INTERVIEW:
How did you begin writing
for children?
By accident, and because of my daughter, Heidi. A bedtime story I was making up
for Heidi began to grow and grow. Good stories do that, you know. At Heidi's
urging I wrote the story and it became CHOCOLATE
FEVER, one of the two books of
mine that sold over a million copies. So I thank my seven-year-old daughter for
getting me started.
Have you always wanted to
be a writer?
Since I was eight years old and read the first book that made me cry. That book
got me hooked on reading, and also led me to think that writing books was a
fine thing to do with my life. I didn't know then that it would take me more
than thirty years to see print, and I had no idea what kind of writer I'd be.
But that's when my dreams began.
Where do you get your
ideas?
I go to the A & P, ask for a dozen good ideas, and take them home in a
paper bag. I wish it were that simple. Ideas come from life, from things that
happen to me or people I know. JELLY
BELLY came from being the fattest
kid in fifth grade. THE WAR WITH GRANDPA came
from my son, Roger, who told me he loved his room and "never wanted to
live anywhere else." So, naturally, I wrote a story about a boy who is
forced to give up his room.MOSTLY MICHAEL was
written for some fifth greaders who asked me to write about an average kid
"who doesn't like school a lot." The better the idea, the stronger
the book.
Why do you write funny
books?
You may as well ask why I have brown eyes. Humor is a big part of me, perhaps
because I find life hard to get through without looking on the funny side. But
humor is not why I write, it's kind of a side dish that comes with the main
course. More important for me is that my work projects warmth, love,
compassion, and a feeling of family.
How do you begin a book?
With trepidation, usually. But I will have a hero I like, an opening situation,
and a loose idea of where the story is going. I don't want to know everything;
that would be too boring for me. So in a sense I am discovering the story along
with my characters.
Tell us about your personal
life.
I was married for 44 years to Claire Medney, who was my best editor, muse, and
much later on my literary agent. We and our kids lived happily in a big, old
Victorian house in Brooklyn. Claire died a few years ago after a long illness.
I recently married an old friend, Margery Nathanson, who is a designer and a
collector of Latin American folk art. She designed our apartment in Manhattan
where I am trying to begin writing again.
Do you have a specific
message for readers?
Several. Get the most out of yourself, enjoy life, and be good to people along
the way. I like to write about making a moral choice, although I hide this as
well as I can. Kids don't like to be lectured to or hit on the head. I think I
wrote CHOCOLATE FEVER just
to say "you can't have everything every time you want it." Of course
my secret agenda is to create books so entertaining they get kids hooked on
reading, particularly boys, who need help. But usually my story line conveys a
moral without my having to make it concrete. Concrete is too heavy for good
writing, anyway, and usually messes up the page.
It's no
secret that I am a serious chocolate lover. Twenty years ago my friend, Barbara
Wexler, gave me this recipe for the deepest, darkest, fudgeyist brownie I ever
tasted. Now I am sharing it with friends and readers. Warning: they are
habit-forming.
