Q: As one of the more prolific writers on the planet, can you tell us about a day in the life of Gordon Korman– in other words, what does your brand of self-discipline look like? How do you keep a schedule going that results in turning out so many books per year? Where does that drive come from? Have you always been super-hard-driven?
A: I don’t think there’s any magic to it. I just make sure that I work every day. Since I started writing so young, I’ve never held a “real” job, and I learned early on that if I write all night and sleep all day, I’ll never see anybody, because my schedule will be totally incompatible with family and friends. So I more or less nine-to-five it. Mornings are usually for business and promotion (these days, I do a lot of virtual visits with school groups). The afternoon hours are my prime writing time.

Q: You’re best known for your wicked sense of humor. That begs the question, were you a class clown as a child?
A: I wasn’t a class clown, exactly, but I was kind of the loudmouth who was always ready with the smart remark. I’m not sure my teachers appreciated me as much as I appreciated myself. Even when I was little, I always admired the person who could make everybody laugh with a great story or joke. And I grew up wanting to be that person.

Q: What’s your best advice to parents and educators of pre-teen and teen boys on how to encourage them toward becoming keen readers?
A: The word I always come back to is “page-turner.” When boys talk about becoming readers, they always refer to this magic tipping point when their interest in finding out what comes next in the story overpowers what almost seems like a natural resistance to the “work” of reading. My two preferred genres are humor and adventure, so I’m tempted to say those are the books to look for. But it’s probably different for every kid.

Q: You’ve said in the past that for you, entertaining is more important than enlightening, and that there’s an overemphasis on books about social and environmental issues these days. You’ve also said that your favorite theme is individuality, or child power. Your latest novel, Linked, certainly melds humor and racism/anti-Semitism, with child power in full force.
A: I feel that my primary responsibility is to my readers – to tell a good story. But that doesn’t mean there can’t be a message. I just don’t want the message to be the top priority. A couple of my novels – Restart and Schooled – have been embraced as anti-bullying books, and that’s an incredibly important message these days. But I never started out with any kind of moral or lesson in mind. And if I had, I doubt those books would have been any good. With Linked, I was inspired by the famous Paper Clips project. Middle schoolers in a tiny town in Tennessee, in a region with a long history of racism (the KKK was formed in the same county) set out to collect six million paper clips in an attempt to wrap their minds around the scale of the Holocaust. In my book, the characters combat acts of racist vandalism at their school by making a paper chain six million links long. So the message is there, but Linked is mostly about kid empowerment and how different people who don’t always get along can band together and accomplish something great against all odds. That’s the subject that fascinates me the most, and always has, even when I was a twelve-year-old seventh grader starting on my first book.

Q: As a writer, what are your special knacks for reaching preteen and teen boys in particular?
A: I have an imaginary friend when I write – more like an imaginary heckler, actually. A boy seated at a student desk. He has a short upper body, but long legs, crossed at the ankles. Since the two halves are separated by the desktop, they seem to belong to two different people. His arms are crossed at his chest in a gesture of defiance, and his lower lip is curled back 180 degrees. He’s got a look on his face as if he smells something not horrible, yet slightly off, in the room. The nonverbal message is basically: “All right, impress me.” And he’s ninety percent sure I’m not up to the job. Whether the genre is humor, adventure or a mixture of the two, I write for that kid – and I don’t want to let him down.

Q: What are your hobbies outside of writing (including, perhaps, a fitness regime that helps you survive your rigorous travel schedule)?
A: I do try to stay in shape, although these days, most of my travel has been replaced by Zoom. I can’t wait to get back in front of live audiences. Meeting my readers has always been one of the best parts of this job. I’m a huge sports fan and I love music, but I really don’t have any big hobbies. Also, I have three kids, and while they’re older – No. 1 son just graduated from university – I’d still say ninety percent of my spare time is taken up with family. It doesn’t sound all that exciting, but trust me, I’m never bored.