Monday, April 23, 2012

Carly Finally Posts It (the interview with Brent Crawford, that is)


Hey Readers!

Do you guys remember when I raved about the hilarity of “Carter Finally Gets It”? Today I have an interview with Brent Crawford to share with you. Enjoy!

Carly Reads: Your first novel, “Carter Finally Gets It,” is so realistic that I have to ask, is it autobiographical?
Brent Crawford: Unfortunately, yes. Cut and pasted, directly from personal experience or stolen from one of my close friends.

CR: Although “Carter Finally Gets It” is hilarious, I also interpreted it as being very much about how hard it is to grow from a boy to a man in today’s society. What advice do you have for teenage boys stumbling through adolescence on their way to adulthood?
BC: I think what Carter is trying to communicate is that failure is good thing. Apathy and laziness will get you nowhere. It's only by trying and risking failure that can you really achieve or at least figure out who you are and what you want. I have to remind myself of this all time.

CR: You also have a background in acting. Does your acting career influence your writing career? Or vise versa?
BC: Yeah, they're different forms but ultimately I just like telling stories. When I act, I'm just helping someone else tell their story and it's like the cherry on top of the sundae ... so much fun. But when I write, it's my world and get to do exactly what I want. I also only seem able to write from one character's perspective and that's just character study... and that's just acting... but, like, a lot more typing.

CR: What was the last book that you read for pleasure?
BC: Sigh... I'm currently reading “The Help” (chick lit... love it). Just finished “The Autobiography of Fredrick Douglas.” I don't think that counts as "pleasure reading" but no one forced me to read it and it's so good/awful that it made me want to vomit a bunch of times.

CR: What author are you most looking forward to meeting/seeing at the Seventh Annual Greater Rochester Teen Book Festival?
BC: I'm looking forward to meeting them all, but if I had to pick one... Brandon Mull! I dig “Fablehaven”!

Brent, I loved “The Help,” too! And I thought the movie was pretty great too. (And I NEVER say that.) Thank you for taking the time to answer these interview questions for me and my readers!