 
101 Questions to Ask an Author
Many of the following questions were created by the students of Dodge Literacy Magnet Elementary School in Wichita, Kansas, when Lee Wardlaw visited them in 2004.
Lee will finish answering all 101 questions during the next few months. If your class would like to suggest more questions for Lee, please send them to  .
1. How many books have you written?
I’m not sure. I’ve published 25 books, but I’ve got a gihugeic (that’s my son’s word - - it means gigantic and huge put together) file cabinet filled with stories, poems, songs, and books that will probably never be published. That’s because they’re what I call ‘Litter Box’ writings - - stuff I thought was soooooo good when I wrote it way back when, but now might be more useful as lining for our cats’ litter box. (They are shaking their heads, No. They prefer the Sunday comics.)
2. How many of your books have you read?
All of ‘em! (And let’s just say the number of times is gihugeic.)
3. What made you want to become a writer?
The first book I could read all the way through, all by myself, was P.D. Eastman’s Go, Dog, Go. What a dizzy-proud accomplishment it was to read it over and over again to my little brother, Scott! (And he didn’t even like dogs!) I couldn’t imagine a better feeling than that, except maybe writing a book all the way through, all by myself. So tried it - - when I was seven. I’ve been writing ever since.
4. What was the name of your first book?
Teena Bell. I wrote it in second grade to enter in my school’s spring art festival. My mother typed it, then bound it in a bright red report cover. It looked soooo professional.
5. What was your first book about?
The main character in Teena Bell was a little girl who stood only one-inch high. She looked just like me (skinny, brownish hair, crooked smile) – only shorter. I also modeled her after Tinkerbell (from Peter Pan) and Thumbelina (from the story by Hans Christian Anderson). Teena Bell’s best friend was a lime-green grasshopper, with extravagant antennae, who let her ride on his back. The two of them ran away from home because Teena Bell had 14 baby brothers and 14 baby sisters – all in diapers. (My youngest brother, John, had just been born, so I was expected to do a lot of diaper duty. Ha!) I don’t remember the grasshopper’s name. I do remember, though, that I had Teena Bell get swept out to sea because I couldn’t think of another way to end the book.
6. What was the first book you wrote as a grown-up?
A short (30 pages) chapter book called Me + Math = Headache. I was a 19-year-old college student when I started writing it. The first sentence of that book is: “I flunked another math test today.” That’s something my mother heard a lot from me when I was in elementary school, junior high, high school . . .
7. How old were you when your first book was published?
Me + Math = Headache, the first book I wrote at age 19, wasn’t published until I was almost 30. Eleven. Long. Years. Can you spell P-A-T-I-E-N-C-E? Can you spell
R-E-J-E-C-T-I-O-N L-E-T-T-E-R-S?
8. What was the first novel you wrote for older kids?
Corey’s Fire, a story about a 14-year-old girl who loses her home and neighborhood in a horrific brush fire. This story is TRUE. My family’s home was destroyed, along with 299 others, in a fire on July 26th, 1977. I lost almost everything dear to me in that fire – my favorite Barbie doll (she had pierced ears); the only copy of Teena Bell, the book I wrote at age 7; my first love letters; even my cat. A lot of the scenes, situations and emotions in Corey’s Fire shoot straight out of Real Life - - mine, my brothers’, our neighbors’.
9. How long does it take to write a book?
It depends on the book. And what’s going on in your life when you’re writing it. For example, Corey’s Fire, which is 200 pages long, took me a year to write, for three reasons: 1.) I’d never written a novel before, and didn’t know what I was doing; 2.) A lot of the scenes were based on real life stuff, painful stuff, so I often had to stop writing and go have a good cry before I could concentrate again; 3.) I spent a lot of time whining about how hard writing was, when I should’ve been just writing.
101 Ways to Bug Your Parents, which was also 200 pages, took me only four months to write. But by the time I’d gotten around to writing that one, I was more experienced at creating characters, outlining plots, and ignoring the little voice in my head that whispers: “This is hard! You’re a terrible writer! Give it up now and go take a nap! Better yet, go eat some chocolate. Yeah, chocolate.”
