| Interview with Steve Berman |
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?
Oh, back in elementary school I used to write these horrible parodies of James Bond/Pulp detectives.
My classmates would groan if I read them aloud. So I decided to become a doctor until I learned the
sight of blood makes me faint. So back to writing. Hopefully there are less groans these days.
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
I sold my first short story when I was 17. It was a few years until the next and a looong time until my
novel, Vintage, came out. Back in 1997 I came up with the idea and worked on the manuscript on-and-
off for several years before it found a home at Haworth Press.
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?
Who can resist a boy-meets-ghost boy book?
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
I’m not sure about inspiration, but one of my most dedicated supporters has been Holly Black. We
worked together at a small publisher in NYC in the ‘90s and became fast friends, reading each others’
work and daydreaming about being famous writers.
Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
My folks are proud, but my father wants me to write something that would earn enough to buy him a
winter condo someplace warm in Nevada.
Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?
Mac and cheese.
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
Scratch my cat, Daulton, behind the ears. Drink coffee. Read the newspaper (The Philadelphia
Inquirer, if you must know).
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would
surprise me the most?
Probably my old Renaissance faire costumes.
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?
Could I be that weird, indefinable colour from outer space that Lovecraft created?
Who is your favorite cartoon character? Which cartoon character is most like you?
The Brain from Pinky and the Brain because as a kid I would fantasy about world domination. Second
choice would be Darkwing Duck, because I adore hapless heroes.
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?
Victorian England and a party hosted by Oscar Wilde. You just know that would be an impressive
bash. No Jack the Rippers invited.
So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while
you’re writing?
I have a varied collection of music on my iTunes. Ottmar Liebert. Melissa Etheridge. Showtunes from
Oliver! and Hairspray and Spamalot. I often listen to orchestral music when writing so I’m not
distracted by words.
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?
Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. was a perfect show, I think. There are movies I’ll see again and
again. Road to Morocco. American Dreamer. I like a lot of old movies. Last flick I saw in the theater
was The Simpsons Movie.
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
Tomorrow exists. Too often we get so down by what has happened this very day that the notion of
tomorrow is unthinkable. But there is another day, and another after that, and whatever is hurting you
at the moment may not tomorrow, so just hang on until then.
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
The Endicott-Studio, a great source for info on folklore, has a quarterly online magazine called the
Journal of Mythic Arts. This summer’s issue is dedicated to YA fiction and has a story of mine (and
Holly’s, too).
I edited a collection of LGBT-themed fairy stories, So Fey, that just released and I have another
anthology of YA fantasy anthology called Magic in the Mirrorstone coming out in February of 2008.
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
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?
Oh, back in elementary school I used to write these horrible parodies of James Bond/Pulp detectives.
My classmates would groan if I read them aloud. So I decided to become a doctor until I learned the
sight of blood makes me faint. So back to writing. Hopefully there are less groans these days.
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
I sold my first short story when I was 17. It was a few years until the next and a looong time until my
novel, Vintage, came out. Back in 1997 I came up with the idea and worked on the manuscript on-and-
off for several years before it found a home at Haworth Press.
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?
Who can resist a boy-meets-ghost boy book?
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
I’m not sure about inspiration, but one of my most dedicated supporters has been Holly Black. We
worked together at a small publisher in NYC in the ‘90s and became fast friends, reading each others’
work and daydreaming about being famous writers.
Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
My folks are proud, but my father wants me to write something that would earn enough to buy him a
winter condo someplace warm in Nevada.
Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?
Mac and cheese.
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
Scratch my cat, Daulton, behind the ears. Drink coffee. Read the newspaper (The Philadelphia
Inquirer, if you must know).
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would
surprise me the most?
Probably my old Renaissance faire costumes.
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?
Could I be that weird, indefinable colour from outer space that Lovecraft created?
Who is your favorite cartoon character? Which cartoon character is most like you?
The Brain from Pinky and the Brain because as a kid I would fantasy about world domination. Second
choice would be Darkwing Duck, because I adore hapless heroes.
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?
Victorian England and a party hosted by Oscar Wilde. You just know that would be an impressive
bash. No Jack the Rippers invited.
So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while
you’re writing?
I have a varied collection of music on my iTunes. Ottmar Liebert. Melissa Etheridge. Showtunes from
Oliver! and Hairspray and Spamalot. I often listen to orchestral music when writing so I’m not
distracted by words.
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?
Adventures of Brisco County, Jr. was a perfect show, I think. There are movies I’ll see again and
again. Road to Morocco. American Dreamer. I like a lot of old movies. Last flick I saw in the theater
was The Simpsons Movie.
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
Tomorrow exists. Too often we get so down by what has happened this very day that the notion of
tomorrow is unthinkable. But there is another day, and another after that, and whatever is hurting you
at the moment may not tomorrow, so just hang on until then.
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
The Endicott-Studio, a great source for info on folklore, has a quarterly online magazine called the
Journal of Mythic Arts. This summer’s issue is dedicated to YA fiction and has a story of mine (and
Holly’s, too).
I edited a collection of LGBT-themed fairy stories, So Fey, that just released and I have another
anthology of YA fantasy anthology called Magic in the Mirrorstone coming out in February of 2008.
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
