February 2006 Featured Author

CBRS (Children's Book Review Staff): As children and teenagers, we’re constantly changing our ideas about what we want to be when we grow up. Did you always want to be a writer?

KJJ (Kathleen Jeffrie Johnson): Yes. I wrote poetry when I was a little girl. It meant so much to me, and I was rewarded by my parents' response. They thought it was nice that I wrote, and also seemed to think that what I wrote was meaningful. I kept writing poems, and as I approached young adulthood decided that being a poet was what I wanted to do with my life. Things didn't go quite as planned, but I still write poetry, though not as much as I once did.

As I got older I also wanted to write fiction. I tried short stories for adults, and picture books and short stories for children. Nothing worked. I finally I found my voice in YA fiction, and have been happy ever since.

CBRS:What was your favorite book to write?

CJJ: Each book I write is my favorite, as I'm writing it. I did especially enjoy DUMB LOVE. My other YA novels, THE PARALLEL UNIVERSE OF LIARS; TARGET; and A FAST AND BRUTAL WING, all from Roaring Brook Press, have been realistic, edgy books with a lot of darkness in them (though they, too, are laced with humor.) A FAST AND BRUTAL WING includes an ambiguous fantasy element, but also abounds with darkness. Writing a lighter, humorous book like DUMB LOVE was a welcome change and a deep relaxation.

CBRS:If DUMB LOVE were made into a movie, who would play the main characters?

CJJ: Ack! I don't know. Your readers and reviewers will have to help me on that one. I don't know who the young available actresses are, but whoever played Carlotta couldn't be skinny!

CBRS:What kind of feedback have you gotten from your readers on your books?

CJJ: I haven't received a lot of mail, though I'd love to. The letters I have gotten all concern my first book, THE PARALLEL UNIVERSE OF LIARS. The kids who have written have thanked me for what they've called my "honest" depiction of teen sexuality.

CBRS: Are any of the characters in your books based upon 'real' people?

CJJ: No. My characters spring to life inside my head, I don't find them outside. That's not to say I'm never influenced or moved by a real person, but anything of theirs that I might use-such as a gesture or facial expression-is completely filtered through the character already in my head.

CBRS: What do you do when you are not writing?

CJJ: Read! It's one of my greatest pleasures. I also have a day job. (Drat!)

CBRS: Who are your favorite authors and who are you reading now?

CJJ: There are so many authors that I've read with great enthusiasm; there's just no way I could name them all! Right now, I'm finishing up MAGIC OR MADNESS by Justine Larbalestier, which is what you might call a "modern" fantasy. I'm enjoying it very much. The last three books I read before that are A CRACK IN THE LINE, also a modern fantasy, by Michael Lawrence; KING OF THE PYGMIES, a moving, realistic story by Jonathan Scott Fuqua; and CODE TALKER, a historical novel about how the U.S Military relied on the Navajo people, along with their complex, difficult language, to write and relay code during World War II. It's by Joseph Bruchac. All of these are wonderful YA novels.

CBRS: And this is a very important question, perhaps the most important question we have asked so far…do you have a library card?

CJJ: Yes, indeed! Everyone should have a (well-used) library card. Though I am not a librarian, I actually work for a public library, and am surrounded by books all day long! Not a bad deal for a reader and a writer.

CBRS: As far as accolades or achievements, what would you say has been your greatest achievement thus far?

CJJ: In a sense, getting published has been my greatest achievement! Part of me never believed it would happen, and sometimes I'm still surprised that it has. Other than that, my first three books made either ALA's (The American Library Association's), BBYA or Quick Picks list. For me, that was a real wowza!

CBRS: Do you have a novel coming out in print soon?

CJJ: If all goes as planned, my next book should be out in Spring 2007, also from Roaring Brook Press. I don't have a title for it yet. It's another realistic, edgy story.

CBRS: We'll definitely be waiting until then. Thanks again for visiting Children's Book Reviews.