| Interview with Will Leitch |
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 know the typical answer here is to say, "from the minute I was born," but that would be untrue, mainly
because babies can't even open their eyes when they're born, making it difficult to understand the notion of
typing. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a broadcaster for the Cardinals. As for being a writer, it became
very clear early on that writing was the only thing I was any good at it. So I kept doing it. Though if I would
have been a good baseball player, I would have done that. Unfortunately, I wasn't.
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
Well, I wrote an old column called "Life As A Loser," and my editor at Razorbill, Kristen Pettit, had read it
and, for whatever reason, thought it was pretty good. She approached me and asked if I'd be up for writing
a book. I didn't think I'd be able to do it, but her faith in me kind of made it happen. She's the best editor
anybody could hope for.
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?
I think too many books for teens are set in a prep school, an affluent suburb or New York City. There are
some great ones set there, of course, but I wanted to write a book about normal, good-hearted kids in a
part of the country – a rural small town – that doesn't get much understanding or exposure. (CATCH)
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
This may sound weird, but Woody Allen. I think the man's a genius. But don't worry: I take no cues from his
personal life.
Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
I'm trying to get my parents to read the book; they're not big readers, so they haven't gotten around to it
yet. Seriously! But they're proud of me, because they're good parents. And they know writing is the only
thing I really enjoy doing, so that makes them happy too.
Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?
Chocolate milk. Honestly. My fiancée always makes fun of me for this.
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
First off, I yell at the alarm clock. Then I go to the gym, which is just down the street from my apartment.
And then I grab coffee, which I only started drinking a few months ago. I do not recommend anyone start.
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise
me the most?
The fact that I have about 34,481 socks, and absolutely none of them match.
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?
I would be chartreuse, because no one really knows what the color actually is.
Who is your favorite cartoon character? Which cartoon character is most like you?
I would be Foghorn Leghorn. I love how he tries to pronounce difficult words and then gives up and says a
simpler one. I totally do that.
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 want immediately go to the Grassy Knoll in Dallas in November 1963. Not because I want to know
the mystery of the JFK assassination. I just hear Dallas has some great steak places.
So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while
you’re writing?
I always listen to music when I'm writing. I don't deal with silence well. I remain, 12 years later, obsessed with
Nirvana. I wept openly when Kurt died, and I'm not ashamed to admit that.
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 saw the Al Gore global warming movie and found it completely terrifying. My favorite TV shows are "The
Office" and "The Sopranos." There are TV shows I like that don't start with "The," but I can't think of any
right now.
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
It's very simple: Figure out what the one thing you love to do more than anything is, and do everything in
your power to do that for the rest of your life. It's not new advice, but it's great advice.
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
I'm working on two new books right now. That's completely ambitious, and I’m going to make my head
explode, but hey, this is why writing is fun, right? Right?
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
Thank you. I hope I look handsome in the picture you run. If you run a picture.
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 know the typical answer here is to say, "from the minute I was born," but that would be untrue, mainly
because babies can't even open their eyes when they're born, making it difficult to understand the notion of
typing. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a broadcaster for the Cardinals. As for being a writer, it became
very clear early on that writing was the only thing I was any good at it. So I kept doing it. Though if I would
have been a good baseball player, I would have done that. Unfortunately, I wasn't.
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
Well, I wrote an old column called "Life As A Loser," and my editor at Razorbill, Kristen Pettit, had read it
and, for whatever reason, thought it was pretty good. She approached me and asked if I'd be up for writing
a book. I didn't think I'd be able to do it, but her faith in me kind of made it happen. She's the best editor
anybody could hope for.
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?
I think too many books for teens are set in a prep school, an affluent suburb or New York City. There are
some great ones set there, of course, but I wanted to write a book about normal, good-hearted kids in a
part of the country – a rural small town – that doesn't get much understanding or exposure. (CATCH)
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
This may sound weird, but Woody Allen. I think the man's a genius. But don't worry: I take no cues from his
personal life.
Let’s hear about your family, who I’m sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
I'm trying to get my parents to read the book; they're not big readers, so they haven't gotten around to it
yet. Seriously! But they're proud of me, because they're good parents. And they know writing is the only
thing I really enjoy doing, so that makes them happy too.
Now for some fun facts. What’s your greatest comfort food?
Chocolate milk. Honestly. My fiancée always makes fun of me for this.
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
First off, I yell at the alarm clock. Then I go to the gym, which is just down the street from my apartment.
And then I grab coffee, which I only started drinking a few months ago. I do not recommend anyone start.
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what’s the one thing that would surprise
me the most?
The fact that I have about 34,481 socks, and absolutely none of them match.
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?
I would be chartreuse, because no one really knows what the color actually is.
Who is your favorite cartoon character? Which cartoon character is most like you?
I would be Foghorn Leghorn. I love how he tries to pronounce difficult words and then gives up and says a
simpler one. I totally do that.
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 want immediately go to the Grassy Knoll in Dallas in November 1963. Not because I want to know
the mystery of the JFK assassination. I just hear Dallas has some great steak places.
So what’s your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while
you’re writing?
I always listen to music when I'm writing. I don't deal with silence well. I remain, 12 years later, obsessed with
Nirvana. I wept openly when Kurt died, and I'm not ashamed to admit that.
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 saw the Al Gore global warming movie and found it completely terrifying. My favorite TV shows are "The
Office" and "The Sopranos." There are TV shows I like that don't start with "The," but I can't think of any
right now.
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
It's very simple: Figure out what the one thing you love to do more than anything is, and do everything in
your power to do that for the rest of your life. It's not new advice, but it's great advice.
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
I'm working on two new books right now. That's completely ambitious, and I’m going to make my head
explode, but hey, this is why writing is fun, right? Right?
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
Thank you. I hope I look handsome in the picture you run. If you run a picture.
