| Interview with Brad Barkley & Heather Hepler |
First off, thanks so much for joining us for an up-close and personal interview for TeensReadToo.com! My
name is Jen, and I’ll be your server toda…oh, wait, wrong job! Anyway, thanks so much for taking time out
of your writing schedule—which I’m sure is busy!—and answering a few questions for your readers and
fans.
Let’s get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you
wanted to be a writer?
Brad: I was always kinda vaguely creative….into drawing, magic, photography, etc. but never able to really
land on anything in particular. It wasn’t until I was about 18 I started writing some stories, and really liked it.
A couple of years later, I was sure writing was my thing, though I had no idea I’d ever be published.
Heather: I wish that I had a great answer like I’ve been journaling since I was three, but the reality is I
messed around with an art degree and then spent a few years as a pastry chef. I finally landed on writing
and decided that I liked it well enough to stick with it. I didn’t even think in terms of publishing anything until
about a year ago. I just thought I was messing around. Who knew I’d actually write a book?
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
Brad: The road for Scrambled Eggs was a pretty easy one. Our agent sent it out to about eight or so
editors at different publishing houses in New York. A few passed on it, but the rest wanted it. After that, it
was only a matter of who wanted it the most. We sold it in just a couple of weeks. Too easy, and I think
most writers hate us after they hear that story.
Heather: Brad is right – it went so fast. I didn’t even think it was real. I kept having to excuse myself from
my yoga class to take the phone calls when the auction was going on. When our agent finally called with
the final bid, I just said, “That’s great, but I really need to get back to class. We’re doing headstands next.”
Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one thing
about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?
Brad: Scrambled Eggs at Midnight is real. We wanted to write a book about what it really feels like to fall in
love, what it really feels like when it seems the whole world is pulling at you, and all you want is to be left
alone. And it’s funny. Wait, that was two things.
Heather: Jousters, wenches, barbeque, fireworks, chocolate chip cookies. What else is there?
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
Brad: For me, it’s just the lives of regular people, trying to understand who they are and why they are the
way they are, trying to see what’s inside them. For this book in particular, I have to say too that Heather
was amazing to work with, always getting us to move the book forward, and always so good and smart in
her writing. That kept me going.
Heather: My daily life is my greatest inspiration. The funny, quirky, crazy people that I meet and the
entirely insane twists that my life takes keep amazing me. I just think life goes so fast that writing has been
my way of taking just a bit of it and holding onto it.
Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
Brad: I have been doing this for a while, and my parents (who live in North Carolina) have always been
really proud, even if they aren’t used to reading much fiction. My own kids are used to the fact that their
dad is a writer, but I think it’s sometimes cool for them, like when they have a copy of the book before it’s
even published.
Heather: My family is so proud. My mom has told everyone she knows, stopping people in Barnes and
Noble to tell them her daughter wrote a book. My five-year old son currently has about 40 copies of
Scrambled Eggs stacked all over his room. He has decided to “buy” them all.
Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?
Brad: A bowl of cereal. I have my favorites, but I try to eat the healthy ones. Cheerios are good, or the
Kashi cereals if I’m being healthy. Lucky Charms if I’m not.
Heather: Easy… chocolate chip cookies every time.
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
Brad: Stumble out of bed, start making coffee, check email.
Heather: Drink a huge glass of water. Turn on Spongebob. Carry my son from bed to the couch.
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise
me the most?
Brad: Dirty clothes. I have an ongoing, epic battle with laundry, and I can never keep up. Wait, maybe
that’s not so surprising. I also have a bunch of negatives in there, from every photo I ever took, going
back to childhood.
Heather: I have a flip-flop obsession. I actually have different levels of them. Gardening flip-flops, around
town flip-flops, dressy flip-flops. You get the idea.
Everyone asks the question about “if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?” so I want to know: If
you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?
Brad: I think I would be gray, because I like being able to slip around unseen. I like to hang back and
watch people, see how they are, how they act around each other. If I were gray, I could slip in and out of
the fog, the gray days, the early evening.
Heather: Navy blue. There is something so calming and comforting about this color. The color of night.
The color of the deep ocean.
Who is your favorite cartoon character? Which cartoon character is most like you?
Brad: I’m a pretty big fan of both Spiderman and Spongebob, though I have no desire to see them appear
together in the same cartoon. I would like to think I’m like the old Bugs Bunny….smart, funny, sometimes
smart-aleck, sure of himself. I sometimes manage to pull it off.