10. How do you know what you want to write about?
I don’t always know. I mean, some writers get smacked in the head with great ideas when they’re standing in the shower. Not me. I could stand in the shower all day and get zip - - except lizard fingers and prune toes.
11. So where do you get your ideas?
All the ideas for my books come from my own life: Experiences I’ve had, places I’ve visited, friends (and enemies) who’ve come and gone, emotions I’ve felt, things I’ve read or thought about, etc. Here are some examples:
In elementary school, no one ever wanted to share my bologna-and-mustard-on-squishy-Wonder-Bread sandwiches with me, so I turned that experience into the easy-reader Dinosaur Pizza.
My brother Scott’s embarrassing (to me) Halloween costume (cowboy hat, boots, holster and underwear) led to The Ghoul Brothers.
The inspiration for 101 Ways to Bug Your Teacher came from my years as both a bug-ger (student) and a bug-gee (teacher) - - and also at the suggested of hundreds of kids who had loved reading 101 Ways to Bug Your Parents.
And my love of chocolate ice cream influenced me to research We All Scream for Ice Cream: The Scoop on America’s Favorite Dessert by touring two ice cream factories and a dairy farm . . . interviewing industry taste testers and flavor inventors . . . taking scoop lessons from a former soda jerk . . . making ice cream, cones, and chocolate sauces in my kitchen . . . and tasting every brand of ice cream I could get her spoon into!
12. Can I have a free book?
The proper way to ask is: May I have a free book?
13. May I have a free book?
No.
14. Why not?
Because if I give you a free book, then I’ll have to give your best friend a free book. And then I’ll have to give one to your second best friend. And then I’ll have to give one to the kid who sits in the second row, seat five. And then all that kid’s brothers and sisters and cousins and their cousins would want free books. And before you know it, everyone in the country would want free books, and my son would have to go to school dressed in old kitty litter bags because I wouldn’t have enough money to buy him real clothes.
15. How many schools have you been to? Besides your childhood?
I think you mean, how many schools have I visited as an author? I don’t know! I’ve been visiting schools all over the country, talking to kids about writing and publishing, since my first book was published in 1986.
16. What do you do in your spare time? Do you golf? I do!
No, I don’t golf. But when I was a kid, I used to like to ride around in my grandfather’s golf cart when he went golfing. In fact, he let me name it: Tee for Two. He even painted the name in big, swirly letters on the side of the cart.
In my spare time, when I’m not golfing, I like to: swim, shop, read, email my friends, read, write, do crossword puzzles, bike ride, hang out with my son, walk on the beach, read, dance, help out at my son’s school, study history, sing really loud in the car, listen to music, read,
recite old Monty Python routines or Simpsons’ episodes with my family, make up goofy conversations between my cats, answer fan mail, read . . . oh, and I like to read, too.
17. What is your favorite book that you’ve written?
This is a hard question to answer. When I’m writing a story, I spend a lot of time with my characters, getting to know them as well as I know my own family. I love them all - - even the grumpy ones - - because they are all special to me in their own way. So choosing one book over another is tricky. I don’t want any of my characters to get hurt feelings!
18. But don’t you have one book that maybe you like just a teensy bit more than the others?
Okay, okay. If you’re going to twist my arm . . .
I love my picture book Saturday Night Jamboree because there is a confident joy about it that makes me smile.
I love First Steps because I got the idea for it while watching my son, Patterson, learn to walk for the very first time . . .
I love 101 Ways to Bug Your Teacher because it was the hardest book I’ve ever written. It’s very funny, and humor is difficult to write well. Also, it has a lot of characters and a lot of complicated subplots that all had to be interwoven by the end of the story. I’m really proud of how I pulled it all together.And I love Corey’s Fire because it was the first novel I ever wrote. Writing your First is an amazing feat.
