Where do your ideas come from?
Mainly out of thin air. But some ideas do come from my life…with a healthy dose of exaggeration and embellishment. For example, I did ask a girl out while running on the track in middle school as Austin did in Middle School Mayhem. I then dumped her via a note in her locker as suggested by my best friend. Sorry, J.D. You deserved better.
What is your writing process like?
I wish I could tell you some unique, elaborate process that churns out award-winning literature, but that’s not my style. Some people write beautiful prose. I write fart jokes on my couch for two to three hours every night after my kids go to bed. I am pretty methodical about how I outline each book and build from that. I’m not a pantser (write by the seat of my pants) as they say in the author community. Sometimes I don’t even wear pants while I’m writing.
How do you find time to write?
It’s just like anything else. You make time for the things that are important. We all have the same twenty four hours. It’s a cliché, but it’s true. I choose to make sure I write every day. Now, exercise, I don’t have time for that.
If you could tell your younger writing self anything, what would it be?
Have confidence in yourself. I didn’t write my first novel until I was forty (so my slightly younger self). I didn’t think I was good enough. I wrote a lot of short stories and a few screenplays, but never the big one…
Why do you write?
Writing is a passion of mine. I think my head would explode if I didn’t put the stories in my brain down on paper. I love making people laugh and hearing from readers who love my stories, so don’t be a stranger! For so many kids, reading is a chore or something they don’t even do, so I try to write stories that transform that experience for them. What kid doesn’t love potty humor?
What author is your work most like?
I wish I knew- it would help me with my marketing. I think my writing is pretty unique. It’s funny, but with a message. Sometimes you have to look through the cloud of a fart joke, but the message is there. Just hold your nose.
The storyboard illustration in Mayhem is well liked and a bit different as well. A lot of people tell me it’s like Diary of a Wimpy Kid or Big Nate, but more mature and fewer illustrations.
I get some iFunny and Lemony Snicket comparisons, the latter being a completely different type of story than mine. However, Lemony Snicket is a bit of an obtrusive narrator, interjecting a lot of information similar to Austin Davenport’s first person narration, and his way of explaining things can be quite funny. And, of course, Middle School Mayhem is hilarious…
