Q: Why did you
write this book and why did you name it DIVE?
ReNeaSha/Age 11/MO
Mallerie/Age
8/NY
A: DIVE fit perfectly
because its about kids who scuba dive who discover the shipwreck
of a 17th century ship carrying more than a billion dollars worth of gold.
I also toyed with the idea of calling it Reef or Treasure,
but I stuck with DIVE because its such a great action word.
Q: What is it like
being a book writer? Do you enjoy your job being an author and writing
a book? How did you think of your first adventure book?
Alyssa/Age 6/CA
Jessica/Age
13/IN
Melissa/Age
12/MN
A: I love my job.
The way I see it, I get paid for making things up something I used
to do for free. My first adventure series was ISLAND. I had always written
funny books before that, but I wanted to try something more serious. As
a writer, you have to vary your style to keep it interesting for yourself.
If youre bored writing, it wont be interesting for anybody
else to read. Id always enjoyed good old-fashioned kid-versus-nature
survival stories, so ISLAND was a natural.
Q: When did you
start writing books for elementary aged children? When you write books
why do you pick such young characters with such
great adventures?
Patty/Age 13/IL
Rachel/Age 11/NC
A: I wrote my first
book, THIS CANT BE HAPPENING AT MACDONALD HALL, when I was in 7th
grade. It was a language arts project we had an entire semester
to work on whatever we wanted. It was published when I was in 9th grade.
I try to make my
characters funny and/or exciting because writing a novel is almost like
living with those characters for a few months. I certainly wouldnt
want to spend so much time hanging out with boring characters and
I dont think anybody would enjoy reading about them.
Q: Why did you
decide to write No More Dead Dogs? Where do you get your ideas? When I
try to write a book I'm dumbfounded.
Brittany/Age 12/IN
Taylor/Age 12/FL
A: Did you ever
notice that whenever you read a classic novel about a dog, the dog always
dies? Thats where NO MORE DEAD DOGS started. I wanted to mess around
with that idea, so I created a cast of characters involved in a school
play based on a fictional dead dog novel.
Q: I was at your
assembly in Farmingdale Public Schools - the Book Parade 2003. I was wondering
what is your favorite book series besides your own???
Dennis/Age 11/MI
A: My all-time
favorite book is THE HITCH-HIKERS GUIDE TO THE GALAXY by Douglas
Adams.
Q: How many publishers
did you have to send your book to, to get it published?
Christina/Age 10/NJ
A: I was lucky.
Scholastic was the first company I contacted. I knew about them because
I was the class monitor for the Arrow Book Orders. My first publisher
was Scholastic Canada, because thats where I grew up. Ive
been with some branch of Scholastic for more than 25 years now. I also
publish with Hyperion.
Q: Which one of
the books you have written is your favorite? What was
your favorite book when you were thirteen? When did you know that you
wanted to be a writer?
Nina/Age 13/WY
A: SON OF THE MOB
is my current favorite of all of my books. As a kid, I was a huge fan
of the Great Brain series.
I guess I knew
writing was the career for me in my senior year in high school. By then
I had finished four books, and was working on a fifth.
Q: In the Everest
and Island books, it seemed like Luke and Dominic were
your favorite characters. Am I right? Do they resemble you at all? Which
one of the characters is your absolute favorite? Which one resembles you
the most?
Mandy/Age 13/FL
A: Nice call! Although
J.J. was really starting to grow on me by the end of ISLAND #3. They dont
really resemble me, but I do greatly admire them. And my heart went out
to Luke, who lets face it was completely innocent,
and didnt belong on that boat trip in the first place.
If I had to pick
an absolute favorite, Id have to go with Dominic. Something unplanned
happened with Dominic when I was writing EVEREST. He came alive in ways
I never could have imagined.
As for me, Im
probably a cross between Kaz from DIVE and Ian from ISLAND.
Q: Why did you
have to make Bryn and her sleepwalking condition happen? When I was reading
your first book I was kinda mad but now I've got over it and I'm starting
to like Sammi. You and Bruce Coville are my favorite authors in the world.
But the whole point of this Question is why did you wash out Bryn?
Vannah/Age 10/
Mandy/Age 13/FL
A: My goal in EVEREST
#1 was to make the final team as unpredictable as possible. So it was
always in the plan for the top male and female candidates, Chris Alexis
and Bryn Fiedler, not to make it. The sleepwalking was just to add a little
mystery.
By the way, Bruce
Coville is a friend of mine. Hell be happy to know youre a
fan.
