| Interview with April Henry |
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?
When I was 11, I wrote a story about a frog who loved peanut butter and sent it Roald Dahl, the guy who
wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He had lunch with a woman who published an international
children’s magazine, and she contacted me asking if she could publish it.
As I got older, though, being a writer seemed like something that was really for people who had grown up in
big cities, gone to better schools, and who read Moby Dick for fun as children. It wasn’t until my 20s that I
turned to writing more seriously again.
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
I wrote one book that everyone liked a little bit of, but no one liked the whole thing. People would tell me I
had all the material, it just needed extensive rewriting. That’s like telling someone who has built a house
that all they need to do is tear it apart and start over, but not to worry because they already have the
lumber, windows, doors, etc. Instead, I wrote another book. That book got me an agent, but it didn’t sell.
Finally my fourth book sold in three days – and I became an “overnight” success.
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?
Shock Point begins when Cassie is kidnapped – by her own parents, who think she is using drugs.
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
I love to read, but no one pays me for that. So instead I tell myself a story that turns into a novel. Just
reading the newspaper every day is an inspiration. There are so many stories.
Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
My dad always wanted to write and gave me all his writing books when I first got published. My daughter
helps me out with characters’ names. I read most of each book aloud to her and she will chime in if she
thinks something doesn’t work.
Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?
Lay’s Mesquite Barbecue Potato Chips and Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup.
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
Make coffee. Check my email. Ride an exercise bike – while reading, of course!
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise
me the most?
I am a major clothes horse – but I’m cheap. I buy most of my clothes off e-bay. I grew up poor, so I don’t
mind if they are used (or lovingly pre-worn).
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?
Red, because it’s vibrant, energetic, and alive!
Who is your favorite cartoon character? Which cartoon character is most like you?
Lisa on the Simpsons, except I’m not a vegetarian or a Buddhist. I always felt too smart in school.
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?
I would like to see the pageantry at King Henry VII’s court – but not stay long enough to lose my head!
When I was a girl, I loved reading about English history.
So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while
you’re writing?
I like rock. I have hundreds of songs on my I-pod. I like everyone from Kathleen Edwards to Jet to the
White Stripes. I do listen to music when I’m writing, but I can’t listen to it too loudly in case I start paying
attention to the 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?
I love “24” for the twists and turns. The first season was the best.
I like movies and watch a lot of them. My favorite part is the previews. It’s fun to see how they tell a story in
three minutes. The last movie I saw was about Neil Young, a musician who has been around forever.
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
When you’re 15, you think everyone is looking at you. When you’re 25, you decide you don’t care that
everyone is looking at you. And by the time you’re 35, you realize that no one was looking at you at all.
So…try to enjoy who you are.
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
Fire, Kiss, Electric Chair will be out next year from Putnam. In it, 16-year-old Ellie goes undercover with an
environmental group that’s kind of like Earth Liberation Front.
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
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?
When I was 11, I wrote a story about a frog who loved peanut butter and sent it Roald Dahl, the guy who
wrote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. He had lunch with a woman who published an international
children’s magazine, and she contacted me asking if she could publish it.
As I got older, though, being a writer seemed like something that was really for people who had grown up in
big cities, gone to better schools, and who read Moby Dick for fun as children. It wasn’t until my 20s that I
turned to writing more seriously again.
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
I wrote one book that everyone liked a little bit of, but no one liked the whole thing. People would tell me I
had all the material, it just needed extensive rewriting. That’s like telling someone who has built a house
that all they need to do is tear it apart and start over, but not to worry because they already have the
lumber, windows, doors, etc. Instead, I wrote another book. That book got me an agent, but it didn’t sell.
Finally my fourth book sold in three days – and I became an “overnight” success.
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?
Shock Point begins when Cassie is kidnapped – by her own parents, who think she is using drugs.
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
I love to read, but no one pays me for that. So instead I tell myself a story that turns into a novel. Just
reading the newspaper every day is an inspiration. There are so many stories.
Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
My dad always wanted to write and gave me all his writing books when I first got published. My daughter
helps me out with characters’ names. I read most of each book aloud to her and she will chime in if she
thinks something doesn’t work.
Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?
Lay’s Mesquite Barbecue Potato Chips and Campbell’s Cream of Mushroom Soup.
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
Make coffee. Check my email. Ride an exercise bike – while reading, of course!
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise
me the most?
I am a major clothes horse – but I’m cheap. I buy most of my clothes off e-bay. I grew up poor, so I don’t
mind if they are used (or lovingly pre-worn).
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?
Red, because it’s vibrant, energetic, and alive!
Who is your favorite cartoon character? Which cartoon character is most like you?
Lisa on the Simpsons, except I’m not a vegetarian or a Buddhist. I always felt too smart in school.
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?
I would like to see the pageantry at King Henry VII’s court – but not stay long enough to lose my head!
When I was a girl, I loved reading about English history.
So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while
you’re writing?
I like rock. I have hundreds of songs on my I-pod. I like everyone from Kathleen Edwards to Jet to the
White Stripes. I do listen to music when I’m writing, but I can’t listen to it too loudly in case I start paying
attention to the 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?
I love “24” for the twists and turns. The first season was the best.
I like movies and watch a lot of them. My favorite part is the previews. It’s fun to see how they tell a story in
three minutes. The last movie I saw was about Neil Young, a musician who has been around forever.
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
When you’re 15, you think everyone is looking at you. When you’re 25, you decide you don’t care that
everyone is looking at you. And by the time you’re 35, you realize that no one was looking at you at all.
So…try to enjoy who you are.
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
Fire, Kiss, Electric Chair will be out next year from Putnam. In it, 16-year-old Ellie goes undercover with an
environmental group that’s kind of like Earth Liberation Front.
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!