Classical Jazz 2005: Home

Follow-up Interview with Author
Greg Leitich Smith (2004)

by Debbi Michiko Florence

What have you been working on since we last chatted?

I’ve been working on a companion novel to NINJAS, PIRANHAS, AND GALILEO. It’s called TOFU AND T.REX, and has a July 2005 pub. date. It’s a companion to NINJAS, and is primarily about two cousins—Freddie and Hans-Peter. Freddie is a vegan, sent to live with extended family, including her grandfather, who owns an East European delicatessen and butcher shop. Hans-Peter is a dinosaur enthusiast, trying to win admission to Freddie’s competitive private school. The three main characters from Ninjas, Piranhas, and Galileo all have minor roles in this companion novel and it is set at the same fictional school.

What’s the best thing that’s happened in the last year?

NINJAS was very well received critically and won a Parents’ Choice Gold Award and the League of Texas Writers Teddy Award.

Do you work on one project at a time? Or many at once?

Generally I will work “in depth” on only one project at a time. This includes “resting periods,” in which I let drafts sit before coming back to them. In this way, I can get a fresh look at them. I’ve found this particularly helpful since I generally write humor, and a joke or one-liner that may feel brilliant when written has been known to clunk upon later reading.

But if I do get ideas for other works, I will jot them down. Occasionally, they may work their way into the manuscript in progress.

Do you have a ritual you follow before you’re able to settle down to work for the day? What is it?

Not, per se, although there are a couple idiosyncrasies: I work out of a home office in the garage during the day; when I write at night, I use a laptop in a spare bedroom in the house. Otherwise, there are too many day-job distractions.

Also, I find it helpful to have music going in the background, usually classical, and particularly Bach or Mozart. I’ll also listen to particular music to help set the mood of the book. Cynthia does the same while she’s writing. Unfortunately, while I writing TOFU, this involved a lot of Polish polka music…Cynthia was not pleased…

What’s the best advice you were ever given, and by whom?

I think the best advice I’ve ever heard anyone give is that the key to being a writer is to write. You can go through the motions, attending conferences, participating in listservs, telling people you’re a writer, but that doesn’t matter unless you actually put the butt in chair and write, and don’t worry about whether the first draft is garbage. It will be.

Also, you must READ. (Everyone knows this, but it’s good to have a reminder, anyway).

What books have you recently published, or will be released soon?

TOFU AND T.REX has a July 2005 pub. date.

Follow-up Interview © October, 2004, by Debbi Michiko Florence.
See also my initial interview with Greg, in 2003.
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For more about Greg, see his web site and read his blog.

See also my initial interview with Greg, in 2003.