Hello readers and sports fans! I have a super-special interview today! I recently interviewed author and New York Mets fan Dan Gutman. Dan Gutman is the author of many books, including his famous baseball series where he writes about a boy who has the ability to travel through time using a baseball card as a time machine! It's a great way series to read for hesitate readers and you can learn many facts and information from the series! Check out Mr. Gutman's website here www.dangutman.com !
JE: What was your inspiration to write fiction baseball history books?
DG: I knew that a lot of kids collected baseball cards (at least in 1995), and I knew that a lot of kids were fascinated by time travel stories. So, I thought I would simply combine the two and create a story about a boy who has the power to travel through time using a baseball card as a time machine.
JE: As a kid, did you aim at becoming a writer once you were an adult?
DG: No, I actually wanted to be a photographer when I was a kid.
JE: How did you come to writing about baseball?
DG: Your teachers probably like to tell you to write about what you like and write what you know. I was a baseball fan, and I knew a lot about the history of the game. Also, I knew that a lot of boys like sports, and some are actually reluctant readers.
JE: Who is your favorite MLB team?
DG: I grew up as a Mets fan. I currently live near Philadelphia and root for them, but honestly I don't have any strong loyalty to any team.
JE: Should your readers expect more books about baseball?
DG: Yes. " Willie & Me" comes out in February. It's about Willie Mays, and that will be the last baseball card adventure.
JE: If you could interview any baseball player, dead or alive, who would it be and why?
DG: Babe Ruth, because he was such a dominant player of his time and such an interesting person.
JE: Any advice for young reporters, bloggers and journalists?
DG: Sure..
Don't take rejection personally, the editors are not rejecting YOU, they're rejecting the words on the page.
They're very possibly wrong anyway. I had a book rejected by ten publishers.
Two of them rejected it TWICE. After the book was published, the kids of California voted it their favorite children's book of the year.
Dr. Seuss's first book was rejected twenty-seven ( 27 ) time, Harry Potter was rejected. It's an occupational hazard. The secret is... there is no secret. I'm sorry, but it's true. There is no secret.
The secret is to bust your butt for ten or twenty years, making mistakes, doing stupid things, going off in all the wrong directions, getting rejected a thousand times, never giving up. The secret is finally, after all that, discovering the thing that you were meant to do. The thing that makes you feel confident and fulfilled.
I had an amazing time interviewing Mr. Gutman! Check Mr. Gutman out at www.dangutman.com or follow him on Twitter!
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