Ask the Author: Gennifer Choldenko
Answered Questions (25)
Gennifer Choldenko
Hi Josh,
So sweet of you to ask this. I don't know the answer exactly. I think the setting had a lot to do with it. Who doesn't want to read about Alcatraz?
So sweet of you to ask this. I don't know the answer exactly. I think the setting had a lot to do with it. Who doesn't want to read about Alcatraz?
Gennifer Choldenko
Hi Josh,
I have no plans for a 5th book. I really liked the way the 4th book ended. I don't think I could top that.
I have no plans for a 5th book. I really liked the way the 4th book ended. I don't think I could top that.
Gennifer Choldenko
Hi Pratham,
Thanks for this great question. My secret? Research. I spent a year volunteering on Alcatraz, read everything about Alcatraz I could get my hands on, and networked with the Alcatraz Alumni Association. I interviewed dozens of people who had been guards on the island, prisoners on the island or who grew up on the island.
Thanks for this great question. My secret? Research. I spent a year volunteering on Alcatraz, read everything about Alcatraz I could get my hands on, and networked with the Alcatraz Alumni Association. I interviewed dozens of people who had been guards on the island, prisoners on the island or who grew up on the island.
Gennifer Choldenko
Hi Josh, Thanks so much for your enthusiasm! I am delighted to hear that my books make you want to read "even more". I am not currently planning to write a fifth book in the Tales from Alcatraz series. But I am kind of sad about leaving Alcatraz . . . so it's possible.
Gennifer Choldenko
Yes! It is all done. It will be out in May. I am very proud of it . . . I especially love the ending. I hope you will too!
Gennifer Choldenko
I'm not sure what you mean by this. I do love nicknames. They show a different side of a character. Moose gives you a lot more information about him than does Matthew. If you are asking about the nicknames people gave me they are: Snot-Nose, Shrimp and Short Stuff.
Gennifer Choldenko
May 2018! Sorry it took a while to write. I actually had to dump the entire book and start over again. That is a first. But I am quite proud of the finished book. I hope you will like it! Check the goodreads giveaway in the next week. I am doing a giveaway for an advance reader copy.
Gennifer Choldenko
I would like to interview Natalie.
Gennifer Choldenko
No. Though I think Al Capone Shines My Shoes is a better read after Al Capone Does My Shirts. Al Capone Throws Me a Curve will be out in May. I am doing a goodreads giveaway for an advance reader copy. It starts in about a week.
Gennifer Choldenko
May 2018. I am doing a goodreads giveaway contest for an advance reader copy. It starts in a week. You might want to enter. Thanks for asking about the new book!
Gennifer Choldenko
I am so sorry I didn't see this before. You probably don't need this info anymore. I hope you are happy with the essay.
Gennifer Choldenko
I am really Gennifer Choldenko. The next Al Capone book will be out in May. It's called: Al Capone Throws Me a Curve. I have a goodreads giveaway scheduled to start in a week. (That's a contest for an advance reader copy.) You might want to enter.
Gennifer Choldenko
I love No Passengers . . . it was such a weird book to write. It came out of nowhere. But a sequel? I don't think a sequel makes conceptual sense.
Gennifer Choldenko
Writing books is the most fun job ever.
Gennifer Choldenko
I would LOVE for it to be a movie! But unfortunately, it isn't under option right now.
Gennifer Choldenko
Twice! Wow, too cool. I'm not sure when the 4th Al will be out. I'm sorry!
Gennifer Choldenko
Hi Elizabeth,
Sorry I didn't see this question before. No Passengers is indeed a "departure" in every sense of the word. The very first novel I wrote (happily unpublished) was a fantasy, so the desire to write fantasy runs deep. However, they are quite challenging to write well. I will definitely write another fantasy at some point because I find the genre so intriguing. But I am working on two historical fiction novels right now.
Sorry I didn't see this question before. No Passengers is indeed a "departure" in every sense of the word. The very first novel I wrote (happily unpublished) was a fantasy, so the desire to write fantasy runs deep. However, they are quite challenging to write well. I will definitely write another fantasy at some point because I find the genre so intriguing. But I am working on two historical fiction novels right now.
Gennifer Choldenko
Hi Melissa,
I'm sorry I just saw this question. Thanks so much for the thumb's up. I love your professor by the way! I got the idea for Al Capone Does My Shirts from an article in the newspaper. The fact that kids lived on the island when it was a working penitentiary fascinated me.
As far as Gina is concerned, what didn't they do? Gina grew up quite a long time ago in what I call the Dark Ages of Autism. Most of what was known was one hundred percent wrong. The so-called experts were hopelessly misguided. My parents did their very best with her, but it was really really tough. Though we don't know nearly enough about Autism today, we are light years ahead of where we were when I was a kid.
I'm sorry I just saw this question. Thanks so much for the thumb's up. I love your professor by the way! I got the idea for Al Capone Does My Shirts from an article in the newspaper. The fact that kids lived on the island when it was a working penitentiary fascinated me.
As far as Gina is concerned, what didn't they do? Gina grew up quite a long time ago in what I call the Dark Ages of Autism. Most of what was known was one hundred percent wrong. The so-called experts were hopelessly misguided. My parents did their very best with her, but it was really really tough. Though we don't know nearly enough about Autism today, we are light years ahead of where we were when I was a kid.
Gennifer Choldenko
I don't wait around for inspiration. Inspiration comes when my butt is parked in a chair and my fingers are moving over the keyboard. The more I work, the more ideas come to me. Or as Tom Robbins said: "I show up in my writing room at approximately 10 A.M. every morning without fail. Sometimes my muse sees fit to join me there and sometimes she doesn't, but she always knows where I"ll be."
Gennifer Choldenko
Getting ideas is an endorphin rush even better than chocolate!
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