Stolen Children is a nominee for the 2010-2011 Golden Sower Award, which is the Children’s Choice book award in Nebraska. The Golden Sower committee sent an author questionaire to each nominee, then included the answers in a manual for teachers and media specialists. The questions were so unusual that I’m posting them, and my answers here.
1. What is under your bed? (Be honest) My cat, whenever I have company.
2. What is the best place for you to write your books? I have a small office in my home, with a view of the woods. I often see blacktail deer, elk or rabbits outside my window.
3. If you weren’t an author, what would you be? A librarian, or maybe the owner of a small book store. If I had the physical strength, I’d like to work for an animal rescue organization.
4. Where would you like to go on vacation? I’m lucky in that I have traveled a lot and have been able to go to almost every place I’ve ever wanted to see. I still hope to get to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
5. Tell us something about yourself that most people don’t know. When I lived in California, I sang with the Oakland Symphony Chorus. So did my husband. My favorite movie star is Toto, from “The Wizard of Oz.”
6. What would you do with a million dollars? I would establish a trust fund and use the proceeds to pay for mobile spay/neuter clinics to go into low income areas and do free spay/neuter surgeries on cats and dogs. I already give a portion of my royalties to support two such clinics. Unfortunately, my royalties have never been a million dollars.
7. Tell us about a time that you got in trouble at school. I never got in trouble at school. I loved school and was a good student. However, I got in trouble at Girl Scouts for talking too much.
8. If you could eat lunch with anyone, who would it be and what would you eat? Dr. Jonas Salk, who developed the polio vaccine. I would thank him for his work. As for the menu, it would be a vegetarian meal and would include chocolate milk shakes.
9. What is the most unusual job you have ever had? One of my volunteer jobs was “Dirty Dog Driver.” I picked up filthy dogs from the Humane Society and drove them to a groomer who volunteered her services. The dogs were bathed, clipped, brushed and generally made more presentable and, therefore, more adoptable. During the time I was a Dirty Dog Driver, my car always had a rather strange odor.
Thanks to the Golden Sower Award committee for interesting and fun-to-answer questions.