Back to Featured Interviews >>

MEET HEYWOOD GOULD
by Bonnie O'Brian

What did you most like to do when you were a child?

Heywood Gou;d

I was obsessed with baseball. Was a Brooklyn Dodger fan. Ebbets Field was not far from where I lived so from the time I was ten years old I hitchhiked to the games and got into the bleachers for fifty cents and a wrapper from Elsie Ice Cream. I knew all the players and their records, averages, etc. Rainy days were torture for me because I couldn’t play ball. A few years later I became similarly obsessed with basketball and played constantly in the schoolyard, even in the dead of winter.

What books influenced you most when you were growing up?

Robert Louis Stevenson’s novels, John Litell’s sports novels, Sci Fi: I read every edition of Fantasy magazine, I ROBOT, MARTIAN CHRONICLES, etc…

Did you write stories when you were growing up? at school? Or at home as a hobby? As a young child, or as a teenager, or both?

I wrote my first story at the age of six and have continued to this day.

When you were a child did you ever have moments when you decided that you were going to be a writer when you grew up?

I decided to be a writer at a very early age and never really wanted to be anything else.

What audience did you have in mind for your career as a writer – adult or children?

I didn’t care as long as I was published.

When you went to college, were you already pursuing a writing career? (or a career in illustrating? or just art in general?)

I dropped out of college after the first semester of my freshman year.

When was your first book published?

My first book was a young adult’s biography of British architect Sir Christopher Wren. It was published in 1971.

What are the topics are some of your books?

Headaches, Camping, IBM, The UCLA basketball teams, cops, reporters, burglars, bartenders.

Do you focus on fiction or nonfiction? Which do you prefer? Do you find one easier than the other?

I like both.

Do you do other types of writing - for example, educational,  nonfiction, magazine work?

I’ve done magazine work, but not lately. Have written screenplays and TV scripts.

What kinds of things inspire you to write?

Interesting people with compelling stories that I think/hope will be of interest to others.

Where do you get your ideas?

They just seem to show up.

Have any of your books earned special recognition?

I’ve been nominated for the Hammett Award for the Best Literary Thriller for my latest book LEADING LADY. Also, the Independent Publishers Best Thriller of the Year and the Foreword Magazine Best Thriller.

How did your life change when you got married? and had children? Did it make it easier or harder to find time to write?

I couldn’t experiment. Had to write stuff I had a better chance of selling. It broadened my experience and made me a better writer.

Do you work on more than one book at a time?

Yes.

Which of your books did you most enjoy writing?

The first ones because I didn‘t know what I was doing. The better I get the harder it becomes.

 What are you working on now? When do you expect to start submitting itto publishers?

I’m always working, always submitting.

Do you write every day and do you have set hours that you work?

I write five days a week from 10 to about 6:30 and try to get a half day in on weekends.

When is your next book going to be in book stores?

Next year I hope.

When you do school visits, what question do children ask you most?

They want to know about the mechanics. How do I get ideas…What do I do when I’m stuck, etc.

What do you most want the students to get out of your school visits?

My love of literature and my conviction that reading and writing make you a happier person.

What other jobs you had before you became a writer/illustrator?

 Grocery delivery boy, hearse driver , Reporter , taxi driver, bartender.