Interview Jim Green

by

Karen Hudgins

Hi Jim, Here are some questions to help familiarize us more with you and your newest release, Children of the Bones. Thanks for sharing!

1. What experiences did you have to support writing a camp story?

 Hi, Karen. