Authors: Doug Wilhelm
The Revealers (22 page)
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Do you ever get writer's block? What do you do to get back on track?
The key for me is to say to myself, “I'm just going to write
something.
It's not supposed to be perfect; I can change it later.” That takes the pressure off. If you view your first draft as a rough sketch, the way an artist sketches before painting something, then you can try stuff and make mistakes. That's the only way to free yourself to be creativeâto make it safe for yourself to make mistakes, to try things that don't have to come out great.
something.
It's not supposed to be perfect; I can change it later.” That takes the pressure off. If you view your first draft as a rough sketch, the way an artist sketches before painting something, then you can try stuff and make mistakes. That's the only way to free yourself to be creativeâto make it safe for yourself to make mistakes, to try things that don't have to come out great.
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What do you want readers to remember about your books?
I think characters and stories are what fiction is mostly about, especially YA. So I would like readers to remember my characters, the way I remember Johnny Tremain and Kim, or my stories, the way I remember
The Human Comedy.
The Human Comedy.
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What would you do if you ever stopped writing?
I once taught English as a second language and loved it. I might try that again. You get to work with people from all over the world.
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What do you like best about yourself?
I don't knows ⦠. I have a good sense of humor, and I think I am mostly kind to people. What I'm always trying to do better is
listen.
It's a rare skill, and like most people I'm not that good at it.
listen.
It's a rare skill, and like most people I'm not that good at it.
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Do you have any strange or funny habits? Did you when you were a kid?
Oh, when I was a kid I was a whole bundle of weird nervous habits. Made strange noises, had to touch every pole on a fence
but wouldn't step on a crack in the sidewalkâI was very odd. Today, luckily, I'm somewhat less so.
but wouldn't step on a crack in the sidewalkâI was very odd. Today, luckily, I'm somewhat less so.
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What do you consider to be your greatest accomplishment?
That my son, Bradley, and stepson, Nate, are both kind, funny, hardworking, very thoughtful young men. Of course, they get most of the credit for this. But parenting is the thing that has taught me the most and has meant the most in my life. I think I write for young readers for two main reasonsâbecause books meant so much to me when I was young, and because my boy meant so much to me when
he
was young.
he
was young.
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What do you wish you could do better?
I believe that awareness, what the Buddhists call mindfulnessâbasically, just being in the present and paying attention, without judgmentâis the key to living a rich, happy, creative life. So I try to be “just right here.” This is like writing: You can never really master it, but it's totally worth spending a whole life trying.
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What would your readers be most surprised to learn about you?
That I'm six feet ten inches tall. That's right!
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You can find Doug Wilhelm on Facebook and at the-revealers.com.
An Imprint of Macmillan
THE REVEALERS. Copyright © 2003 by Doug Wilhelm.
All rights reserved. Printed in July 2011 in the United States of America by R. R. Donnelley & Sons Company, Harrisonburg, Virginia. For information, address Square Fish, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
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Square Fish and the Square Fish logo are trademarks of Macmillan and are used by Farrar Straus Giroux under license from Macmillan.
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eISBN 9781466829961
First eBook Edition : August 2012
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Wilhelm, Doug
The revealers / Doug Wilhelm.
p. cm.
Wilhelm, Doug
The revealers / Doug Wilhelm.
p. cm.
Summary: Tired of being bullied and picked on, three seventh-grade outcasts join forces and, using scientific methods and the power of a local area network (LAN), begin to create a new atmosphere at Parkland Middle School.
ISBN 978-0-312-56374-5
[1. BulliesâFiction. 2. InternetâFiction. 3. FriendshipâFiction. 4. SchoolsâFiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.W648145 Re 2003
[Fic]âdc21
[Fic]âdc21
2002035321
Excerpts from
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
by Anne Frank, translated by B. M. Mooyaart-Doubleday, copyright © 1952 by Otto H. Frank, used by permission of Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc.
Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl
by Anne Frank, translated by B. M. Mooyaart-Doubleday, copyright © 1952 by Otto H. Frank, used by permission of Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc.
Originally published in the United States by Farrar Straus Giroux
First Square Fish Edition: September 2011
Square Fish logo designed by Filomena Tuosto
mackids.com
First Square Fish Edition: September 2011
Square Fish logo designed by Filomena Tuosto
mackids.com
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