The Proust Questionnaire, popularized by the French essayist and novelist Marcel Proust, is said to reveal a person’s true nature through a series of probing, soul-searching questions. In the hot seat today: Greg Howard, author of the MG debut, THE WHISPERS (Putnam/Penguin, 2019).

What is your idea of perfect happiness? Watching the sun rise over the ocean.

What is your greatest fear? Dying alone.

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? Impatience.

What is the trait you most deplore in others? Inauthenticity.

Which living person do you most admire? Barack Obama.

What is your greatest extravagance? I pay someone to pick up the dog poop in my yard twice a month. Don’t judge.

What is your current state of mind? Contentment.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue? Temperance. It’s something we learn as a child and learn to let go of as we get older.

On what occasion do you lie? To spare someone’s feelings.

Which words or phrases do you most overuse? Um. Awesome. No problem. I’ll have fries with that.

Besides writing, which talent would you most like to have? I really wish I could draw. More than stick figures, I mean.

What do you consider your greatest achievement? Learning to love myself and accept who I am without exception or excuse.

If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be? I think I would really enjoy the life of a Cocker Spaniel. If I had a good home, of course.

What is your most treasured possession? A picture of my mother from 1963. She’s sitting on the back of a convertible in a parade. She was a beauty pageant contestant.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Hopelessness.

What do you most value in your friends? Unconditional acceptance. And levity.

Who are your favorite writers? Pat Conroy, Philippa Gregory, Toni Morrison, Dr. Seuss.

Who is your hero of fiction? I would have to say Beck from my YA book, Social Intercourse, because he’s who I wish I had been in high school.

Which historical figure do you most identify with? Oscar Wilde.

What is your motto? “Why not hope?”

GREG HOWARD grew up on the coast of South Carolina in a strict, conservative Christian environment. Greg escaped into the arts: singing, playing piano, acting, writing songs, and making up stories. After running away to the bright lights and big city of Nashville, Tennessee after college he eventually got serious about writing books. He writes young adult and middle grade fiction centering on LGBTQ characters and issues. Greg’s debut young adult novel, SOCIAL INTERCOURSE from Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers has been described as provocative and hilarious and his debut middle grade book, THE WHISPERS from Putnam/Penguin was called a masterful exploration into storytelling by the New York Times Book Review. Learn more about Greg on his website and follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. 

 

The Proust Questionnaire, popularized by the French essayist and novelist Marcel Proust, is said to reveal a person’s true nature through a series of probing, soul-searching questions. In the hot seat today: David Neilsen, middle-grade author of DR. FELL AND THE PLAYGROUND OF DOOM (2016) and BEYOND THE DOORS (2017).

What is your idea of perfect happiness? I’m not entirely certain, but it would probably include sun, sand, contentment, peace, and love. Maybe a couple of old arcade games from the Eighties. And cheese, gotta have cheese.

What is your greatest fear? Aside from spiders and needles, and being forced to watch one of those reality medical shows where they film people getting operated on, my greatest fear would be for my work to be lost and forgotten; never to be read or enjoyed by anyone ever again. Did I mention spiders?

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? I can be quite self-centered when push comes to shove. It is not something I am proud of, and is something I must always be on the guard against. Now, let me continue to answer more questions about myself…

What is the trait you most deplore in others? Lack of empathy. I do not understand people who can do things that are detrimental to others without a care in the world. Like when my neighbors take up two parking spaces on the street with one car. What are they thinking? We can fit more cars there, people, if we’d just work together!

Which living person do you most admire? Former President Barack Obama. More inspiring than his intelligence and compassion is his history. His success did not come from the family he was born into, but rather from his own hard work and ingenuity and against unimaginable odds.

What is your greatest extravagance? Strategy board games.

 What is your current state of mind? Tempered enthusiasm.

What do you consider the most overrated virtue? The ability to gargle in tune.

 On what occasion do you lie? Only when filling out Proust Questionnaires. As far as you know. <Oh, I know, David. I know. 🙂 — MR>

Which words or phrases do you most overuse? Grisley. Horrible. Terrifying. Fetid.

Besides writing, which talent would you most like to have? I would love to have the ability to be at ease amongst strangers in social gatherings. Also invisibility.

What do you consider your greatest achievement? Personal: Getting married, having a family, and raising children without crumbling into a pile of quivering goo from all the pressure. Professional: Getting my first book published.

If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be? Probably a zombie. I mean I’d be dead, right?

What is your most treasured possession? I have a stuffed walrus I got when I was five. I named him Wally (I was five). His tusks are in bad shape from being constantly sucked on between ages five and eight or nine, and he currently wears a hat because I accidentally burned a hole in his head in college. But he’s right there on my desk even today.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? You do not want to go there with me. Trust me.

What do you most value in your friends? A keen sense of humor. That, and the ability to not dislike me for large periods of time.

Who are your favorite writers? This is difficult to answer. Whichever author I start to put down, thinking: “Oh, I love these books,” I then remember other books of theirs that I don’t love. For example, I love David Eddings’ Belgariad series, but am not so hot on most of his other series (which tend to be poor rehashings of the Belgariad series). I love Jonathan Stroud’s Lockwood & Co. series, but couldn’t get through his Bartimaeus trilogy. I adore Kevin Sands’ Blackthorn Key books, except the most recent one left a lot to be desired. I love most, but not all, of Roald Dahl’s work. You get the idea.

Which historical figure do you most identify with? Probably some sort of foppish French or English court dandy from the 1700s.

