Monday Interview Series: King Arthur

Today, we're taking a journey through the mists of Avalon to talk to a giant of myth, literature, and history--none other than King Arthur himself. We met with Arthur in his court at Camelot. Will he let us sit at the Round Table? We shall see...

Greg:  So, this is the wondrous Camelot, is it?

Arthur:  Yes, magnificent, is it not? It is the wonder of all Britain. Travelers come from far and wide just to gaze upon its beauty.

Greg:  Well, I can certainly see why. This hall is huge. There are magnificent tapestries hanging on the wall, a roaring fire, a table laid for a feast, and of course, the legendary Round Table.

Arthur:  Ah, yes, humility prevents me from boasting, but I must admit that it is all rather splendid. Of course, all this has been hard-won. It did not just fall into my lap. Britain was a mess. The cursed Saxons had the run of the place.

Greg:  Oh yes, that's right. You and Merlin united the whole country and rose up against the Saxons. Your success ushered in a Golden Age. That's how it went, right?

Arthur:  Well, yes, if you believe everything you read. To be brutally frank, Merlin did not have much to do with it. He wasn't as big a deal as he's made out to be. His magic was not really that spectacular. We once had a visitor from the far off land of Conn Ect Icut who could blot out the sun. Merlin could not perform such wondrous works.

No, it was due to myself and Excalibur, my magic sword, to which most of the praise and honor is due. After all, it was I who won the heart of Guinevere, the comeliest maid throughout the whole of Britain. Merlin could not get so much as a date.

Greg:  I see. There are some who say your origins are rooted in history, while others say you're completely legendary. What do you have to say about that?

A Writer's Week: School Days

This week, I was fortunate to visit another school. Thank you very much to Mrs. Woodard and her 2nd grade class! I really enjoyed myself. The kids were great, and asked a lot of fantastic questions.

This was the youngest class that I've visited so far. I was a little worried about how to approach them. Their teacher had not started reading the book to them yet. She's waiting until June to start it, since they're just a hair young for it. I decided that I'd just talk to them in general about writing.

So that's what I did. I gave them a little information about The Deliverers and then asked if any of them liked to write. About 80% of the class raised their hands. So I asked them to tell me what types of things they liked to write. From there, it was off into how they get ideas for their stories and what kinds of characters they wrote about.

I explained how I wrote the book and how I got my ideas and where my characters came from. They were asking questions all the time, and were really engaged. Then, I pulled out a little stone owl. I passed it around to the class, and told them that when I went to China, I found "Stig" sitting on a shelf. I decided to bring him home, and he sat nearby as I wrote the rest of The Deliverers. 

Then, they asked me to read some of the book. At that point, we were pressed for time, so I read the first five or six pages, which touched off another round of questions. All in all, a great session. I've got another school visit scheduled for next week, and I'll fill you in on how that goes.

As for my writing...The new book hasn't progressed, word-wise, since last week. However, I have reread the 112 pages of the manuscript that I've written so far, and have identified a few inconsistencies. I'm also trying to figure out what, if anything, about the plot has to be reworked. I don't know that anything does right now, but that just may be due to a lack of objectivity on my part--it's hard to say.

I was looking to instill a greater sense of urgency into the book. Right now there's no deadline they have to meet. I am running dual story lines, and they cut over every couple of chapters or so, so that keeps the plot moving along, in my opinion. I think that I'll be able to start moving the story forward again in the coming week. I'll check in with an update again next week!

My Favorite Books: My Brother Sam is Dead

It's been a while since I wrote an installment of this column. In the last one, I wrote about The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Today, I want to talk about another book I loved as a child, and one that I still enjoy, My Brother Sam is Dead by Christopher and James Lincoln Collier.

Why this is one of my favorite books.

I've got a few reasons:

1. First of all, the events depicted in the book take place in the same area in which I grew up. One of the places they travel through, Ridgebury, is the section of Ridgefield, CT in which I grew up. It sparked my imagination to think of them traveling right by my house. It didn't matter that our property was a farmer's field back then.

I knew all the landmarks that were mentioned and had been to Putnam Park in Redding, which was the site of General Putnam's winter encampment. It made history come alive. Check out this link to see what some of the book's locations look like today.

