA". For every interview I will be introducing a literary personality discussing their books written especially for adolescents and teenagers around the world

Today’s interview is with Charles J. Shields, he is the author of two books about critically acclaimed author, Harper Lee, written for the young adult audience. The former English teacher proffers a unique understanding for Harper Lee the person, and offers a nuanced appreciation for her iconic novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird."

Mr. Shields spent four years researching and writing "Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee," published in 2007. His portrayal earned critical acclaim, and established Mr. Shields' literary credibility. The new author's achievement is exalted by the fact that Ms. Lee was unwilling to participate in the project, rejecting his request for an interview. It should be noted that she had not granted an interview since 1964. Nevertheless, he went on to publish his second book on the same subject, "I Am a Scout: A Biography of Harper" in 2008.

Harper Lee's rebuff forced Mr. Shields to rely on exhaustive background work to ensure accuracy. He conducted more than 600 interviews to fill the void left by the reclusive Lee. The daunting list of contributors includes Harper Lee's neighbors, childhood friends, and law school classmates. Notably Kansas residents, who Lee met while working as research assistant to childhood friend Truman Capote on "In Cold Blood," proved to be a valuable source. They validated the speculation about her collaborative role in Capote's success, and offered some explanation as to how an unknown writer could catapult into iconic stardom.

Mr. Shields has a B.A. in English and an M.A. in American history from the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana, where he was a James Scholar.

E.I. Would you share some early insight into who you were as a teenager? What were you like? Please tell us more about Charles Shields -- the man behind the former English teacher and now a critically acclaimed author of Harper Lee’s biography & life.

CJS I decided at fifteen that I wanted to be a writer. It was an actual statement I said out loud, in answer to a friend asking me, “What are you going to do after high school?” (We were playing soccer: strange time to be asked about career plans.) And I said, “I want to be a teacher and a writer.” Because I said it without hesitation, I realized I meant it. And besides, whenever I dawdled in front of racks of paperback books I thought nothing would make me happier than to have a book of my own.

I was a loner as a teenager, but well-liked. I still enjoy being alone. I can’t imagine being an extrovert and a writer, too. The two don’t seem compatible.

E.I. What is it about the art form of writing that enchants you the most?

CJS I enjoy imagining my reader. I work as hard as I can to entertain, surprise, inform, and delight him or her.

E.I. How do you imagine the audience when you are writing? Do you have sheets of newsprint covered in a story boards all over your walls?

CJS No, I tried that and it didn’t work for me. For the book I’m currently writing, the first biography of Kurt Vonnegut, I’ve kept my study practically paperless. First, I scanned absolutely every document, article, dissertation, and letter; then placed each file into desktop folders by topic; then created extremely detailed, chronological outlines. Using the Spotlight feature on my MacBook Pro allows me to find any word or phrase I’m want to add to the outline. Considering that I have 1500 letters— not to mention the hundreds of book reviews and interviews with Kurt I’ve collected (I also interviewed 125 people myself)— being able to locate a term or a name instantly is like having a genie helping me.

E.I. What was your biggest challenge in writing “Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee”? How many years of research did you do, and how did you decide what level of details your reader will accept? Did you work them out in advance, or did they evolve as you wrote the story? How did you overcome these challenges?

CSJ Miss Lee not only refused to allow me to interview her, she also called friends and asked them not to speak to me. Instead of feeling discouraged, I felt more determined when I found that out. I spent two years researching the book and two years writing it. I never had the opportunity to choose how many details my reader would accept; it was a struggle trying to find enough. But remember, a biography is not an obituary, which is just a list of facts written as prose. It needs all the elements of fiction: setting, exposition, description, scenes, reversals, character. So when I was stuck for details, I turned to some other aspect of storytelling.

E.I. In your book “I Am Scout”, how much of Harper Lee is planned out in your head? How do you know where you will go next with your story based on your research?

CSJ The chronology of a person’s life drives a biography, of course. But then you have to structure the chapters by deciding what needs to be explained clearly, logically, and a little slowly in each one. “What point am I trying to make about her?” you keep asking yourself. There has to be a sense of development.

E.I. If you were asked to read a page from “I AM Scout” is there one that you would personally select to share with your fans? And why?

CSJ The page I think about the most is the first one when Lee is pulling other kids off Truman during a playground fight. I think about it because if I don’t hook the reader immediately, I’ll lose him or her. So the beginnings of both I Am Scout and Mockingbird haunt me in a sense.

E.I. Why do you think Ms. Lee refuses to give interviews or talk about the novel that made her a household name? Was it to avoid topics pertaining to Truman’s Capote or just to keep her privacy?

CSJ Miss Lee is tired of talking about her only published novel and of resisting the pressure to produce another one. She doesn’t have a career she can converse about like Mailer, or Updike or Joyce Carol Oates so to her, it’s a dead issue.

E.I. What did you find to be the hardest part of writing both books? Was it the research or frustration with people who were uncooperative?

CSJ The hardest part is watching the seasons change outside my window and having to accept that I spend most days in a room, doing something that comparatively few people understand.

E.I. You are well known in the writing community as the former teacher and the New York Time bestseller of your books. Do you ever feel pressure or insecure, or are you able to separate all that from your own creative process?

CSJ Writing is my reason to be. I don’t have a choice except to go on writing, so feeling insecure, etc. doesn’t factor in.

E.I. What would you tell those authors considering applying to an M.F.A. program? In your opinion how important is it for a writer to have a writing degree?

CSJ Aristotle said, “Anything that we have to learn to do we learn by the actual doing of it... We become just by doing just acts, temperate by doing temperate ones, brave by doing brave ones.” I believe that applies to writing, too. You have to do it; not be taught to do it when you’re old enough to be a graduate student. So no, I’m not in favor of MFA programs. Read Wayne C. Booth’s The Rhetoric of Fiction; Francine Prose’s Reading Like a Writer; or James N. Frey’s How to Write a Damn Good Novel. Then go and do likewise. And read deeply in the genre you want to practice whether it’s playwriting, fiction, or nonfiction. Read with a pencil in hand. Underline; make notes.

E.I. The media has it that you are writing about the first biography of author Kurt Vonnegut which will be published in 2010. Are you excited about being the first one to write his biography? How many years of research have you done?

CSJ I met Kurt and interviewed him on and off for six months before his death. He passed away in April 2007. So I’ve been researching and writing for about two-and-a-half years now. This book is the best work I’ve done so far.

E.I. Mr. Shields, Thank you for contributing to my blog. It has been a pleasure for me to get to know your work a little better. Would you like to end your interview with a writing tip or advice for young aspiring writers?

CSJ Start referring to yourself as a writer. Say it in conversation. People may act skeptical; they do even when I say it. Some ask me, “Yes, but what do you DO?” Never mind. Anything artistic endeavor is mysterious. That’s part of the excitement. Say you’re a writer and push off with the Argonauts to explore places unknown. Pen and paper will take your there.

To learn more about Charles Shield please visit his WEBSITE
To purchase his books please visit AMAZON and Barnes & Noble