Tiny Treasury

It’s the Friday Fifteen! Today’s guest is author Cecil Castellucci.

Cecil’s first novel, Boy Proof, debuted in 2005, and won a number of accolades including the ALA (American Library Association) Best Books for Young Adults; ALA Recommended Books for Reluctant Young Adult Readers, Quick Pick; New York Public Library Books for the Teen Age and Book Sense Children’s Picks List Selection.

And now, onto the Fifteen!

1. Where are you now?
In Los Angeles, on my couch watching Star Trek the Next Generation: Season 1

2. What were your favorite books as a kid?
Just the tip of the iceberg:

The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Tripod Trilogy by John Christopher
The Headless Cupid by Zilpha Keatly Snyder
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L’Engle
The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum

3. What are you reading now?
Flora Segunda by Ysabeau Wilce

4. Do you have kids?
Not yet. But I hope to one day!

5. What projects are you working on now?
I have a picture book called Grandma’s Gloves coming out on Candlewick as soon as the art is done. And then I’m working on an early chapter book / easy reader, for young kids, with Candlewick as well. Also I’m tinkering away at a new YA novel.

6. What is your biggest writing or illustrating luxury?
Fountain Pens. Long stretches in cafes. Dreaming while looking out of windows.

7. Coffee or tea?
Both! I swear! I love them equally!

8. Name five artists on your iPod (or mp3 player).
Coco Rosie
Joanna Newsom
Dead Kennedys
Edith Piaf
Sam Cook

9. What would I be surprised to know about you?
While living on the street for six weeks waiting for Star Wars Episode I tickets, I slept next to a murderer on the lam. Is that too scary? How about, my first job, when I was 15, was as a girl friday for a nobel prize winning neuroscientist.

10. What college did you attend (in what subject)?
I went to NYU first for film production, then ran out of money to finish, so I went to Paris, France for a year and then finished my degree in Film Production at Concordia University in Montreal.

11. If you weren’t working with kids’ books, what would your dream job be?
Astronaut or earth bound space voyager (like at JPL)

12. What’s the best thing on TV right now?
Uh… I don’t have broadcast or cable TV in my house. So, I can’t say what’s great on TV right now, like this week, because I watch TV on DVD’s.

13. How did you get your “big break” into the field?
The first story I published was in the LA Times Kids Reading Room. It was a story called Moon Picnic. Also, I joined SCBWI and went to a working writers retreat where I met my agent and my publisher, Candlewick Press. Go, SCBWI!!!

14. Which celeb would you want most to meet?
Dead: Luis Bunuel
Alive: Dolly Parton

15. Who is the best book character EVER?
Too tough a question!
I’ll say Anne of Green Gables, since I didn’t put that up in my fave books for kids.

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Thanks, Cecil (and thanks to Tracy at Candlewick Press for making the intro)! Be sure and check out Cecil’s latest book, Beige:

You can keep with Cecil on her blog.

Cecil Castellucci, Beige, Boy Proof, Candlewick Press