P.W. Catanese - the Interview (and giveaway!)

P.W. Catanese, author of The Books of Umber (among other works), was gracious enough to grant me an interview! As gleeful as a kid on Christmas, I managed to calm down enough to submit some questions to him. Here are his responses. Be sure to read below the interview for a little giveaway.

1) When did you first realized you wanted to be a writer?
I enjoyed telling stories from a very young age, when I would spend hours creating cartoon stories in drawing pads... generally featuring dinosaurs and monsters.

2) How long does it take you to write a book? Do you write it long hand or on the computer?
I produce a first draft in about 5 to 7 months, and then the editorial process begins, which takes another 3 or 4 months, including my editor waiting for me and vice versa. When writing I shoot for about 800 to 1000 words a night. Then when the story is done there are weeks and weeks of revising, most of which consists of removing the words that don't have to be there.

3) Do you start with the story in mind OR with a character or characters? Where do you get your ideas for your books?
It depends on the book. Most of my novels began with the story idea. The Books of Umber series, however, grew out of a single line in my second novel, The Brave Apprentice. I wrote a sentence about a fellow named Umber who explores all things monstrous and magical, and that got my imagination going. While writing my next three books, I thought more and more about Umber, and the rest of the story grew from that.

4) Of all your books, which is your favorite? Why? Which one did you think would be your readers' favorite?
I consider the Books of Umber trilogy to be one story, and that is my favorite, for its rich cast of characters and deep emotional themes. Readers seem to like it as well, although I get a lot of notes about The Thief and the Beanstalk and The Mirror's Tale.

5) I saw your rendition of the Leviathan Barge and Umber's home, the Aerie on your facebook pages - are you an artist as well as a writer?
I enjoy drawing, did a daily cartoon strip while in college, and still dabble in cartooning. But I'm a reasonably good amateur, not a professional.

6) What does your family think of your writing? Do you use them as sounding boards for your stories?
My wife and children are my first readers, and they give me great advice. They get a kick out of the whole experience.

7) Which author do YOU the biggest fan of? What do you like to read in your spare time? Which books have influenced your life and your career choice?
I'm a huge fan of Patrick O'Brian. My reading is all over the place, but not that much in my own genre. I would call my main influences classic fairy tales, Tolkien, and great adventure films like The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad and King Kong (1933).

8) Tell me something unusual about yourself that no one would ever guess.
I can juggle flaming torches. I once had a seven foot long boa constrictor as a pet. The accident that Julian Penny experienced actually happened to me when I was about nine years old.

9) Are any of your characters in The Books of Umber based on people you know in real life or on historical or present day public figures?
Only the tiniest parts of certain characters are inspired by real people. The rest is made up.

10) When is Book 3 of the Books of Umber being published? Can you tell us the name of it? Any plot clues? I'm on pins and needles here!
Book three is coming out in January {2011}. I'm not 100% sure about the title, so I can't reveal it yet. Sorry! The series comes to a powerful and emotional conclusion. Here are some hints:
Umber is struck again by one of his dark moods.
There is an attempt to return the dragon eggs that does not go smoothly.
The rivalry between Loden and Umber comes to a boiling point.
They find the missing archives that Caspar stole... and something unexpected as well.
The story includes a journey to an island inhabited by a strange botanist.
Something very dangerous is heading towards Kurahaven.

11) Think you will ever publish the actual books written by Umber (much like Rowling published Tales of the Beetle Bard)? I'd love to read more than just the fragments in your books.
That would be fantastic! But it would require a fanatical following and huge sales to convince my publisher to publish it. Maybe if The Books of Umber keeps picking up steam it could happen.

The giveaway: Because I think Mr. Catanese's Books of Umber are that good, and I believe more people need to find out his awesomeness (totally a word, even if I made it up), I want to send as many people as possible to his Facebook page so YOU TOO can become a fan! So I'm offering a giveaway (sponsored by little old me and my checking account) - of a $20 gift card to Amazon.com so you can buy these two books for yourself in case you don't win the giveaway from yesterday (together they are $18.54 as of today); if you do win the books in yesterday's giveaway, you can always use the card to more of his books!

To win: Fan P.W. Catanese on Facebook and leave a comment here telling me your Facebook name (you can just leave a first name if you like to preserve anonymity). GET FIVE EXTRA ENTRIES if you leave a comment on his FB page (leave an extra comment here that you did so). Be sure to leave your email address with your comments if you are not a blogger or your email is not easily found on your blog. This giveaway is open until 11:59 p.m., EST, Wednesday, April 7, 2010 and the winner will be chosen using Random.org. Good Luck!