2. It's a historical novel about the American Revolution. I love historical novels, especially those relating to the revolution. In addition to this book, I love Johnny Tremain, April Morning, and Silver for General Washington.

One day, I'm going to write a novel for kids set during the American Revolution. I just need to hit on the right idea. Eric & Stig travel back in time to assist? Hmmm.....

3. The final reason that I really love this book is that one of the authors, Christopher Collier, spoke to my class when I was in the second grade. I had received a copy of the book for Christmas, and I brought it to school that day, and he autographed it. Still have it. Cool.

What I didn't know when I first read it.

I didn't know much about the historical events depicted in this book. I knew about the Battle of Ridgefield (small battle, but still cool), and the burning of Danbury, but nothing about what life was like in that area during the revolution. I also didn't know anything about the winter encampment of General Wooster's army, or that the area was a Tory hotbed.

In some ways, this book influenced me when I was writing my book, The Deliverers: Sharky and the Jewel. The village of Calendria in my book is based on a colonial village. My first taste of that in literature was My Brother Sam is Dead.

What are some book that you read when you were young, or are reading today, that have had a big influence on you?

What's Christian Reading? The Genius Files: Never Say Genius

Christian is still deep into the Hardy Boys mysteries, but he also managed to read another book. I swear, he reads books like there's no tomorrow (don't get me wrong, it's a good thing). This week, he's going to fill us in on The Genius Files: Never Say Genius by Dan Gutman.

This is what Christian says the book is about.

"It's about two kids, one boy and one gir, who are geniusesl. Their names are Coke and Pepsi. They were part of a secret society called The Genius Files. The head of the society is Dr. Herman Warsaw. He turned out to be a crazy, maniacal freak. He supposedly died in a fall from the Infinity Room.

"Coke and Pepsi get tracked down by their psycho health teacher, Mrs. Higgins, who turned out to be Dr. Warsaw's fiance. The kids have some help from Mya and Bone, two grownups involved in The Genius Files. They pop up every once in a while in the most unexpected places.

"They meet another Genius Files kid called Archie Clone who happens to know that the million dollar reward given to The Genius Files kids once they reach the age of 21 isn't really a million dollars for each of them, but $1 million split between everyone. Archie wants the prize all for himself, so he is killing off all the other Genius Files kids.

"First, he tries to dip Coke and Pepsi in a vat of boiling oil while he pretends to be a McDonald's french fry exhibitor. Then, he tries to freeze them in a Mr. Softee truck by being covered entirely in ice cream. They manage to escape from both predicaments."

Here's what Christian liked best about the book.

"I liked how they escaped from every predicament dreamed up by either Mrs. Higgins or Archie Clone. They use their noggins to escape. They're geniuses--literally."

Was there anything Christian didn't like about the book?

"I didn't really like the surprise at the end--I'll let you find that our for yourselves."

So, how did Christian rate The Genius Files: Never Say Genius by Dan Gutman?

He gives it five out of five flaming monkey heads.

Did You Know? The Tale of Peter Rabbit

After yesterday's interview with Peter Rabbit, I'm interested to see what little known facts we could find about the story and it's author, Beatrix Potter. This has always been one of my favorite stories, and one of the first that I can remember hearing.

Did You Know...

• The story was written for Noel Moore, the five year old son of Potter's former governess in 1893?
• Potter published it on her own in 1901? It was picked up by Frederick Warne & Co. in 1902.
• The book was one of the first to be merchandised? In 1903, Potter released a Peter Rabbit doll, as well as a board game.
• The book has been translated into 36 languages and sold 45 million copies?
• Potter owned a pet rabbit named Peter Piper which she used as the model for Peter?
• In 1938 Disney was interested in producing an animated version of The Tale of Peter Rabbit, but Potter and Disney could not agree on marketing rights?  
• Potter wrote and illustrated 23 books?
• She was interested in science and wrote and illustrated a paper on fungi and their germination?
• Potter loved country life, and became a leading breeder of Herdwick sheep?
• When she died, she left most of her property, over 4,000 acres, to the National Trust? This ensured that the land would be preserved.

Here's a clip from a video adaptation of the story. We had this on video for the kids. I really like the live action beginning, which shows Beatrix Potter coming in from the rain to write a letter to little Noel. It really sparks the imagination. I also love the animation, which is done in the style of Potter's illustrations.