What is your motto? “Smile, there’s probably a hidden camera somewhere nearby filming you.”

DAVID NEILSEN is the author of two MG horror/comic/fantasies published by Crown Books for Young Readers: Dr. Fell and the Playground of Doom (2016) and Beyond the Doors (2017). A classically trained actor, David works as a professional storyteller based in Sleepy Hollow, New York, and spends much of October spooking the bejeebers out of people or performing one of his one-man shows inspired by the works of H. P. Lovecraft. He lives with his wife, son, daughter, and two very domineering cats. Find David via his website, Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.

The Proust Questionnaire, popularized by the French essayist and novelist Marcel Proust, is said to reveal a person’s true nature through a series of probing, soul-searching questions. In the hot seat today: Andrea Pyros, author of the contemporary MG novel, PINK HAIR AND OTHER TERRIBLE IDEAS (Capstone, 2019). [Read more…]

The Proust Questionnaire, popularized by the French essayist and novelist Marcel Proust, is said to reveal a person’s true nature through a series of probing, soul-searching questions. In the hot seat today: Jerry Craft, author/illustrator of the graphic novel, NEW KID (HarperCollins, February 5, 2019). [Read more…]

The Proust Questionnaire, popularized by the French essayist and novelist Marcel Proust, is said to reveal a person’s true nature through a series of probing, soul-searching questions. In the hot seat today: Saadia Faruqi, author of the early-reader series, YASMIN (Capstone). [Read more…]

The Proust Questionnaire, popularized by the French essayist and novelist Marcel Proust, is said to reveal a person’s true nature through a series of probing (aka nosy) questions. In the hot seat today: Sandy Stark-McGinnis, author of the middle-grade debut, EXTRAORDINARY BIRDS (Bloomsbury, April 30 2019) [Read more…]

The Proust Questionnaire, popularized by the French essayist and novelist Marcel Proust, is said to reveal a person’s true nature through a series of probing (aka nosy) questions. It the hot seat today: Hillary Homzie, author of the contemporary MG, APPLE PIE PROMISES (Sky Pony). [Read more…]

The Proust Questionnaire, popularized by the French essayist and novelist Marcel Proust, is said to reveal a person’s true nature through a series of probing (i.e., nosy) questions. It the hot seat today: MARCI LYN CURTIS, author of the contemporary YA, THE ONE THING (Disney Hyperion, 2015), and the upcoming THE LEADING EDGE OF NOW (KCP, 9/4/18). [Read more…]

Popularized by the French essayist and novelist Marcel Proust, the Proust Questionnaire is said to reveal a person’s true nature through a series of probing (i.e., nosy) questions. It the hot seat today: Lindsay Currie, author of the contemporary middle-grade debut, THE PECULIAR INCIDENT ON SHADY STREET (Aladdin/S&S, 2017). [Read more…]

Popularized by the French essayist and novelist Marcel Proust, the Proust Questionnaire is said to reveal a person’s true nature through a series of probing (i.e., nosy) questions. It the hot seat today Bridget Hodder, author of the middle-grade fantasy, THE RAT PRINCE (Macmillan/FSG, 2016).

What is your idea of perfect happiness? Right now, it would be three weeks spent at a writers’ retreat on a sunny beach with like-minded author friends on a deadline. Any takers?

What is your greatest fear? Oh, dear. I suppose it would be something bad happening to my children. Hamsa, as my grandmother would say!

What is the trait you most deplore in yourself? I’m a little too willing to take on too much!

What is the trait you most deplore in others? Here’s what I like about this question: It applies the word “deplore” to the traits, not to the people themselves. I try not to ‘deplore’ anyone. As for deplorable traits, increasingly, we’re failing to put in the necessary time and effort to assure that our most important beliefs and actions rise to careful standards of truth, fairness, and honor.

Which living person do you most admire? My husband. That’s why we got married; so we could continue to admire each other more conveniently.

What is your greatest extravagance? I absolutely can’t stop buying books. Save me!

What is your current state of mind? I’m finishing up a new Middle Grade I’ve been working on all year…so my state of mind is just this side of “Woo hoo!”

What do you consider the most overrated virtue? Ubiquitousness.

On what occasion do you lie? On what occasion do you lie? When I say, “Sure. No problem.”

Which words or phrases do you most overuse? “Sure. No problem.”

Besides writing, which talent would you most like to have? I’d say magic, but I suppose writing is a form of magic — if you get it right!

What do you consider your greatest achievement? Peace of mind.

If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be? A bird, or an airplane, or an angel! I want to fly!

What is your most treasured possession? Taking this question literally: my laptop, because I don’t save to the Cloud halfway as often as I should.

What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery? Nausea, hands down!

What do you most value in your friends? Authenticity.

Who are your favorite writers? I couldn’t possibly answer this one!

Who is your hero of fiction? I’m going to be extremely odd here, and say the damaged, bereft and obsessive narrator of Edgar Allan Poe’s poem, “Annabel Lee.”

…neither the angels in heaven above,

Nor the demons down under the sea,

Can can ever dissever my soul from the soul

Of the beautiful Annabel Lee…

…And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side

Of my darling–my darling–my life and my bride,

In her sepulchre there by the sea,

In her tomb by the sounding sea.

Which historical figure do you most identify with? Cassandra of Troy.

What is your motto? “Sure. No problem.”

BRIDGET HODDER is a writer of middle-grade fiction. Her debut novel, THE RAT PRINCE, is published by Macmillan/Farrar, Straus & Giroux. Find Bridget at her website and follow her on Facebook and Twitter.