Interview with Andrew Smith, author of Stick and The Marbury Lens
1. Did you always know you wanted to be a writer or was there
something else you wanted to do as a career?
I always knew I would write things down throughout my life. I do not think I ever considered the "being" a writer part of the equation, because I do not think I like "being" a writer, and I'm not very good at it, besides. My first paid jobs were writing jobs -- for newspapers and radio stations. I did not like that, either. The writing I have done has always been (and will always be) self-driven. If someone wants to pay me for it, so be it.
2. Is there one author that you have read every book that they have written?
Yes. A math professor in college. He wrote one textbook and then he died. I read the book and managed to survive.
3. In you opinion what is the best movie adaptation of a book that you've read?
Oh good God. Movies are movies and books are books. I sit through so few movies that it would be unfair for me to even attempt to answer that question. Movies almost never capture my attention for more than a few minutes. Movies are books with lobotomies.
4. When you are browsing book stores what is the first section you go to?
You're making that up. Bookstores? Where?
If I go to a bookstore and they have a "staff picks" shelf, I'll check that out. It's a good way to see if the people working there know anything about books, or if they're just collecting paychecks while waiting for their big break in movies.
5. If your book was being made into a movie do you already have actors
in mind for each role?
My third novel, The Marbury Lens, has been optioned for film. I told the producers that if they wanted to have magical unicorns that crap cupcakes in it, that was fine with me. After all, they're paying me for the right to make my novel into a movie.
I write books. I could be trapped naked in a phone booth next to the biggest Hollywood celebrities and I wouldn't even begin to know who they were. Seriously. I don't think I can name five actors.
What bands/singers would you put on the soundtrack?
All of my books have strong connections to music. If The Marbury Lens had a particular soundtrack, I think the band The Books would make an awesome and creepy soundtrack for it. The most recent book I wrote (which will be coming out in 2013 and I am not allowed to tell details about quite yet) mentions the following bands: The Felice Brothers, Modest Mouse, Bright Eyes, Wolf Parade, Titus Andronicus, and Pink Floyd. And the book is all about two specific Rolling Stones albums.
That book has a rockin' soundtrack, I think.
6.. When you're creating characters do you incorporate traits from people you know?
Of course I do. Everything I write has some connection in reality. I can't possibly write about selfishness, jealousy, love, innocence, or any other human characteristic unless I've seen it in reality. This is probably what's wrong with the vast heaping piles of uninspiring, boring nonsense that gets published these days: Authors with no real human life experiences, who sit in front of television screens all day watching shitty movies.
7. If you had the chance to have a sit down with any author alive or deceased who would it be and why?
I'm afraid of just about every author I have ever met. I can't imagine the dead ones would be any less intimidating. I suppose if I were drunk enough, I would get a kick out of spending some time with Kurt Vonnegut, who, I think, is probably the greatest American author. There are a few living authors that I really enjoy talking to. A.S. King probably gives the best conversation of anyone I know, and I am not afraid of her. Michael Grant gives great conversation, but he scares the shit out of me.
8. What are 10 random facts about yourself?
How "random" do you want?
1. I am wearing blue underwear.
2. I ran seven miles this morning.
3. I prefer vegetables to desserts.
4. I once got lost at sea on a windsurfer and was rescued by nudists.
5. Keeping with that theme, when I was a teenager I went crayfish hunting naked in a lake in Sweden in the middle of the night with three friends so we could have a traditional Swedish crayfish party and get drunk.
6. I know exactly how cold lakes in Sweden are.
7. I have lots of tattoos. Three of them have something to do with books I have written. I plan on getting more.
8. Besides writing, I also sculpt.
9. I am a good cook.
10. I do not watch television at all.
Cheers!
Andrew
Andrew Smith
http://ghostmedicine.blogspot.com
something else you wanted to do as a career?
I always knew I would write things down throughout my life. I do not think I ever considered the "being" a writer part of the equation, because I do not think I like "being" a writer, and I'm not very good at it, besides. My first paid jobs were writing jobs -- for newspapers and radio stations. I did not like that, either. The writing I have done has always been (and will always be) self-driven. If someone wants to pay me for it, so be it.
2. Is there one author that you have read every book that they have written?
Yes. A math professor in college. He wrote one textbook and then he died. I read the book and managed to survive.
3. In you opinion what is the best movie adaptation of a book that you've read?
Oh good God. Movies are movies and books are books. I sit through so few movies that it would be unfair for me to even attempt to answer that question. Movies almost never capture my attention for more than a few minutes. Movies are books with lobotomies.
4. When you are browsing book stores what is the first section you go to?
You're making that up. Bookstores? Where?
If I go to a bookstore and they have a "staff picks" shelf, I'll check that out. It's a good way to see if the people working there know anything about books, or if they're just collecting paychecks while waiting for their big break in movies.
5. If your book was being made into a movie do you already have actors
in mind for each role?
My third novel, The Marbury Lens, has been optioned for film. I told the producers that if they wanted to have magical unicorns that crap cupcakes in it, that was fine with me. After all, they're paying me for the right to make my novel into a movie.
I write books. I could be trapped naked in a phone booth next to the biggest Hollywood celebrities and I wouldn't even begin to know who they were. Seriously. I don't think I can name five actors.
What bands/singers would you put on the soundtrack?
All of my books have strong connections to music. If The Marbury Lens had a particular soundtrack, I think the band The Books would make an awesome and creepy soundtrack for it. The most recent book I wrote (which will be coming out in 2013 and I am not allowed to tell details about quite yet) mentions the following bands: The Felice Brothers, Modest Mouse, Bright Eyes, Wolf Parade, Titus Andronicus, and Pink Floyd. And the book is all about two specific Rolling Stones albums.
That book has a rockin' soundtrack, I think.
6.. When you're creating characters do you incorporate traits from people you know?
Of course I do. Everything I write has some connection in reality. I can't possibly write about selfishness, jealousy, love, innocence, or any other human characteristic unless I've seen it in reality. This is probably what's wrong with the vast heaping piles of uninspiring, boring nonsense that gets published these days: Authors with no real human life experiences, who sit in front of television screens all day watching shitty movies.
7. If you had the chance to have a sit down with any author alive or deceased who would it be and why?
I'm afraid of just about every author I have ever met. I can't imagine the dead ones would be any less intimidating. I suppose if I were drunk enough, I would get a kick out of spending some time with Kurt Vonnegut, who, I think, is probably the greatest American author. There are a few living authors that I really enjoy talking to. A.S. King probably gives the best conversation of anyone I know, and I am not afraid of her. Michael Grant gives great conversation, but he scares the shit out of me.
8. What are 10 random facts about yourself?
How "random" do you want?
1. I am wearing blue underwear.
2. I ran seven miles this morning.
3. I prefer vegetables to desserts.
4. I once got lost at sea on a windsurfer and was rescued by nudists.
5. Keeping with that theme, when I was a teenager I went crayfish hunting naked in a lake in Sweden in the middle of the night with three friends so we could have a traditional Swedish crayfish party and get drunk.
6. I know exactly how cold lakes in Sweden are.
7. I have lots of tattoos. Three of them have something to do with books I have written. I plan on getting more.
8. Besides writing, I also sculpt.
9. I am a good cook.
10. I do not watch television at all.
Cheers!
Andrew
Andrew Smith
http://ghostmedicine.blogspot.com
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