Interview Whore

I am an interview whore. There now I've said it. I am drawn to interviews particularly with writers, artists, and illustrators. But my curiousity about people doesn't end with those. I love interviews with stateman and politicians, comics, actors, musicians, and sometimes just the average person. Mostly I love interviews with people who are passionate about their work. Who absolutely love what they do and want to share that information.

My earphones are constantly connected to my computer at work in case I run into an interview I just have to listen to. This morning alone I have listened to three interviews. One with Bill Maher, a comic/political junkie who I just adore. One with Tom Warburton on his new children's book A Thousand Times No. And one with Richard Dawkins, noted author and athiest. I'm sure there will be more today.

That's why I am so excited about the 5 Minute Interview series that the BBC has been doing. The interviews last a total of five minutes and Matt Stadlen, the interviewer, tries to cover as much ground as possible in that time. I've listened to fun interviews with Stephen Fry, Jesse Jackson, Jason Isaacs, Terry Pratchett, Michael Gambon, and Jerry Springer. They are the perfect soundbite and I find that I can listen and work at the same time. Stadlen has started carrying a giant alarm clock around with him which goes off when the five minutes are up. Some interviews flow, almost running over time. Some are tougher, requiring more prompting from Stadlen. The interviews tend to focus on UK figures which for me is an added bonus. I'm a considerable Anglophile. Quick interviews filled with fun facts and some wonderful people. My favorite new site.

Reading Rockets

I was working at Heartland AEA when I was first introduced to the Reading Rockets program. Back then it had only a couple video programs that it produced but they were really well done. The videos would talk about skills for teaching reading or activities for teachers to try and they always included an author interview. I loved the author interviews. I always wished the videos had more of them.

So I was in heaven this past week to find out that there is now a Reading Rockets webpage and that it includes quite a few author interviews. Some of the best loved children's authors and illustrators have 15 minute interviews talking about how they create their work. Yesterday alone I listened to videos of Mo Willems, Lane Smith, Lois Lowery, Chris Van Allsburg, Jon J. Muth, Jon Scieszka, and Kate DiCamillo. These are not unknown authors. These are some of the top names in children's books. All good interviews and all free. For anyone who is a fan of children's books or interested in writing, this is a fantastic website all around.

The goal of the site is "Launching Young Readers". It has book lists, reading news, tips for teachers and parents, and a ton more. And then for me, the children's book geek, it has an amazing treasure trove of information about authors and illustrators. Well worth checking out.

Me Being a Squealy Fangirl

Consider that a warning. This is all fangirl stuff. Feel free to ignore if you like.

I don't like Steven Colbert. It's nothing against him personally but I don't really enjoy the person he plays on his show. I can't sit through his interviews because they annoy me way too much. I have trouble with an interview that hardly lets the person being interviewed get a word in edge-wise or spends most of the time making fun of the person. They are designed to make people uncomfortable and I don't enjoy embarrassment humor. I love Jon Stewart but when Colbert comes on I change the channel. Not sure why I have that distinction (Stewart's interviews can sometimes be just as annoying). But...

I love Neil Gaiman. I will freely admit that I have a huge fangirl crush on him. I've read all of his work and read his blog regularly. He is one of the only audiobooks on my iPod (Fragile Things). He is just brilliant. So when I saw that he had been interviewed by Steven Colbert I bit the bullet and watched. I'm so glad I did. It was a great interview with lots of fun answers and even some fun from Steven. Neither of them appeared to take the interview seriously and that made it enjoyable. Neil talked about why The Graveyard Book could be a children's story even with the early deaths. He talks about Lord of the Rings and they decide on a children's book for Steven to write with a very interesting title. Not once did I feel uncomfortable mostly because Neil didn't seem to take anything Steven said seriously. He had great answers. So here is me being a fangirl but you got to love a man who says he likes any Lord of the Rings character but Tom Bombadil.