FATFAQ

Favorite Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

Questions from Kids

  • Yes, that is my real name.

  • Rhymes with "Fresca"

  • I get my ideas from having been an elementary school teacher for ten years, growing up with five brothers, being a dad, staring out the window, reading books, staring out the window some more, listening to music, walking around Brooklyn, staring out the window again, and then writing stuff down so I don't forget what I was thinking when I was staring out the window.

  • Jim, Tom, Gregg, Brian, Jeff.

  • About 75¢ for each hardcover book and 15¢ for each paperback book. Then half of that goes to the government for taxes. So don't forget to ask for hardcover.

  • No, I'm not kidding. It's a real name. It's a Polish word that means "path." You could look it up. My dad's parents came to America from Poland.

  • Yes, I'm married. My wife, Jeri Hansen designed The Frog Prince Continued and The Book That Jack Wrote. We have two kids: daughter Casey, and son Jake.

  • The three guys in the Time Warp Trio are a lot like guys I used to teach in the 4th and 5th grade. And the Stinky Cheese Man is a lot like some other people I know.

  • I drive a gunmetal grey Lamborghini Murcielago LP640 with the 12 cylinder/640 horsepower engine, see through hood, and gull wing doors.

  • Yes, I do love to make up stories about what kind of car I drive.

  • I never know exactly how long it takes me to write a book. I'm always writing down ideas. Then I write a first draft. Then I rewrite and rewrite and rewrite until I get the story just the way I like it.

  • So, yes — anywhere from three months to a whole year. Though it took me five years to figure out how to make Math Curse work as a story.

  • Mountweazel … or maybe incunabula … It changes every week.

  • One year younger than my older brother, Jim. And two years older than my younger brother Tom.

  • I thought about being a writer ever since my mom first read me Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham. The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krause and Go, Dog. Go! By P.D. Eastman were two of my other early favorites.

NATFBRAQ

Not All That Frequently, But Really Asked Questions

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  • Have you ever been to America?

  • What is your favorite mollusk?

  • Are you a living author?

  • I have a dog, 2 cats, a snake, and a sister.

  • Did you know your last name said is almost spelled like wiener in Russian? Sorry.

  • Is your wife's name Cheryl?

  • Can you write a story about a monkey?

  • Can you make a story about a needle in a haystack with three pigs jumping in water looking for the needle but they remember it is in the haystack because the mice are playing with it?

  • We had to write to our favorite author, but Roald Dahl is dead so I am writing to you.