Karen Kline
asked
Jack Gantos:
I love the scene in Dead End from Norvelt where Miss Volker boils her hands. I play your recording of this scene when I booktalk your book in the library where I work. Very over-the-top. Did you know this scene was going to be a winner when you were writing it? Did you rewrite it much or did it just flow?
Jack Gantos
That is one of those scenes where you know you have a tiger by the tail. But, I rewrite everything so much and that scene got at least a hundred passes. The dialog has to be spot on and the timing of the action and the reverberations of the emotions ...all come together. And it had to be stretched out to just the right length--like the deer hunting scene. You just want to take these good moments and almost turn them into small, suspenseful short stories within the novel. Glad you like it. I love that scene. I know that kitchen inside and out. Thanks, Jack
More Answered Questions
Tracey
asked
Jack Gantos:
Hole in my Life is one of my favorite memoirs. It is a very honest account of the circumstances that led to your transformation into the writer you are today. In your newest novel, what one person, from your adolescence, impacted the choices that you made that eventually escalated to your stay in the pen? And, now looking back, how would you change their influence on you or would you?
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