Q: In Summit, it
says that none of the teammates, have visited anywhere but America, but
I thought Sammi went to the Rockies, with Caleb?
Michelle/Age 12/NH
A: Wow! Youve
got a great eye for detail! But if you look at it again, youll see
that Sammi planned to go cliff-jumping with Caleb in the Canadian Rockies
when she thought shed washed out of SummitQuest. Once she was back
on the team, that plan was off.
Q: Were you ever
able to climb a mountain, or get stranded on a deserted island? Why did
you decide to write Everest? Did you climb Everest or something?
Amanda/Age 11/NC
Makayla/Age
9/AZ
A: No, none of
the trilogies are based on personal experience. Im not a scuba diver
either. In each of ISLAND, EVEREST, and DIVE, I was able to replace the
experience with research. At my local library, they always know what Im
working on based on the research books I check out.
Q: Dominic Alexis
is my favorite character. Is he gonna be in any other
books?
Jane/Age 11/NY
A: I would love
to write a sequel to EVEREST, although theres nothing planned so
far. How about this: Cap Cicero disappears on an expedition, and Dominic
reassembles the team to try to find out what happened to him.
Q: When will DIVE
come out and who are the main characters?
Kelsey/Age 11/IL
A: DIVE will be
in stores this summer. The main characters are Bobby Kaczinski (nickname:
Kaz), Star Ling, Adriana Ballantyne, and Dante Lewis. The series also
features the crew of a 17th century pirate ship, and an 18-foot tiger
shark named Clarence.
To learn more about the characters in DIVE, click
here.
Q: Hi, I don't
like many book's but I LOVED the trilogy Island. I think that you should
write more books with the same six kids. What do you think? Are you going
to make more books about Island?
Jordan/Age 12
Gloria/Age 11
A: I dont
have plans for more ISLAND books for this reason: the kids been rescued
already. What else can happen to them? Any ideas? Id love to see
them.
Im glad you
enjoyed the six-kid setup. EVEREST and DIVE both feature only four main
characters. Id be interested to hear why you prefer the larger cast.
Q: Are the kids
in your Everest books fiction or non-fiction? I know the facts about Everest
and some of the previous climbers are true -- but what about these kids?
Did they really attempt to climb Everest or is this just a wild notion?
Also: Is your Island series based on true information?
Keisha/Age 12/ID
Emily/Age 12/TX
A: No, the four
kids on the SummitQuest team are pure fiction. The current record for
the youngest conquest of EVEREST belongs to a sixteen-year-old Sherpa
boy. I dont believe any western teenagers have ever summited, although
at least one has made it to Camp Four.
Similarly, ISLAND
is fictional, although parts of it are rooted in fact. There is a small
Micronesian island called Tinian, which held the airbase from which the
U.S. dropped the two atomic bombs that ended World War Two.
In DIVE, the kids
are fictional, but the various types of diving they do scuba, underwater
habitat, deep sea submersible, extreme mixed-gas, and helmet saturation
diving are all based on fact.
Q: Hi I like reading
your books they're very gooooood well I want to
ask you if your going to make new books. Tips: make a new adventure book
that everyone will want to read, a mystery book...well bye
Nina/Age 12
A: Thanks! Along
with DIVE, my newest novel is called MAXX COMEDY: THE FUNNIEST KID IN
AMERICA. Its about a 6th grader who is a professional stand-up comedian.
It should be in stores right now.
Q: What is your
next book after DIVE?
Kirsten/Age 12/WA
A: After DIVE and
MAXX comes a young adult novel called JAKE, REINVENTED. It will be published
this fall.
Q: Dear Mr Korman
-- I have this thing about penguins. I was wondering if you plan to write
a series taking place in the antartic and have you ever met a penguin
you didn't like?
Riding/Age 9/
A: Hey, you never
know. Theres certainly plenty of adventure to be had down there,
and no, Ive never met a penguin I didnt like.
Q: Do you read
Harry Potter?
Elayne/Age 10/IL
A: Ive read
all four Harry Potter books, and Im looking forward to #5.
Q: Why didn't you
connect the Everest mountain on the three covers like
you did on the Island books?
Rachel/Age 11/NC
A: Good question.
Actually, we tried. The design people couldnt make it look good
because the mountain wasnt the right shape.
Q: Hi! Mr. Gordon
sir but I have a school project were I have to interview
an author can you help me out?
Justin/Age 12/SC
A: Sure. You can
contact me through my website, www.gordonkorman.com.
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