Hiaasen Handles The Kids

There is a contention that American kids aren't reading enough these days. But if you had visited the Politics and Prose book store on Connecticut Avenue here this morning, you might think differently. More than 100 youngsters crammed the floor of the store to hear Carl Hiaasen discuss Chomp, his newest book for young adult readers.

 Hiassen credited his 11-year-old granddaughter with prompting him to write his latest entry into the young adult fiction field. "She has pets of all kind and she is always getting chomped by a lot of stuff. She also pointed out that all my books have 1-word titles. She asked me to write another book and so I did. You'll find out that anything your grandchildren ask you to do, you'll do for them," Hiaasen said.

The author of 3 previous young adult books, all set in his native Florida and all containing a save the environment motif, Hiaasen added that the new book was also the result of his addiction to reality shows about nature. "You know, in every episode, they have to eat something gross ... like someone bites the heads off of a centipede. Well that kind of inspired the book, too," he said.

Before opening his talk to questions, Hiaasen provided brief details about Chomp. An actor is cast to portray a survivalist. The truth is the character, Derek Badger, knows absolutely nothing about surviving. Every night he takes a helicopter back to his fancy hotel and has a gourmet dinner. But when in the Everglades, this total klutz gets really lost. And that sets the stage for 2 youngsters to help him survive the ordeal.

After that brief background, Hiaasen opened the discussion to questions. And it seemed virtually every youngster there had something to ask. The questions ranged from his favorite book to how to handle writer's block.

Hiaasen said, as an author, he really doesn't have a favorite book. "It's like asking your Mom or Dad which child they like best. Some days, it's you. And some days, it might be your brother or sister. And some days it's none of you," he said. "Most writers are their own most critical readers. They always want to go back and change the things they have written."

After writing best-selling humorous novels about Florida for years, Hiaasen's first foray into young adult writing, Hoot, came from a suggestion by his New York editor.  "I thought she was insane," Hiaasen said. "Have you ever read anything I have ever written? This is a dangerous idea."

However, his editor maintained that young people would like funny, fast-paced books where characters with values battle those who seem to lack any. Finally, Hiaasen relented. "I thought, well if nothing else, the kids in my family will have a book to read that I have written," he said.

Hiaasen said his inspiration to be a writer stemmed from an insatiable desire to read as a youngster. "I knew somebody was writing these books and I thought that would be the coolest job in the world. What a neat idea - to tell a story and have your name on it," he said. And so when he was 6, he asked his parents for a typewriter. "That's something you write with that looks like a big clunky computer," he explained. "I'm probably the only 6-year-old who ever asked for a typewriter. My Dad was just crazy enough to do it." However, he now realizes that his parents might have had another motive - his horrific handwriting. "I have the worst handwriting of any human ever," Hiaasen said. "It looks like a chicken has walked through ink. My parents believed this would be the only way they could ever read something I had written."

In college, a professor suggested that he ghost write a couple of medical books, one of which was turned into a movie. After college, Hiaasen began a career as a reporter and, in fact, still writes a weekly newspaper column today. He credits his newspaper experience with helping him avoid writer's block. "On a newspaper, there's no such thing as writer's block. You learn to write with a lot of chaos around you. If you get writer's block, you get unemployment block. It really is great training for writing," Hiaasen explained.

Hiaasen elicited incredulous oohs from his young audience when he admitted that he had not read The Hunger Games. "When you're writing all the time. you don't have the luxury of reading as much as you would like to," he said. Hiassen also said he really isn't attracted to the fantasy gendre, either as a reader or a writer. "I like books about real people who have to do something extraordinary, who have to step up in a big way." But he promised that if someone writes The Arthritis Games for his generation he will try to read that.

In closing, Hiassen cautioned any budding writers in the room to be prepared for hard work if they take up the craft. "If it's not painful, you're not doing it right," he said. "Even bad writing is hard work." But, he added, the rewards of writing are immense. "When I'm walking through an airport and I see someone reading something I've written and they're laughing, well that's the greatest feeling in the world."

Tales, Tidbits, and Tips
What do Ralph Nader, Tom Brokaw, and Carl Hiaasen all have in common? Well, besides being brilliant best-selling authors, they have all touched me. And by touched me, I mean literally touched me. At book talks, all 3 have brushed by me, each one hitting my left elbow. Now if elbow touching only made for transferable writing talent, I might have a future in the book business.  Unfortunately, it doesn't. But I'm still mighty lucky to live in Washington where I can hear about writing from so many talented authors. Just one more reason why DC is perfect for me.