Questions About Dreamquest (Tales of Slumberia, Book 1)

You’re known as a writer of edgy teen novels like Geography Club. Why a fantasy for kids?

Fantasy has always been my one true love. The first novel I ever wrote was a fantasy. But one of my realistic novels just happened to sell first, so I sort of made a name for myself with that.

Fantasy was tough for a while. Before Harry Potter, no one wanted it. And then Harry Potter broke, and publishers snapped up every fantasy ever written. Which meant, of course, that they weren’t buying any more fantasy for a time.

But it all worked out okay, because a lot of that fantasy turned out to be derivative or “traditional” swords-and-magic fantasy. Dreamquest is definitely not that! And with the success of “edgy” kids’ fantasy like Coraline and Abarat, I happen to think that this is the perfect time for a book like mine.

What do you think of Harry Potter?

I love it, it’s the best novel ever written, better than The Lord of the Rings and The Odyssey combined!

You know, a kid once asked me that question during a school visit, and I made the mistake of answering truthfully (that I’ve enjoyed the books, but honestly don’t understand what all the hoopla is about and can only explain it as a “cosmic hiccup”). I swear there was almost a riot in the auditorium! So now I just grin and give the above answer.

In Dreamquest, eleven year-old Julie Fray wakes up in Slumberia, a magical land inside her own brain where they “film” her dreams. But evil “dream executives” have taken control of the dream-production, enslaving the residents of the land and turning the dreams into nightmares. I know you spent several years working in Hollywood, so I have to ask: how much of the book is a response to that?

It’s true that I lived and worked as a screenwriter in Hollywood for several years -- without much success, I have to say. I won a lot of contests, had a few scripts optioned, and took about a hundred thousand meetings. But I never had anything produced.

And -- stop the presses -- yes, I found it to be a humiliating, soul-destroying place. Everything bad you’ve heard is true. Honestly, you can’t parody the place, because it’s beyond parody to begin with. The whole town is about image and illusion, not reality.

But Dreamquest isn’t about Hollywood per se. It’s about anyone or any place that puts the bottom line ahead of people. Sadly, it’s very timely these days.

What will you say if Hollywood comes knocking?

It would be ironic, wouldn’t it? We’ve already had interest. I concede it’s a pretty “high concept” story. I’ve actually had a lot experience with movie deals on my other screenplay and book projects. A movie deal for a book is always a good thing, even if the movie turns out horribly, because it raises the profile of the book. Even today, knowing how I feel about these things, the first thing my friends always ask me is, “So when will the movie of Geography Club come out?!”

But honestly, the book is the book, and the book will always exist. No movie can ever change that.

If it happens, I’d like to be involved, just like I’ve tried to be involved in my other movie projects. But no matter what happens movie-wise, I’ll always come back to writing books. I’m so much happier in the world of publishing than I ever was in Hollywood.

Famous last words, huh? Just like Eve Harrington in All About Eve. “Although I am going to Hollywood next week to make a film, do not think for a moment that I am leaving you. How could I?”

Ha! Suckers!

Do you think kids will get the Hollywood satire in your book?

Oh, please. In certain ways, kids are so much smarter than adults think they are. I don’t know why so many adults seem to think that kids are stupid. Because they ride their bikes without helmets? Plenty of adults drive without seatbelts. Sure, kids can be stupid about some things, but that doesn’t mean they don’t get satire. Why don’t more adults remember that when they were kids, they understood so much more than their parents thought they did?

Are you the dreamwriter?

Uh, I think there may be a passing resemblance -- or at least a resemblance to me when I was living in Hollywood, which was one of the more pathetic periods in my life. It’s my Alfred Hitchcock moment! I put myself in my own book.

Kids love fantasy. Why do you think that is?

It’s all about imagination, which I guess is something we lose as we grow older, like hearing or the ability to set up Outlook Express. Adults often forget that it’s okay to suspend disbelief.

Going back to Harry Potter, and also The Lord of the Rings movies, I’m just glad we’ve proved once and for all that fantasy is universal, not just a little niche thing. And that, hey, plenty of adults love fantasy too.

But we still don’t get no respect! And in five years, everyone is going to forget about Harry Potter and The Lord of the Rings, and we fantasy folks will go back to having to remind people that some of the most beloved books of all time are fantasy.

Speaking of which, in your book, you make some tongue-in-cheek references to classic fantasies like The Wizard of Oz, Alice in Wonderland, and Peter Pan.

Yeah, isn’t that clever of me?

Honestly, classics like these have so permeated popular culture that it’s hard not to at least acknowledge them, and then hopefully go from there. But I was determined not to turn my main character into one of those precocious, disengaged child-protagonists who have seen it all, been-there-done-that, and so don’t care about anything.

If irony isn’t dead yet, it should be. I just don’t know where you go from there. I always want my characters to care about something, to feel things, thank you very much. My book is hopefully hip and edgy in its emotions and subject matter, but like all my books, it’s very traditional in its values and ethics, I think.

How did you come up with the idea for the book?

It’s based on an actual dream I had. I was right in the middle of a really terrifying nightmare, but suddenly my mind “woke up” right in the middle of it all. I could see the ”dream” camera and the crew, and I saw that the scene around me was obviously a set. So I walked over to the “dream-director,” and I said, “Look, do you mind? This dream is really, really scary! Please stop making it!” But he wouldn’t listen, so I kept traveling on, trying to get someone to listen to me.

When I woke up that morning, my first thought was literally, “Oh, my God, that would make a fantastic story! Thanks, subconscious mind.”

It was when I came up with the name for the land -- “Slumberia” -- that I thought, “That’s it! I’ve got my next book.”

How did you come up with the parents? They literally seem to speak different languages with each other.

When I was a kid, my parents and the parents of all my friends seemed kind of, well, ridiculous. They all had such quirks, you know? And I remember distinctly how my parents almost seemed to inhabit separate universes, each with very little understanding of the other one.

Mostly, though, I remember how adults often used kids as pawns against each other. That’s the basis for Julie’s nightmares, because for a kid, can there be anything worse than being caught in the middle of a fight between two adults?

I read somewhere that you don’t have kids and you don’t like kids.

Oh, I am so not going there.

Just answer the question!

Okay, okay. What I said was I don’t like small kids. And seriously, except for their parents, who does? But I’ve been around kids my whole life, as a swim coach, group home counselor, and high school teacher. And I am absolutely terrific with some kids, and I have absolutely no idea how to talk to other kids.

Someone once asked me, “How come all the characters in kids’ and teens’ books are sensitive, thoughtful, book-reading types?” And I said, “Think about it. What kind of adults are the ones to sit down and spend a year writing a book? And what kind of kids are the ones who are actually going to want to buy and read those books?” Hello!

But I have high hopes that Julie will interest kids of all types. I teach creative writing, and I’m always telling my students, “Make your main character want something desperately, and make him or her active in trying to get it!” I’d be a hypocrite if I didn’t take my own advice.

This is a series, right? “Tales of Slumberia”? They’ll be other books?

Definitely! The next book is called Brainstorm. Moodtides and Soulsearch will hopefully follow.

Will you sign my book?