ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: What is the first thing ever that you remember writing?
(How does he get there?
What does he do on the popcorn world?
Credit: Tahereh Mafi; Dutton Books for Young Readers
The story is vague on those points.)
I think I was four or five years old.
Not my best work.
What is the last book that made you cry?
An Emotion of Great Delightby Tahereh Mafi.
Which book is at the top of your current To-Read list?
Lovecraft Countryby Matt Ruff.
Where do you write?
Which book made you a forever reader?
I devoured that book over and over as a young person.
I love hidden world stories, portal stories, and that has always seemed to me an archetypal one.
That and the Narnia books really sealed the deal for me.
But being readtowas probably what put me on the path to loving books from an early age.
What is a snack you couldn’t write without?
I don’t eat while I’m writing, but I’m usually nursing an espresso.
If you could change one thing about any of your books what would it be?
How long it took me to write them.
I used to bereallyslow, years between each book.
What is your favorite part ofThe Desolation of Devil’s Acre?
I’ve been building toward it for years but was never totally sure how it would play out.
What was the hardest plot point or character to write?
Write a movie poster tag line for the book:
One battle will decide whether the future is history.
