Hi, thanks for doing the interview. Could you start by introducing yourself?
Hello, everyone! I’m KL Going, author of Fat Kid Rules the World, The Liberation of Gabriel King, and Saint Iggy. Thanks for inviting me to chat with you.
Your newest novel is Saint Iggy. Could you tell us a little about the book and your inspiration for it?
Saint Iggy is the story of Iggy Corso, a young man who desperately wants to do something great with his life even though he’s been kicked out of school and doesn’t have many options available to him. It’s a book about ambiguity. As Iggy tries to do his great deed, events conspire against him so it’s never clear to him, or to us, whether he’s making good choices or bad ones. Sometimes the results of his efforts are funny and sometimes they are tragic.
The inspiration for this book came from my time as a volunteer literacy tutor in New Orleans, LA. For a while, I lived in one of the housing projects and what I learned there was that it’s a lot harder to determine what’s “good” and “bad” than I’d previously thought. Circumstances were so different from my own upbringing that choices I would have labeled as clear cut, now didn’t seem as black and white.
Was Iggy, or aspects of Iggy, based on anyone you know, or entirely fictitious?
Iggy is not based on anyone I know. In fact, he’s such a unique character I find it hard to believe there’s anyone in the world like Iggy! I fell in love with him when I was writing the book because he’s so endearing. When my friend Georgia read the first draft she scribbled, I “heart” Iggy in all the margins. :-}
Many of the lead characters in your novels are teenage boys. How do you so accurately capture how boys at that age think and feel, having not been one yourself?
That’s a good question and I’m not entirely sure what the answer is. I don’t consciously choose to write books from the male perspective, but the characters who come into my brain always seem to be males. Mostly, I just listen to what the characters tell me, and it ends up being true. Sometimes, I have guys read the books in early stages to give their suggestions, but other times I just use my imagination and write thoughts and feelings that I believe to be universal.
You’ve written a number of teen novels. Is there a specific one of your novels that is your favorite? If so; why?
That’s like asking a parent which kid they like best! Hmmm… I love Fat Kid because it was my first novel to be published, and I love Liberation because it’s written for a younger audience so I tend to think of the main character Gabe as my youngest child, and I love Iggy because he’s just so, well… Iggy.
Tell us about an average working day for you; how many pages do you write? Do you have a specific routine you follow?
I wish I had a specific routine. Did you know Stephen King writes every single day? If only I were so consistent! Generally, I start my day by checking my e-mail, my web site’s forum, and my MySpace page. This gets me warmed up, but from there, it’s a matter of how I feel that day. Sometimes, I’m off and running and can write up to ten pages in a day, but other days nothing seems to happen so I either turn my attention to another project or force myself to write a page or two. When I’m working well, I will write seven days a week, but when the creativity isn’t flowing I have long periods of unproductive time. It’s the same with page count. I can write ten pages on a good day or none on a bad one.
If Saint Iggy or any of your other novels were to be adapted into a film in the next year or so, who would you like to see play the lead characters?
Honestly, I have no idea! The movie rights to Fat Kid Rules the World have actually been optioned for some time now, and I know that casting is part of the difficulty of moving forward with the project. There aren’t a lot of 6’1’’, 300 pound teenage Hollywood actors, so they’d probably have to go with someone unknown. I’d love Viggo Mortenson to play Troy’s dad though!
Are you planning/working on your next novel yet? If so, can you offer a teaser or two?
I actually have two novels in the works. The next one will be for the younger age group (8 to 12) and it’s the story of a young girl who is given a mysterious gift – a seed from the Garden of Eden. It’s an adventure story with a spooky tone to it.
My next teen novel is about a young man who goes to live with his cross dressing uncle in a trailer park in upstate NY. It’s a much funnier, lighter novel than I’ve written before and I can’t wait to see it on the shelves! My inspiration for the main character, Liam, was a photograph of Liam Gallagher from Oasis right after he destroyed a hotel room.
You majored in sociology (and minored in Biblical Studies) in College. Do you find what you’ve learnt helpful in your current career as an author?
Absolutely. In fact, I would suggest sociology over English as a major for aspiring authors because sociology is the study of the world, which is exactly what you need to know about to write effectively. You might think that good stories are about good writing, and that is true to some degree, but they’re also about interesting characters in interesting settings and that’s what sociology is all about.
When did you decide you wanted to be an author? Has it been a lifelong dream?
I feel as if I never really decided it. I was always writing books, but just for fun. I wrote my first novel in high school, yet it was not something I thought of as a potential career. Even when I submitted my first book to editors, I didn’t think it would really get published or that I would end up publishing more than one book.
What were some of your favorite novels when you were a teenager and what are some of your favorites today?
I loved epic stories as a teen. I read The Thorn Birds and The Far Pavilions after seeing both miniseries on TV and fell in love with them. I also read Christy by Catherine Marshall and that book had a huge influence on my life because after reading it I decided I wanted to do volunteer service after school. That’s what lead me to New Orleans, and it was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
Today I read a lot of diverse books. I’ll read non-fiction, adult fiction, books for kids and for teens. I recently discovered that I love reading biographies and have devoured books about Jack Kerouac and Kurt Cobain. One of my favorite novels for teens is The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. I also love Nancy Farmer’s The House of the Scorpion and John Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meaney. I could go on and on. There are so many!
Since starting your career as an author what would you say are some of the most important lessons you’ve learned?
I’ve learned not to panic when my editor asks for revisions. At first, even small changes seemed like a big deal, but now I have the experience to trust my editor’s opinions and to trust my own ability to revise. I know that often times, a lot can be accomplished through very small changes.
What advice would you like to offer to aspiring authors?
Living is more important than writing. When you want to write books very badly, it can seem as if the opposite is true – that you should focus on that goal and strive to be published as soon as possible – but in reality, how you live your life will influence what you have to offer through your writing. It will also shape the person you’ll become, which is what you bring to your audience as well as what life is all about! So get out there and see the world. Make a difference. Live.
You sponsor a child through I.Hug (I help Uganda grow) in the name of your website klgoing.com. Could you tell us a little about the charity and why it’s important to you?
I’m so glad you asked this question! One of the founders of iHug is a friend of mine. She actually took my first set of author photos. I’ve watched iHug grow from her first trip to Uganda to the point where it is now, as a non-profit that is sponsoring children and building a school.
IHug is a non-profit whose mission is to reach out to disadvantaged and orphaned children in Uganda by providing them with an education and access to healthcare. I figured that sponsoring a child might bring attention to this worthy cause. It seemed like a great way to “demystify” the process. People can be skeptical of charities these days because we hear a lot of negative stuff on the news about money being misspent, but I believe most charities are run by truly wonderful people who really want to help. By featuring my own experience as a sponsor on the web site, people can see for themselves that it works.
IHug’s web site is: http://www.ihugfoundation.org
Readers can also learn more about sponsoring a child by visiting the Give It Away Now page (yes, that’s a reference to the Red Hot Chili Pepper’s song) on my web site: www.klgoing.com
One last note, before I sign off… I would love to see you guys on my web site’s forum. We talk about books, movies, music, pet peeves and much more. There are author interviews and there’s a section to put a link to your MySpace page or personal web site.
There’s also a ton of other fun stuff on my web site, including my dream soundtrack lists for each of my books, links to my blog and the Very Cool Person of the Month page. Hope you’ll check it out!!
KL Going's novels at Amazon.com
