Ask the Author: Steven B. Frank
Answered Questions (7)
Steven B. Frank
I thought it was my wife snoring beside me in bed, but when I reached out to jostle her shoulder, I touched fur.
We don't have a dog.
We don't have a dog.
Steven B. Frank
How the Post Office Created America: A History by Winnifred Gallagher
The Mighty Franks: A Memoir by Michael Frank (I've read it, but not in its newly-printed condition)
Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk
Ms. Bixby's Last Day by John D. Anderson
America Street by Ibi Zoboi
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
When the Sea Turned to Silver by Grace Lin
Zinnia and the Bees by Danielle Davis
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
Class Action by Steven B. Frank (I get one more pass this summer before it goes to galleys.)
The Mighty Franks: A Memoir by Michael Frank (I've read it, but not in its newly-printed condition)
Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk
Ms. Bixby's Last Day by John D. Anderson
America Street by Ibi Zoboi
Where the Mountain Meets the Moon by Grace Lin
When the Sea Turned to Silver by Grace Lin
Zinnia and the Bees by Danielle Davis
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders
Class Action by Steven B. Frank (I get one more pass this summer before it goes to galleys.)
Steven B. Frank
I just turned in my next book to my editor at HMH. It's something pretty ironic coming from a teacher: an underdog tale about a group of students--middle and high school--who are so fed up with homework that they sue to have it declared unconstitutional. They take their fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. It's really about the rights of children to have a childhood.
Steven B. Frank
First draft advice: welcome your characters; let them wake you up in the middle of the night, visit you on your daily walk, surprise you in the shower—a great place to think. DO NOT WELCOME that voice in your head, or any other voice that says you can't write. Second draft advice: read your work out loud and listen for its rhythm; "omit needless words." (E.B. White). Third draft advice: listen to your (trusted) critics; react slowly and make only those changes that feel true to your story. Tenth draft advice (there will be at least ten): learn to let go.
Steven B. Frank
I take long, environmentally unacceptable showers, but I offset my carbon footprint by parking my car 30 minutes from my school and walking. That walk to and from school is also great writing time--as long as there's enough charge on my cell phone to record the ideas that come. I think if I weren't still teaching 6th grade four days a week, I would struggle more with writer's block, because I'd have much more time to write. But when the resource is limited, you have to make it count.
Steven B. Frank
Getting notes from readers, like the one I got from an eleven year-old boy who told me my book had gotten him in trouble with his mom because he stayed up three hours past his bedtime to finish it.
Steven B. Frank
Armstrong & Charlie was inspired by my own 6th grade year at Wonderland Avenue Elementary. My privileged, protected Laurel Canyon childhood was forever changed by the arrival of new kids who were bused in from South Central. One in particular captured my heart. I wanted to hold onto my memories of him in a book.
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