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Back to Featured Interviews >> MEET DON L. WULFFSON
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| Don L. Wulffson |
When I was a kid I loved sports and hiking with my dog. I grew up in a hilly area of Los Angeles where my dog and I could roam freely. My best memories of childhood were hiking in the hills behind my house.
What books influenced you most when you were growing up?
I read mostly dog stories, but pirate, war, and all kinds of adventure stories were always my favorites. Later, it was T.S. Eliot, Jack London, Kafka, Woolf, and Steinbeck.
How soon after that was your first book published?
In college I wrote weird experimental poetry and I was a research asst. in the UCLA Education Dept., working with a professor who was writing a book. Five years later, after many rejections, I published my first book.
Do you do other types of writing?
After graduation I became a high school English teacher. I began focusing on educational work for a time, and then over time on young adult non-fiction and fiction. At present I especially enjoy writing action-packed young adult historical novels with adult themes and situations. .
Where do you get your ideas?
My Ideas come from reading, talking, daydreaming; everything inspires me in some way.
Have any of your fiction stories been about real people or events?
Yes, my first novel, THE UPSIDE DOWN SHIP and SOLDIER X were both influenced by true events. Using my imagination is the most fun, but research is essential when I write historical fiction. I have also written a number of non-fiction books; for example, Before COLUMBUS, THE KID WHO INVENTED THE POPSICLE, and TOYS, all of which needed lots of researching.
Do you write every day and do you have set hours that you work?
Currently I am working on another YA novel; the working title is SOLDIERS IN THE GARDEN, which has already been well received by a number of publishers. I work around 10 hours a day, 6 days a week. I love to write, and I’m a very lucky person: I get to do what I love everyday.