Interview with Adam Beechen
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?
I guess I pretty much always knew I wanted to tell stories in some fashion. I performed in a lot of plays
when I was a kid, drew a lot of cartoons, wrote a lot of stories. I read a lot, as well, and made up my own
adventures featuring the characters I read about. I thought there was nothing cooler than getting to tell
neat stories about neat characters, whether created by others or made up on your own. As I got older, I
didn't know how one went about being a professional storyteller, so I went to journalism school and
figured I'd tell stories in a different way, but that really wasn't for me, so I went back to film school to
learn how to be a screenwriter. Everything since has really come out of that.
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
I'd been working as an animation writer for a while, on shows like TEEN TITANS, THE WILD
THORNBERRYS, RUGRATS and THE BATMAN, and that was leading to comic book work at DC, so I
was meeting a lot of different kinds of people in different kinds of professions, including Shannon
Denton, who told me all about his plans for Actionopolis. It sounded very exciting, so when he offered
me the chance to write SUMMER VACATION, I jumped at it.
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?
WHAT I DID ON MY HYPERGALACTIC, INTERSTELLAR SUMMER VACATION is for anyone who's ever
daydreamed about being somewhere other than they are, living a life they think would be more exciting
than their own. It's the kind of high adventure story I'd make up for myself all the time when I was a kid.
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
Comic books! They fired my imagination at a very early age, the sense that they could take you
anywhere you could imagine, and even show you pictures of it to boot!
Let's hear about your family, who I'm sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
Well, I'm an only child, but my parents do think it's pretty cool that they can pick up a book with my name
on it. But I'm sure they wonder where all the ideas come from. I wonder myself, actually.
Now for some fun facts. What's your greatest comfort food?
Macaroni and cheese!
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
Turn on the computer, brush my teeth, check my e-mail.
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what's the one thing that would
surprise me the most?
My collection of vintage Phoenix Suns NBA memorabilia! I'm a fiend for stuff from the history of my
favorite sports team. I have jerseys, warm-up jackets, shoes, autographs, basketballs, posters,
bobbleheads--all kinds of stuff.
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?
Purple! Purple and orange are the Suns' colors, baby!
Who is your favorite cartoon character? Which cartoon character is most like you?
Hmm. I was always sort of a Peter Parker type, only without the wall-crawling and the webs. I always felt
like I could relate to his trials and tribulations, when I was a kid.
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?
Hamburg, Germany, early 1960s. I'd want to see the Beatles just starting out, at the beginning of all the
social change that was to come.
So what's your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while
you're writing?
I don't generally listen to music while I write, and I really should. For some reason, I think I'm more
productive in silence, but I'm not sure that's the case. These days, I'm listening to an amazing indie band
called The Mountain Goats, but also lots of the Hold Steady, and my standbys, Aimee Mann and XTC.
For retro moments, the Kinks.
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?
The last movie I saw in the theater was CHILDREN OF MEN, which is coming out soon. It was amazing.
Sort of had the feel of 28 DAYS LATER, crossed with 12 MONKEYS, meeting up with Y: THE LAST MAN.
Movies I can watch over and over? BREAKING AWAY. ROCKY. DIE HARD. SPINAL TAP. These days,
my favorite TV shows are shows like LOST, THE OFFICE and THE WIRE. But all-time, shows like HILL
STREET BLUES, MY SO-CALLED LIFE, SPORTSNIGHT and THE WEST WING.
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
It's a three-part piece of advice: Read, think, write. Be open to what happens around you, and let what
you see and feel inspire stories. Then, if you have stories to tell, tell them.
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
I'm writing ROBIN and JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED for DC Comics, and the animated show I'm working
on, EDGAR & ELLEN, will be on Nicktoons in 2007!
Again, thanks so much for joining us at 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?
I guess I pretty much always knew I wanted to tell stories in some fashion. I performed in a lot of plays
when I was a kid, drew a lot of cartoons, wrote a lot of stories. I read a lot, as well, and made up my own
adventures featuring the characters I read about. I thought there was nothing cooler than getting to tell
neat stories about neat characters, whether created by others or made up on your own. As I got older, I
didn't know how one went about being a professional storyteller, so I went to journalism school and
figured I'd tell stories in a different way, but that really wasn't for me, so I went back to film school to
learn how to be a screenwriter. Everything since has really come out of that.
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
I'd been working as an animation writer for a while, on shows like TEEN TITANS, THE WILD
THORNBERRYS, RUGRATS and THE BATMAN, and that was leading to comic book work at DC, so I
was meeting a lot of different kinds of people in different kinds of professions, including Shannon
Denton, who told me all about his plans for Actionopolis. It sounded very exciting, so when he offered
me the chance to write SUMMER VACATION, I jumped at it.
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?
WHAT I DID ON MY HYPERGALACTIC, INTERSTELLAR SUMMER VACATION is for anyone who's ever
daydreamed about being somewhere other than they are, living a life they think would be more exciting
than their own. It's the kind of high adventure story I'd make up for myself all the time when I was a kid.
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
Comic books! They fired my imagination at a very early age, the sense that they could take you
anywhere you could imagine, and even show you pictures of it to boot!
Let's hear about your family, who I'm sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
Well, I'm an only child, but my parents do think it's pretty cool that they can pick up a book with my name
on it. But I'm sure they wonder where all the ideas come from. I wonder myself, actually.
Now for some fun facts. What's your greatest comfort food?
Macaroni and cheese!
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
Turn on the computer, brush my teeth, check my e-mail.
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what's the one thing that would
surprise me the most?
My collection of vintage Phoenix Suns NBA memorabilia! I'm a fiend for stuff from the history of my
favorite sports team. I have jerseys, warm-up jackets, shoes, autographs, basketballs, posters,
bobbleheads--all kinds of stuff.
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?
Purple! Purple and orange are the Suns' colors, baby!
Who is your favorite cartoon character? Which cartoon character is most like you?
Hmm. I was always sort of a Peter Parker type, only without the wall-crawling and the webs. I always felt
like I could relate to his trials and tribulations, when I was a kid.
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?
Hamburg, Germany, early 1960s. I'd want to see the Beatles just starting out, at the beginning of all the
social change that was to come.
So what's your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while
you're writing?
I don't generally listen to music while I write, and I really should. For some reason, I think I'm more
productive in silence, but I'm not sure that's the case. These days, I'm listening to an amazing indie band
called The Mountain Goats, but also lots of the Hold Steady, and my standbys, Aimee Mann and XTC.
For retro moments, the Kinks.
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?
The last movie I saw in the theater was CHILDREN OF MEN, which is coming out soon. It was amazing.
Sort of had the feel of 28 DAYS LATER, crossed with 12 MONKEYS, meeting up with Y: THE LAST MAN.
Movies I can watch over and over? BREAKING AWAY. ROCKY. DIE HARD. SPINAL TAP. These days,
my favorite TV shows are shows like LOST, THE OFFICE and THE WIRE. But all-time, shows like HILL
STREET BLUES, MY SO-CALLED LIFE, SPORTSNIGHT and THE WEST WING.
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
It's a three-part piece of advice: Read, think, write. Be open to what happens around you, and let what
you see and feel inspire stories. Then, if you have stories to tell, tell them.
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
I'm writing ROBIN and JUSTICE LEAGUE UNLIMITED for DC Comics, and the animated show I'm working
on, EDGAR & ELLEN, will be on Nicktoons in 2007!
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
| Visit Adam Beechen On Actionopolis! |