Have you gotten any negative feedback on Alan Cole ? I never could have written Alan Cole had I not written these manuscripts first.Įven though it's 2018, there still seems to be some pushback on books that deal with real-life issues for kids. In spite of their dubious (at best) quality, these books were necessary stepping stones for me in my career. Then I wrote a second, which was also MG but centered around a different cast, and I thought it was amazing, but it was also really really bad. I thought it was amazing, but it was really really bad.
The first actually involved the core cast of Alan Cole but centered around Zack. I loved that scene too! Was this book the first manuscript you've written, or do you have a graveyard of lonesome manuscripts on your hard drive? (I fully admit to the latter!) You’ll have to read the actual book to find out what happens! (Not you, Gail. I won’t say what happens in it because it’s a spoiler, but my favorite chapter is chapter 19, which is the start of the final day Alan has to complete the CvC tasks. What is your favorite scene in Alan Cole ? But those ended up being some of my favorite scenes in the book. I actually had to put the book down once or twice. I found myself feeling very uncomfortable reading the scenes with Alan's family because they were so raw and real. I guess that’s when you know your characters are developed – when you can let them run loose in your story and see what happens. The more I wrote the characters – not just the main trio, but the supporting cast as well – the more comfortable I got with letting them show me aspects of themselves I hadn’t figured out yet. As the characters developed I mostly moved away from that, but that was the starting point. Alan, Zack, and Madison were all originally designed to stand out in a kind of id-ego-superego setup, with Zack (who was originally the protagonist) as the ego, Alan (originally much more sarcastic and slacker-ish) as the id, and Madison (basically the same the whole time) as the superego. I usually start with something small, like a trait or a name or even a line of dialogue, and then I build from there. What's your secret? How do you create such interesting characters?Įric: Thank you! I’m not sure I have some secret formula to characters.
Every single character in this book is so realistic and complex. Hi Eric! I think the most fascinating part of Alan Cole is Not a Coward is the characterization.
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