The following questions were sent to me by fans. Feel free to add questions to the bottom of this post and I will be happy to reply.
Question: Who is your favorite author and is your writing style similar to theirs?
Morris Pike: My favorite author, this is such a difficult question for me, and is my writing style similar to theirs? Well I have quite a few authors I try to emulate. Ernest Hemmingway and John Steinbeck are the two authors that I study desperately trying to decipher their simplicity. I certainly wish my writing resembled theirs, but I'm a realist and just hope that I can write a few sentences every once and then that are progressing toward these these masters of the pen. Among 18th century authors I have to say that I thoroughly enjoy reading the works of Edgar Allan Poe, and find him such a fascination. I admit that the chapter "The Tunnel of Life and Death," is a tribute to the end of Poe's "Cask of Amontillado." I first was exposed to Poe in sixth grade and his tales have haunted me ever since. I am fond of Kurt Vonnegut. His quirky writing style is easy to read and I enjoy the hours afterwards I spend thinking about what just happened in the story. Cat's Cradle is one of my favorites. Ray Bradbury is by far my favorite author. I think the first story I ever read by Bradbury as a kid was Fahrenheit 451, and it grabbed me. I think Fahrenheit 451 was the first book where I said to myself this is crazy but a real possibility. Go back and read Fahrenheit 451, you'll be shocked by what Bradbury predicted way back in 1950. Fahrenheit 451 had such a powerful message about learning, reading in general, and following the crowd no matter what. Doing what others do for the sake of what's popular leads to certain disaster. These are my favorite writers, Bradbury is #1, I have some others I didn't mention like Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and Harper Lee; I think my writing style is bits and pieces of all of them.
Question: What is your favorite part of a book?
Morris Pike: I would say my favorite part of the book is the denouement, or that part of the story after the climax where all the loose ends are tied up. My favorite ending to a book is in Return of the King by JRR Tolkien. When Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin ride back into Hobbiton after surviving the ring's quest and destroying Sauron to only find that they've got to fight once more was great. I love to see characters begin weak and then return to their homes strong and kick butt, which is what they do when the find Hobbiton taken over by Sharkey. Sad to say this part is not in the movie version and that makes it all the better!
Question: When naming your characters, do you give any thought to the actual meaning?
Morris Pike: Absolutely, all characters in my stories have names that mean something. The Battle for Borobudur has a lot of names that match or represent characters in Homer's Odyssey. Athena and O. Decius are obvious, but some of the names like Bimo Bambang for example, is a combination of two names which mean "brave knight." I like to plant little easter eggs in just about all of my character names hoping it might be fun for someone to figure out what they mean.
Question: Who is your target audience?
Morris Pike: I write for all boys and girls in grades 4-8, but many adults have read my stories and enjoy them. Sometimes this demographic is called Middle Grades or Young Adult. I prefer Middle Grade Readers. As a former teacher I make a consorted effort to keep chapters short and reading level low. I am a big believer in word count. Basically my theory is that total words successfully read is more important than the difficulty of the text. I hope to write books that give children the opportunity to be engrossed in the story while at the same time exposing them to a high word count. I think JK Rowling did a fantastic job of this and so have some of her predecessors.
Question: What are the major themes of your work?
Morris Pike: I am a firm believer in redemption and forgiveness. In all of my stories there are characters who no matter how bad, and how cruel they lived their lives there is always a chance to turn things around. I'm not sure why these characters appeal to me so much. I guess it is the underdog in them that I root to win out over their evil tendencies. Another major theme I embed in my stories is honest loyalty. There are plenty of characters and people in real life who are loyal to others, gang members come to mind, but their intents are not always just. Theirs is a selfish form of loyalty, whereas characters like Jobari Tubbs are committed to their friends even in the darkest times.
Question: What do you think people search for in a book?
Morris Pike: I think everyone looks for an emotional escape when they search for a good book. Readers need to be able to equate the characters' lives and struggles to their own. Once this happens and a writer can move the reader emotionally, the story is a success. The writer accomplishes his or her goal and the reader finds enjoyment. Reading is supposed to be fun. It's sad that so many people, kids especially, hate to read. It's just too powerful of a thinking exercise.
