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MEET T. KATZ
by Bonnie O'Brian

What really triggers your imagination?

T. Katz

Talking triggers my imagination.  There is a reason ancient cultures sat around a fire and told stories, it wasn't just the lack of computers.  For me, the telling of a story aloud breathes a life into it that can then be captured in my hands and released through my fingers.

Have any of your books earned special recognition?

MISS L'EAU has been embraced by the oceanic communities of conservation organizations, surfers and scuba divers, a great honor for me.

Do you enjoy researching or do you prefer working totally from your imagination?

Researching for a story is very exciting for me.  I once read an article where an author said doing research was like a field trip and I absolutely agree with that.  Even if I am doing the research from my computer or at the library, oh, the places I go!  Once I feel I've really immersed myself in the information it is fun to see where my imagination takes me.

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

My wall rack has a number of folders than contain my outlines, notes and research materials for multiple stories and I have days where I work on all of them.  However, when I'm in the process of writing one book I find I really only want to walk in that world and hear those voices, in order to be true to that story.

Which of your books did you most enjoy writing?

It's like asking a mother, "Which child do you love more?"!  Each book is very much alive to me when I'm working on it, so every experience is different.  I cried a lot when I wrote PYTHAGORAS, my brow was furrowed through most of MISS L'EAU and laughter was the ticket through most of DOUG.  The research I'm still immersed in for FALLON HOTEL is fascinating, so I guess I'm enjoying that the most - I'm a "love the one you're with" kind of writer, I guess.

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

Writing every day is a compulsion and if I'm not working on a story, than I'm working on editorials or my own personal journals.  I tried to do the whole regimented writer thing (get up at 5am, write ‘til noon, take a walk...), but as a mother, your day has to be fluid and I've found that my writing works it's way into whatever schedule the day gives me.

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

Is your hair really that color? 

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

That reading and writing are the tools that give them super powers -- words write the documents and speeches that rule the world.

Is there anything about yourself that you'd like to share - hobbies, where you were born, special talents other than writing/illustrating?

When I'm not reading or writing I still love to play piano and sing - and after writing for hours it's kind of funny to flip my brain into the OTHER keyboard mode!  Or visa versa.  It takes about 15 minutes to fully readjust my thinking and fingers.