Decoding Writing with The 39 Clues featuring Ruth Culham and the Traits of Writing

Gordon Korman

Korman wrote his first book when he was 12 years old. "It wasn't on purpose." He says, "In my school, the track and field coach had to teach language arts, and for writing, he just told us to work on whatever we wanted for the rest of the year." Korman sent his manuscript for This Can't be Happening at Macdonald Hall to Scholastic, and it was published in 1978 when he was fourteen. Now Korman has 65 novels to his credit, including Swindle, Zoobreak, and three installments of The 39 Clues.

Jude Watson

What could be more fun than writing in your journal? Well, how about writing Queen Amidala's journal for her? Jude Watson gained a following as a celebrated author in the prequel-era of the Star Wars phenomenon. She is now best known for her two New York Times bestselling The 39 Clues books and as a National Book Award finalist for her young adult novel What I Saw and How Lied (written under Judy Blundell).

Linda Sue Park

Park's first publication was a haiku in a children's magazine when she was 9 years old. She received one dollar for it! She gave the check to her dad who framed it and hung it over his desk. A year later the magazine company wrote to Park, asking her to cash the check. When she wrote back to explain where it was, they said it was okay if her dad kept it. He still has it to this day! Park went on to win a Newbery Medal for A Single Shard and to publish multiple picture books and novels, including the 9^th book in The 39 Clues series.

Rick Riordan

Riordan started his writing career with an adult mystery series set in his hometown of San Antonio, TX, but is best known for his mega-bestselling middle-grade series, Percy Jackson and the Olympians. "I think kids want the same thing from a book that adults want-a fast-paced story, characters worth caring about, humor, surprises, and mystery," says Riordan. "A good book always keeps you asking questions, and makes you keep turning pages so you can find out the answers." Riordan kicked off The 39 Clues series with Book 1: The Maze of Bones and wrote the story arc for the series.

Peter Lerangis

According to Lerangis, it is Jack London's fault. He was in fifth grade, reading London's short story "To Build a Fire," set in the Arctic. He began shivering uncontrollably, in a kind of fugue state, right in his suburban bedroom. Because of words! Whatever London had done, Lerangis wanted to do that when he grew up. And he's been trying ever since, with more than 160 books under his belt, including three The 39 Clues books to date.