19. Where were you born? Where did you grow up?
Salina, Kansas, at the Smoky Hill Air Force Base. My dad was a Captain in the Air Force at the time, in charge of the photo lab.
We moved to Santa Barbara, California, when I was 4 1/2. We lived in Erie, PA, for about three years before that.
20. Where do you live now?
I’m still in Santa Barbara.
21. Are you going to write another 101 Ways book?
Yes, the next book will be called 101 Ways to Bug Your Brother or Sister. If you have any suggestions, please click on Just for Kids icon, and enter the contest!
Lee will answer the remaining 80 questions soon. Stay tuned!
How did you become an author?
What made you become an author?
Do you only read to kids?
How do you publish a book?
What inspired you to write 101 Ways to Bug Your Teacher?
Did you use some of the 101 ways to bug your own teachers when you were a kid?
Out of all the books you’ve written, what character would best describe you?
What is it like being an author?
How long did it take you to write 101 Ways to Bug Your Teacher?
Did you misbehave in school?
Are you going to make another 101 Ways book?
Have you bugged your parents 101 times?
Do you get to travel all over the United States?
Do you have children of your own?
What is your favorite thing about being an author?
Have you wanted to be an author since you were a small child?
What is the book you are currently writing?
What kind of books do you write?
Do you like writing?
What do you wear when you’re writing?
Do you draw the pictures, too?
Why do you write?
When do you write?
Do you type on a typewriter?
How many books have you gotten an award for?
How many people have read your books?
How do you think of a book title?
How do you think of all the words to write?
How do you get the pictures to look real?
Who is your favorite author?
Do you have a family?
Do you have any pets?
Do you write every day?
Is it fun to write books?
Who do you write your books for?
Why did you visit schools?
What is your favorite car?
Are you or your books famous?
Are you very, very very, very, very very famous?
Do you have another job other than writing?
Why don’t you illustrate some of your books?
Do you make a lot of money?
Where do you get your ideas from your books?
Where do you get your ideas for your characters?
Are they based on people you know or do you just make them up?
Is it hard when an editor doesn’t like your ideas?
Did you like writing when you were in school?
Do you write on your computer or do you write everything by hand?
What advice would you give children who want to become writers?
How often do you travel to schools?
Are you books all fiction?
When you write a book do you know how it is going to end before you begin?
Has one of your books ever won a Newbery Award?
Do you listen to music when you write? Is so, what type?
Do you write poetry?
Who inspired you to write?
Do you have any teachers your remember?
Who was your favorite teacher?
When did you become a full-time author?
Did you ever have another job?
Who does your laundry?
What is your favorite color?
Where do you like to go on vacation?
Do you like to fly on an airplane?
Do you fly first class?
What is your favorite food?
What are your kids’ names and how old are they?
Who is your favorite children’s author?
What did you do before you started writing books?
What did you want to be when you grew up?
Do you know any other authors?
Where do you get the names for your characters?
Is Lee Wardlaw your real name or is it a ghost name?
If it is a ghost name what is your real name?
How many days a week do you write?
What is your birthday? (You do not have to tell the year if you do not want to)
What kind of car do you have?
What car do you want?
Do you ever have a dream that your books will some day be a movie?
Did you ever move when you were growing up?
What is the most difficult part of your work?
Where is your favorite place you like to be?
What was your favorite thing to do as a kid?
How many rejection letters did you get before you sold your first book?
Can you come visit my school?
How do you make your books so funny?
How do you make a book exciting?
Why do you write more books with boy main characters than with girl main characters?
Did you have a nickname when you were a kid?
Did you have any enemies when you were a kid?
Did you ever bug your parents?
Did they ever bug you?
Did your brothers or sisters ever bug you? How?
Could you write a book called 101 Ways to Bug Your Librarian?
What do you eat for breakfast?
Do you have a swimming pool?
Do you visit schools in a limousine?
What is your favorite dessert?
Do you like to get fan mail?
Can you send me a picture of you?
Did you like being a teacher?
What grade did you teach?
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