Do you have another job besides writing?
Used to, but not currently – unless you count things like the freelance reviewing I do, or the writing classes I teach. But it isn’t anything like a full job with benefits and a chunk of my waking hours that needs to be strictly devoted to it. I am a full-time writer.
Were you an avid reader as a child? What type of books did you enjoy reading?
Oh yes, and the answer to the second part of that question is “absolutely everything”. In the days before YA [Young Adult] was a category I simply read adult books when I was 12 or 13, and had no trouble with them. I cut my teeth on fairy tales and mythology, and segued into novels at a fairly young age – I did go through a searing stage of Barbara Carland worship but it didn’t take me long to realise that I was in effect reading the same book over and over again, just transplanted into a different exotic setting and with the characters renamed to suit – and then my tastes took a sharp left and I started craving complexity., My reading material needed to have a certain amount of substance to it, a “memorability” factor, if you will; if I find the book forgettable even as I am reading it the thing doesn’t last very long with me. No matter if it is humor or drama – I have the same amount of affection and appreciation for T H white’s Sword in the Stone and JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings or Guy Gavriel Kay’s Tigana.
Tell us a bit about your latest book, and what inspired you to write such a story.
My latest book is the second in a YA trilogy from Harper Collins – the Worldweavers trilogy, the first book of which (Gift of the Unmage) was released in hardcover in March 2007. It appeared in a paperback edition this spring and the second book, Spellspam, made its appearance in hardcover at the same time. Book 3 is due out next year, in March 2009, with #2 coming out concurrently in paperback at that time.
The books were born out of a panel on YA ficton at the World Fantasy Convention of 2002. It was the height of Pottermania, and the panel struggled valiantly for all of ten minutes without mentioning Harry’s name… until someone from the audience put up a hand and asked the inevitable question. “What about Harry Potter?” One of the panelists, Jane Yolen, heaved a deep sigh and said, “I was wondering how long it would be before that particular elephant entered the room…” She then went on to say something about not liking the way that the Potter books had, so far, treated girls.
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