Friday, February 1, 2008

Welcome Grade 5 Students of Gray Academy!

At 12:50 PM today the grade 5 students of Gray Academy of Jewish Education in Winnipeg, Manitoba will meet Carol for a live chat here on The Freak 3 blog!

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hello everyone!
Ready to go?

Anonymous said...

Can a kid like us write a book like you?

From Alexa

Anonymous said...

Dear Carol Matas,
What was your favorite book that you wrote and what made you think of that topic?

From Sydney

Anonymous said...

Hi Alexa,
I couldn't have written these books when I was your age, because I didn't have the experience of life, the knowledge of how to write and the reasons for writing then. But that doesn't mean you can't write- it will just be very different from the things you write when you are older.

Anonymous said...

Do you like being an author?

From Emily

Anonymous said...

Hi Sydney,
I don't really have a favourite book, they are all like children to me. However, I do have a "baby" who is a temporary favourite, the newest addition, and that would be The Freak and Visions right now. I love writing the character of Jade and investigating the philosophical issues surrounding her psychic powers.

Anonymous said...

From Jeremy

How long does it usually take you to think of a plotline for a book?

Anonymous said...

From Will:

Who or what inspired you to be an author?

Anonymous said...

Hi Emily,
I like being an author very much, most of the time. As with all jobs, there are parts I like better than other parts. I like to write the first draft and I like thinking up ideas. I'm not crazy about copy edit and going over every single comma and sentence to make sure they are as good as they can be but I have to do that to make a good book. So some of the work is fun and some is just hard work.

Anonymous said...

From Samantha W:

What inspired you to write about reading people's minds in "The Freak" sequel?

Anonymous said...

Hi Jeremy,
Thinking of a plot line is different than thinking of an idea. An idea will come to me very quickly, just out of the blue- I might be reading something, or watching something, or even just talking to someone and I'll get the initial idea. Then it could take months of thinking to flesh out the idea. And right now, for instance, I'm writing "Far" the 3rd Freak book. I sent in a draft and my editor realized that there was a problem with the plot. She was right. So i've re thought it and will rewrite it changing it quite a bit and hopefully making it better. So it can take a long time for the entire plot to come together.

Anonymous said...

From Taliah:

As an author how many rough drafts do you do before a book is finished?

Anonymous said...

Hi Will,
I think the author Frank l Baum was my big inspiration. He wrote The Wizard Of Oz books and I just loved them. But I wrote my first story after listening to a story a friend had read - so maybe he was my inspiration to write fiction as well.

Anonymous said...

From Missy:

How come out of all sicknesses you picked meningitis to be in "The Freak"?

Anonymous said...

Hi Samantha,
I wanted to write a sequel to The Freak because I felt I hadn't finished investigating all the questions around the idea of people having psychic powers. What does that mean? If You've read Visions you'll see that they spend quite a lot of time trying to figure that out. Is there a scientific explanation? Is there a spiritual one? And this makes an interesting dilemma for Jade who is a scientist. Does she now have to accept the idea of fate or is there another explanation? And the plot is pretty hair raising and was fun to figure out too- I wanted it to be a real thriller.

Anonymous said...

From Jarod:

Why are many of your books about World War II?

Anonymous said...

Hi Taliah.
I usually do about 5 or 6 drafts per book. The second draft is often a really big one, like the one I just described where the plot can change and even some of the characters can change. Further drafts have fewer changes but often concentrate on making things clearer, and making the writing better. Some books, like The Whirlwind took lots more drafts than 6 though- that one took over 20!

Anonymous said...

Hi Missy,
I picked a disease that could make her sick quickly, could be fatal, and that she could almost die from- also something that she could catch here in Winnipeg.

Anonymous said...

Dear Carol Matas,
Thank you very much for taking the time to answer our questions. Also we would like to thank you for sending us copies of your book to read.

From: The grade 5 classes at the Gray Academy

Anonymous said...

Hi Jarod,
I started writing about WW2 when I wrote Lisa. My husband's family are Danish and they inspired Lisa and Jesper. For the long answer to that story read about it on my web site.

Anonymous said...

Dear class,
This has been lots of fun. You asked great questions.
And just to tell you that in a few months my friend Perry Nodelman and I will have a new book out called "The Proof That Ghosts Exist." It's a ghost story!
Cheers!
Carol

Anonymous said...

Are you gonna make a whole series of freak books?

Anonymous said...

What inspired you to write about freaks?