My eighth year of College for Kids is over and it was, by far, the busiest of my career! I hardly had time to breath! But, I had some incredible students. Once more, I did my third Writers’ Workshop class with five young people this year. These young people want to be published authors one day, so on Thursday, I let them practice questioning skills by interviewing me and making their own newspaper page. As promised, here are their questions (all on their own) and their condensed answer. You can see what their poster article looks like below.
Note: Their newspaper is called “The Jhon journal” (and yes; they spelled John that way). It has a funny story behind it in class: We were doing the creative writing activity where they are timed, starting a story and then they had to pass their story for their peer to finish, the writer having to keep passing their story until everyone has written on it. One of my girls was writing about the characters in Riverdale (the show slightly based on the Archie comics), and there was a line that said, “and she wanted to be with Jason for she loved him, but she was happy to go to Heaven with her Jhon.” and then the story picked up about how Polly loved Jason (two characters in the show). I asked, interested, “Whose is this John guy? He was randomly in the middle of one sentence?” And thus, my kids got carried away all weekend, making Jhon be a kind ladies man, a time lord, someone who was capable of blowing up mountains, and writing backstories for him! It got out of hand honestly, but I’m glad they have a memory! 😀
College for Kids Writers’ Workshop Interview (2017):
By: Emma, Nora, Addy, Julianna, and Zach
#1. What is your favorite book series?
“Anything by Rick Riodan and my favorite author is Lurlene McDaniel.”
#2. What is your newest work about?
“The genre is more adult in nature and it is a supernatural book, about two rival monster hunting agencies. The title is classified, but I plan for a December release.”
#3. What is the favorite book you’ve written?
“That is hard to pick; you are not supposed to pick favorite children and books are like that! But, probably “Spirit Vision,” because I spent the most time with it and it is my first, making it special.”
#4. Your favorite fairy tale?
“Another hard choice! My favorite Disney version is Aladdin, but I also like, classic wise, is Beauty and the Beast. Lion King is still my favorite Disney film though.”
#5. What version of Jhon do you like the most?
“The original. I mean, he came out of no where! He was a true mystery and I was intrigued.”
#6. What is your favorite character in your books.
“I like them all, well, the ones I am supposed to like, but I think Mr. Tin is my underdog favorite. He’s based on Mr. Banger, the teacher who inspired me to write and I love how he blushes to the tip of his balding head and his obsession with preaching and iced tea!”
#7. If you had to choose one book of yours to become a movie, which one would it be and why?
“”Spirit Vision,” because it would be so epic to see all the spirits and powers. I do have a dream cast list, but I would love an anime version of “Spirit Vision” to give it time to explore the plot and the animation! KAWAII!”
#8. Why did you choose a publishing company instead of self-publishing?
“I wanted to see if I could, achieve this childhood dream, and have someone believe in me. Small press was the way for me too because I have more freedom.”
#9. Favorite Ice Cream Flavor?
“Butter Pecan and chocolate chip cookie dough; it’s a tie.”
#10. Favorite author and why?
Rick Riodan because I love his imagination. Lurlene McDaniel because she helped me through a tough time in my life when my aunt was going through cancer and she writes about those topics. Her style of writing is beautiful.”
#11. Tea or Coffee?
“Sweet iced tea or caramel iced coffee when I can have that (overactive heart rate makes this a treat).”
#12. If you could have a super power, what would it be?
“Psychic abilities to read minds, make force fields, turn invisible for a time, see the future sometimes through dreams. So, Jean Gray before she became Phoenix! Ha! But, I don’t want to be all knowing; it is nice to have some mystery in life and to live in the moment.”
#13. Do you speak any other languages?
“I am fluent in sarcasm and know some basic Japanese.”
#14. What is your favorite flower?
“The sakura, the cherry blossom, but they do not grow well here, so I would say orange roses. Ironic, since I am allergic to oranges! HA!”
#15. We came up for a nickname for you…It’s Super Natural Girl.
“Rock on! I can dig that!”
Keep writing guys; I know you will reach for the stars!