Heather: Uh oh. I’m pretty sure that I’ve never actually said this out loud… or well in this case typed it out
loud. Here goes… Hanna Barbera’s Wacky Races. I know… few people know this, but I assure you. This is
classic. I always wanted to be Penelope Pitstop. Sigh.
If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world (“Beam me up, Scotty!”), during any time in history,
where and when would it be—and why?
Brad: I would probably go back to the Middle East during the time of Christ, and see the events that so
shook up the world that people are still arguing about them, two-thousand years later. Then I would skip
ahead to New York in the 1920’s, when that place was so incredibly exciting, and everyone had money
and listened to jazz and wore hats and went to shows. That would be pretty amazing.
Heather: See? Brad always takes the cool answers… I would have to pick a time just five years ago. I
would choose to hop back to the day my son was born. It was one of the best days of my life… I’d love to
live it all again.
So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while
you’re writing?
Brad: I listen to a LOT of music, and love a little bit of everything. Lately I am listening to the r favorite type
of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while
you’re writing?
so is Sigur Ros, and so is Hooverphonic or Radiohead.
Heather: Elliot Smith, Nick Drake, the Eels, Jack Johnson, Finley Quaye. Mostly really mellow music
although I occasionally will throw on Metallica.
Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again? What was the last movie
you saw at the theater?
Brad: I love info-mercials and crappy reality shows, the worse the better. I especially like the one where
they make a bunch of has-been celebrities live together, because it’s so arbitrary. It’s like, “let’s create a
train wreck, then watch it happen.”
Heather: I am addicted to Miami Ink and anything on Food Network. I love any of the John Hughes movies.
… Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club.
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
Brad: Try to figure out what your thing is, as early as you can. If it's writing, or guitar, or acting, or
soccer....it doesn't matter. Just try to find it and then go at it full blast, dive at it head-first. Some people
never find their thing, because they aren't looking hard enough, and at age 35 they are still kinda going
along on autopilot.
Heather: Everyone says that your teen years are the best of your life, but I think it’s like anything else…. It’
s a mix. Don’t get caught up in the day to day junk that comes your way… try to look beyond it to the real
beauty that’s there right in front of you.
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
Brad and Heather: Next spring we are publishing Dream Factory, which is about a group of teenagers
working as replacement characters during a strike at Disney World. It’s the funniest thing we’ve written.
You can read more about it at our website, www.bradheather.com.
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
Brad and Heather: Thank you. It was fun.
name is Jen, and I’ll be your server toda…oh, wait, wrong job! Anyway, thanks so much for taking time out
of your writing schedule—which I’m sure is busy!—and answering a few questions for your readers and
fans.
Let’s get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you
wanted to be a writer?
Brad: I was always kinda vaguely creative….into drawing, magic, photography, etc. but never able to really
land on anything in particular. It wasn’t until I was about 18 I started writing some stories, and really liked it.
A couple of years later, I was sure writing was my thing, though I had no idea I’d ever be published.
Heather: I wish that I had a great answer like I’ve been journaling since I was three, but the reality is I
messed around with an art degree and then spent a few years as a pastry chef. I finally landed on writing
and decided that I liked it well enough to stick with it. I didn’t even think in terms of publishing anything until
about a year ago. I just thought I was messing around. Who knew I’d actually write a book?
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
Brad: The road for Scrambled Eggs was a pretty easy one. Our agent sent it out to about eight or so
editors at different publishing houses in New York. A few passed on it, but the rest wanted it. After that, it
was only a matter of who wanted it the most. We sold it in just a couple of weeks. Too easy, and I think
most writers hate us after they hear that story.
Heather: Brad is right – it went so fast. I didn’t even think it was real. I kept having to excuse myself from
my yoga class to take the phone calls when the auction was going on. When our agent finally called with
the final bid, I just said, “That’s great, but I really need to get back to class. We’re doing headstands next.”
Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one thing
about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?
Brad: Scrambled Eggs at Midnight is real. We wanted to write a book about what it really feels like to fall in
love, what it really feels like when it seems the whole world is pulling at you, and all you want is to be left
alone. And it’s funny. Wait, that was two things.
Heather: Jousters, wenches, barbeque, fireworks, chocolate chip cookies. What else is there?
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
Brad: For me, it’s just the lives of regular people, trying to understand who they are and why they are the
way they are, trying to see what’s inside them. For this book in particular, I have to say too that Heather
was amazing to work with, always getting us to move the book forward, and always so good and smart in
her writing. That kept me going.
Heather: My daily life is my greatest inspiration. The funny, quirky, crazy people that I meet and the
entirely insane twists that my life takes keep amazing me. I just think life goes so fast that writing has been
my way of taking just a bit of it and holding onto it.
Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
Brad: I have been doing this for a while, and my parents (who live in North Carolina) have always been
really proud, even if they aren’t used to reading much fiction. My own kids are used to the fact that their
dad is a writer, but I think it’s sometimes cool for them, like when they have a copy of the book before it’s
even published.
Heather: My family is so proud. My mom has told everyone she knows, stopping people in Barnes and
Noble to tell them her daughter wrote a book. My five-year old son currently has about 40 copies of
Scrambled Eggs stacked all over his room. He has decided to “buy” them all.
Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?
Brad: A bowl of cereal. I have my favorites, but I try to eat the healthy ones. Cheerios are good, or the
Kashi cereals if I’m being healthy. Lucky Charms if I’m not.
Heather: Easy… chocolate chip cookies every time.
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
Brad: Stumble out of bed, start making coffee, check email.
Heather: Drink a huge glass of water. Turn on Spongebob. Carry my son from bed to the couch.
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise
me the most?
Brad: Dirty clothes. I have an ongoing, epic battle with laundry, and I can never keep up. Wait, maybe
that’s not so surprising. I also have a bunch of negatives in there, from every photo I ever took, going
back to childhood.
Heather: I have a flip-flop obsession. I actually have different levels of them. Gardening flip-flops, around
town flip-flops, dressy flip-flops. You get the idea.
Everyone asks the question about “if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?” so I want to know: If
you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?
Brad: I think I would be gray, because I like being able to slip around unseen. I like to hang back and
watch people, see how they are, how they act around each other. If I were gray, I could slip in and out of
the fog, the gray days, the early evening.
Heather: Navy blue. There is something so calming and comforting about this color. The color of night.
The color of the deep ocean.
Who is your favorite cartoon character? Which cartoon character is most like you?
Brad: I’m a pretty big fan of both Spiderman and Spongebob, though I have no desire to see them appear
together in the same cartoon. I would like to think I’m like the old Bugs Bunny….smart, funny, sometimes
smart-aleck, sure of himself. I sometimes manage to pull it off.
Heather: Uh oh. I’m pretty sure that I’ve never actually said this out loud… or well in this case typed it out
loud. Here goes… Hanna Barbera’s Wacky Races. I know… few people know this, but I assure you. This is
classic. I always wanted to be Penelope Pitstop. Sigh.
If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world (“Beam me up, Scotty!”), during any time in history,
where and when would it be—and why?
Brad: I would probably go back to the Middle East during the time of Christ, and see the events that so
shook up the world that people are still arguing about them, two-thousand years later. Then I would skip
ahead to New York in the 1920’s, when that place was so incredibly exciting, and everyone had money
and listened to jazz and wore hats and went to shows. That would be pretty amazing.
Heather: See? Brad always takes the cool answers… I would have to pick a time just five years ago. I
would choose to hop back to the day my son was born. It was one of the best days of my life… I’d love to
live it all again.
So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while
you’re writing?
Brad: I listen to a LOT of music, and love a little bit of everything. Lately I am listening to the r favorite type
of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while
you’re writing?
so is Sigur Ros, and so is Hooverphonic or Radiohead.
Heather: Elliot Smith, Nick Drake, the Eels, Jack Johnson, Finley Quaye. Mostly really mellow music
although I occasionally will throw on Metallica.
Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again? What was the last movie
you saw at the theater?
Brad: I love info-mercials and crappy reality shows, the worse the better. I especially like the one where
they make a bunch of has-been celebrities live together, because it’s so arbitrary. It’s like, “let’s create a
train wreck, then watch it happen.”
Heather: I am addicted to Miami Ink and anything on Food Network. I love any of the John Hughes movies.
… Pretty in Pink, Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club.
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
Brad: Try to figure out what your thing is, as early as you can. If it's writing, or guitar, or acting, or
soccer....it doesn't matter. Just try to find it and then go at it full blast, dive at it head-first. Some people
never find their thing, because they aren't looking hard enough, and at age 35 they are still kinda going
along on autopilot.
Heather: Everyone says that your teen years are the best of your life, but I think it’s like anything else…. It’
s a mix. Don’t get caught up in the day to day junk that comes your way… try to look beyond it to the real
beauty that’s there right in front of you.
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
Brad and Heather: Next spring we are publishing Dream Factory, which is about a group of teenagers
working as replacement characters during a strike at Disney World. It’s the funniest thing we’ve written.
You can read more about it at our website, www.bradheather.com.
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
Brad and Heather: Thank you. It was fun.