Q&A with Brian Krans discussion
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Freeze Tag on the Highway
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Sarah
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Dec 08, 2011 10:25PM
Where'd this book come from?
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I used to volunteer at this Christian-run indoor skate park in Iowa called Skate Church. It was a really fun place with lots of fun kids. And by fun I mean hyper, loud, charismatic, and awesome kids.
In the summer of 2007, we took some of those kids, loaded them up in two vans, and went down to New Orleans for a mission trip to help clean up after Hurricane Katrina. Before we got there, we spent a day rafting in the Ozarks.
There, one of the kids was running around like crazy. It was pretty awesome because he was fucking hilarious. That's when an older kid face-palmed herself and said, "Ugh. I forgot to give him his medication. If I don't remind him, he won't take it and he'll keep going crazy like this."
Which brought to mind two questions: "What's wrong with him like that?" and "What would one do with all of those left over pills?"
That moment, I took off running to find my notebook and jot some ideas down. By the end of the trip, I had fleshed out the basic landscape in my mind.
Also by the end of the trip, I had two New Orleans sheriff's deputies point their guns at me and was kicked off the trip by the larger Christian group running the organization in New Orleans. Both events were entirely separate.
The book continued to take shape for a while, but it wasn't until my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer that I had the main motivation to drive Jake to become who he is in the book. It was my way of personally dealing with the idea that the woman who always stood by me might not be there to give me guidance when I still very much need it.
So, to answer your question, the book came from volunteering with kids, one special rafting trip, and some cancer cells in the mammaries that nursed me during the first months of my life.
Hey Brian. As a rollerblader Justice was my favorite character. Did you model him after anyone in particular like an old skater or old friend? I kept picturing him as a little bad ass Matt Mantz for whatever reason.
Nice topic to write about. The kids are into this shit. Keep up the work. Sequels are needed.