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October 24, 2010
6 Questions: Answers from the Author
The following questions were sent to me by fans. Feel free to add questions to the bottom of this post and I will be happy to reply.
Question: Who is your favorite author and is your writing style similar to theirs?
Morris Pike: My favorite author, this is such a difficult question for me, and is my writing style similar to theirs? Well I have quite a few authors I try to emulate. Ernest Hemmingway and John Steinbeck are the two authors that I study desperately trying to decipher their simplicity. I certainly wish my writing resembled theirs, but I'm a realist and just hope that I can write a few sentences every once and then that are progressing toward these these masters of the pen. Among 18th century authors I have to say that I thoroughly enjoy reading the works of Edgar Allan Poe, and find him such a fascination. I admit that the chapter "The Tunnel of Life and Death," is a tribute to the end of Poe's "Cask of Amontillado." I first was exposed to Poe in sixth grade and his tales have haunted me ever since. I am fond of Kurt Vonnegut. His quirky writing style is easy to read and I enjoy the hours afterwards I spend thinking about what just happened in the story. Cat's Cradle is one of my favorites. Ray Bradbury is by far my favorite author. I think the first story I ever read by Bradbury as a kid was Fahrenheit 451, and it grabbed me. I think Fahrenheit 451 was the first book where I said to myself this is crazy but a real possibility. Go back and read Fahrenheit 451, you'll be shocked by what Bradbury predicted way back in 1950. Fahrenheit 451 had such a powerful message about learning, reading in general, and following the crowd no matter what. Doing what others do for the sake of what's popular leads to certain disaster. These are my favorite writers, Bradbury is #1, I have some others I didn't mention like Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and Harper Lee; I think my writing style is bits and pieces of all of them.
Question: What is your favorite part of a book?
Morris Pike: I would say my favorite part of the book is the denouement, or that part of the story after the climax where all the loose ends are tied up. My favorite ending to a book is in Return of the King by JRR Tolkien. When Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin ride back into Hobbiton after surviving the ring's quest and destroying Sauron to only find that they've got to fight once more was great. I love to see characters begin weak and then return to their homes strong and kick butt, which is what they do when the find Hobbiton taken over by Sharkey. Sad to say this part is not in the movie version and that makes it all the better!
Question: When naming your characters, do you give any thought to the actual meaning?
Morris Pike: Absolutely, all characters in my stories have names that mean something. The Battle for Borobudur has a lot of names that match or represent characters in Homer's Odyssey. Athena and O. Decius are obvious, but some of the names like Bimo Bambang for example, is a combination of two names which mean "brave knight." I like to plant little easter eggs in just about all of my character names hoping it might be fun for someone to figure out what they mean.
Question: Who is your target audience?
Morris Pike: I write for all boys and girls in grades 4-8, but many adults have read my stories and enjoy them. Sometimes this demographic is called Middle Grades or Young Adult. I prefer Middle Grade Readers. As a former teacher I make a consorted effort to keep chapters short and reading level low. I am a big believer in word count. Basically my theory is that total words successfully read is more important than the difficulty of the text. I hope to write books that give children the opportunity to be engrossed in the story while at the same time exposing them to a high word count. I think JK Rowling did a fantastic job of this and so have some of her predecessors.
Question: What are the major themes of your work?
Morris Pike: I am a firm believer in redemption and forgiveness. In all of my stories there are characters who no matter how bad, and how cruel they lived their lives there is always a chance to turn things around. I'm not sure why these characters appeal to me so much. I guess it is the underdog in them that I root to win out over their evil tendencies. Another major theme I embed in my stories is honest loyalty. There are plenty of characters and people in real life who are loyal to others, gang members come to mind, but their intents are not always just. Theirs is a selfish form of loyalty, whereas characters like Jobari Tubbs are committed to their friends even in the darkest times.
Question: What do you think people search for in a book?
Morris Pike: I think everyone looks for an emotional escape when they search for a good book. Readers need to be able to equate the characters' lives and struggles to their own. Once this happens and a writer can move the reader emotionally, the story is a success. The writer accomplishes his or her goal and the reader finds enjoyment. Reading is supposed to be fun. It's sad that so many people, kids especially, hate to read. It's just too powerful of a thinking exercise.
