Last year, I happened to be wandering around the Texas Book Festival dodging dragons, when I saw a panel that included a few authors who were speaking about Writing Books For Boys. I went inside because I was exhausted and they had chairs, but I stayed because the speakers were enthralling.

I had never read any of their books before but they clearly knew their stuff. Later, I was surprised to discover that one of the people on the panel had been none other than Jeff Kinney, whose popularity from his Diary Of A Wimpy Kid series has increased enormously since then (it was written for younger children, but I am 19, and my laughter when reading the first could be heard down the hall). At the moment, he perches at the top of the New York Times, hogging both #1 and #2, but he has taken time from his busy work on the upcoming third book in the series to answer some questions for me!

—-

Hey Jeff! First, there’s a tradition here for authors to describe themselves in ten words or less. The closer you land to exactly ten words of an improv bio, the more points you get:

I’m a newspaper cartoonist wannabe who found success in books.

Did you ever expect that you would become an author with the Diary of a Wimpy Kid stories you published online, or did it happen unexpectedly?

I actually felt very ambivalent about publishing my work online. I thought it would cheapen the work and make it harder to get published. But I couldn’t resist Funbrain’s audience… the online version has been ready by more than 50 million kids to date. I never did expect to get published in print, so I’m thrilled that it worked out.

Your books have been noted as being very popular with boys. What is the most important writing advice you can give to authors who want to write for boys?

I think boys are very hard to write for, because there are a lot of things competing for their attention. I cheated by including lots of pictures. I think that in the years to come, there will be a lot more books like mine, that feature copious, light illustrations.

How do you feel that your experience in designing online games for kids might have helped you in creating engaging stories?

I bring a visual literacy to my writing, and I think that comes from creating video games.

What is the best part about being an author for you?

The best part is having the satisfaction of being in print.

What has been the hardest part about being a popular author?

Time management… I have a full-time job and I’m also helping to make a movie version of the book.

There is talk about a movie: what’s the latest news on that side?

Yes… Fox 2000 is making the movie. It should be half live-action, half animated.

The third book in the series is coming in January of 2009- what can you tell us about it and how it fits with the first two?

The third book will center around a conflict between Greg and his dad. Greg’s dad is threatening military academy if Greg doesn’t change his wimpy ways.

After the Wimpy Kid series, do you plan to continue writing books in the same format, or try writing other types of books?

I’m hoping to write these until I run out of creative juice. I think of these more as a cartoon series than a series of novels. I’d like to write a mixed-media book as a guide-to-life for graduates in the next few years. That would be a lot of fun.