Andrew Smith

I heard Andrew Smith speak at Ventura /Santa Barbara Writers Day last fall.  I had heard much buzz about his YA novel Ghost Medicine and looked forward to his speech. Andrew was informative, inspiring and witty. It gives me great pleasure to interview Andrew Smith.

When and why did you start writing for children?

I don't think I ever consciously decided to write for children. I just wrote. And I think that writers of Young Adult fiction kind of bristle at the term "children," because our audience and characters really
aren't children.

That said, I guess I started writing stories ever since I used a really fat pencil and wrote on that paper with the really wide lines. I always knew I would be a writer. But when I was in high school and told my parents that I wanted to be a writer, they just about choked on their dinner. I remember them saying, “But what do you really want to do?” It didn't matter to me, though, because I paid my own way through college and I was dedicated to becoming a journalism or literature major. My first actual job was writing for a newspaper, too. In those days, we got paid by the inch of copy,  which, I believe, accounts for some of the long, long sentences in Ghost Medicine. Old habits die hard, I guess. I ended up not liking writing for newspapers and, later, radio stations, and I eventually drifted around all over the world.

What is the most valuable advice you can give to a newly published writer?

Well, I don't know how valuable my advice is... but I'd say that the best thing you can do if you're a newly published writer is to start on your next project. Personally, though, I do have to take a little recovery time to rest after finishing a novel, because the process for me is pretty mentally and physically draining. I think that, after a debut, many writers get scared that they won't be able to come up with a second novel. When I wrote Ghost Medicine, I almost convinced myself that I wouldn't be able to write another novel; that I was somehow emptying myself out. In reality, my next four novels became easier to write. I found that a quick return to writing something new made the whole process easier and more natural. 

What is one of your favorite children's books that you'd like to recommend?

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain is one of my favorite books for young readers. It's a perfect book for boys. I also greatly enjoyed reading Ray Bradbury's Something Wicked This Way Comes, which is a brilliant piece of fiction that will really challenge a young reader. As far as recent releases go, I think Lewis Buzbee's Steinbeck's Ghost is a terrific book that will inspire young readers to go beyond the limits of their current bookshelves.

What are you working on now?

At the moment, I am waiting for the galley of my second novel, in the path of falling objects, which will be released by Feiwel and Friends/Macmillan in Fall 2009. I completed my fourth novel, which happens to be my favorite, in August. It’s a contemporary, very edgy, funny (I think) Young Adult novel called Winger. And currently, I am also writing a fifth novel, which is a tense Young Adult mystery/action/adventure/historical set about a hundred years ago. I do have a title for it, but I think I’ll hold off on saying anything more about it, because who knows how it will all end up?

What is your favorite dessert and why?

I'm not a big dessert eater, but if I had to pick the ultimate dessert, I would do it in a big way: Ice cream and white wine sitting at an outdoor cafe on a summer night in the Piazza de Unita in Trieste, Italy.

Yeah... that works for me.


Andrew Smith lives in the mountains above Los Angeles where he keeps horses. His next book, in the path of falling objects, will be published by Feiwel and Friends in September 2009.

Did I mention (may have been too early) the starred review Ghost Medicine received from Publisher's Weekly? Here's a line from it:

"Smith's first novel, a deceptively simple coming-of-age story, defies expectations via its sublime imagery and elliptical narrative structure."

The books:

http://www.pathoffallingobjects.com
http://www.ghostmedicine.com

Blog:

http://ghostmedicine.blogspot.com

Ghost Medicine (2008)
in the path of falling objects (2009)

Comments

[Andrew Smith]

Hey... thanks, Sherrie. I just saw the cover art for the next book today. It looks incredible. As soon as I get the go-ahead, that artwork will be everywhere.

Andrew

[Sherrie]

After hearing Andrew speak at Writer's Day in T.O. I had to buy his book. I'm so glad I did. It was a great story and I'm looking forward to reading his next book!