Question: Who is your favorite author and is your writing style similar to theirs?
Morris Pike: My favorite author, this is such a difficult question for me, and is my writing style similar to theirs? Well I have quite a few authors I try to emulate. Ernest Hemmingway and John Steinbeck are the two authors that I study desperately trying to decipher their simplicity. I certainly wish my writing resembled theirs, but I'm a realist and just hope that I can write a few sentences every once and then that are progressing toward these these masters of the pen. Among 18th century authors I have to say that I thoroughly enjoy reading the works of Edgar Allan Poe, and find him such a fascination. I admit that the chapter "The Tunnel of Life and Death," is a tribute to the end of Poe's "Cask of Amontillado." I first was exposed to Poe in sixth grade and his tales have haunted me ever since. I am fond of Kurt Vonnegut. His quirky writing style is easy to read and I enjoy the hours afterwards I spend thinking about what just happened in the story. Cat's Cradle is one of my favorites. Ray Bradbury is by far my favorite author. I think the first story I ever read by Bradbury as a kid was Fahrenheit 451, and it grabbed me. I think Fahrenheit 451 was the first book where I said to myself this is crazy but a real possibility. Go back and read Fahrenheit 451, you'll be shocked by what Bradbury predicted way back in 1950. Fahrenheit 451 had such a powerful message about learning, reading in general, and following the crowd no matter what. Doing what others do for the sake of what's popular leads to certain disaster. These are my favorite writers, Bradbury is #1, I have some others I didn't mention like Antoine de Saint-Exupéry and Harper Lee; I think my writing style is bits and pieces of all of them.
Question: What is your favorite part of a book?
Morris Pike: I would say my favorite part of the book is the denouement, or that part of the story after the climax where all the loose ends are tied up. My favorite ending to a book is in Return of the King by JRR Tolkien. When Frodo, Sam, Merry and Pippin ride back into Hobbiton after surviving the ring's quest and destroying Sauron to only find that they've got to fight once more was great. I love to see characters begin weak and then return to their homes strong and kick butt, which is what they do when the find Hobbiton taken over by Sharkey. Sad to say this part is not in the movie version and that makes it all the better!
Question: When naming your characters, do you give any thought to the actual meaning?
Morris Pike: Absolutely, all characters in my stories have names that mean something. The Battle for Borobudur has a lot of names that match or represent characters in Homer's Odyssey. Athena and O. Decius are obvious, but some of the names like Bimo Bambang for example, is a combination of two names which mean "brave knight." I like to plant little easter eggs in just about all of my character names hoping it might be fun for someone to figure out what they mean.
Question: Who is your target audience?
Morris Pike: I write for all boys and girls in grades 4-8, but many adults have read my stories and enjoy them. Sometimes this demographic is called Middle Grades or Young Adult. I prefer Middle Grade Readers. As a former teacher I make a consorted effort to keep chapters short and reading level low. I am a big believer in word count. Basically my theory is that total words successfully read is more important than the difficulty of the text. I hope to write books that give children the opportunity to be engrossed in the story while at the same time exposing them to a high word count. I think JK Rowling did a fantastic job of this and so have some of her predecessors.
Question: What are the major themes of your work?
Morris Pike: I am a firm believer in redemption and forgiveness. In all of my stories there are characters who no matter how bad, and how cruel they lived their lives there is always a chance to turn things around. I'm not sure why these characters appeal to me so much. I guess it is the underdog in them that I root to win out over their evil tendencies. Another major theme I embed in my stories is honest loyalty. There are plenty of characters and people in real life who are loyal to others, gang members come to mind, but their intents are not always just. Theirs is a selfish form of loyalty, whereas characters like Jobari Tubbs are committed to their friends even in the darkest times.
Question: What do you think people search for in a book?
Morris Pike: I think everyone looks for an emotional escape when they search for a good book. Readers need to be able to equate the characters' lives and struggles to their own. Once this happens and a writer can move the reader emotionally, the story is a success. The writer accomplishes his or her goal and the reader finds enjoyment. Reading is supposed to be fun. It's sad that so many people, kids especially, hate to read. It's just too powerful of a thinking exercise.
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