Book Buzz – DARK SURF news & goings-on

While attending the sold-out San Francisco Writers Conference this weekend, I heard R.L. Stine, author of the Goosebumps series, deliver an entertaining talk.

Some tidbits for writers and aspiring writers:

  • R.L. Stine never wanted to be the scary guy; he wanted to be the funny guy. But, after working at a humor magazine for 10 years, he stumbled into his career as author of the Fear Street series for teens (where, he joked, he killed off teenagers each month) and then the Goosebumps series for 7-12 year olds. Goosebumps recently celebrated its 20th anniversary. (So, night dwellers, that means you can actually make a living scaring kids!)
  • With the Goosebumps series, he’d think up the title first and then develop the story. He’d outline every book, chapter by chapter, before writing. He said this approach helped him to be more productive (writing a book a month).
  • He believes success is often all about luck. In his case, kids telling other kids about his books and things snowballing from there.

To close, R.L. Stine said when he was a child, during a visit to the library, he discovered Ray Bradbury—an author who changed his life and turned him into a reader.

Which author changed your life? Let me know on Facebook (Facebook/TCZmak) or Twitter (@tczmak).