Welcome to the lucky thirteenth Authorial Intrusion! To read any of the previous twelve interviews, just click on the tag “authorial intrusion” on the left side of the page.

For those just tuning in, here’s the history behind these posts:

I love reading about the Publishing Journeys of my favorite writers.

I love the long, soul-searching interviews that reveal every obstacle and triumph: the author whose agent made her do three revisions before signing her … the author who gets up at 4:30 a.m. to write, because it’s the only time she has to herself … the critically acclaimed author who spent nine years trying to get published … I never tire of this stuff!

Long, luxurious interviews aside, don’t you sometimes find yourself wondering: “But do you like Thai or Chinese food better?”

Reader, I asked them.

I assembled a grab-bag full of random questions and emailed them to some of my favorite writers.

They answered!

This will be a weekly post, as long as I have a supply of bored willing writers.

And by the way, if you’re an author and I haven’t emailed you yet … do not imagine that you’ve escaped my clutches. My curiosity rambles far and wide! I will get to you. Also, if you have a book coming out (or already published), and you want to play along, feel free to contact me at my LJ email address. (For now, I'm limiting the interviews to writers of MG and YA, since that's what I read and write.)

And now, without further ado, please welcome S.A. Harazin!

S.A. Harazin - medwriter – is the author of one of my favorite YA boy books this year: Blood Brothers.



Clay - a boy who has nothing - works as a medical technician in a hospital, a job which takes on new meaning when his best friend Joey - a boy who has everything - becomes a critical patient. Did Clay have something to do with his best friend's injuries?

Shirley nails the boy voice, and manages to create a fully rounded character out of Joey, even though he's in a coma for the real-time part of the book. Employing a spare but nuanced style for Clay’s voice and flashbacks to depict Joey, Shirley keeps us guessing almost to the end about Clay’s role in Joey’s injuries. I cried at the ending.


What are you reading right now?
Fiction--What I Meant, by Marie Lamba
Nonfiction--Gift Of Pain, by Brand and Yancey

Your five favorite movies.
Casablanca
Life Is Beautiful
Shawshank Redemption
Beautiful Mind
Titantic

Snorkeling or skiing?
Skiing.

Where would you like to travel that you haven't yet?
Barrow, Alaska.

Chocolate chip cookies or snickerdoodles?
Snickerdoodles.

Write a spam subject line for us.
You don't have to say you love me...

Bach, Beethoven, Bon Jovi, or Bono?
Bon Jovi

Advice for writers in 5 words or less.
Read. Write. Revise. Repeat.

What's your favorite childhood Halloween costume?
A box. It had extra space for candy.

Best present anyone ever gave you?
I can't think of just one! But not counting any gifts from family, I would say THE CALL was the best present.

If you couldn't write in your current genre, what would you write?
Science Fiction.


Thanks for indulging our curiosity, Shirley!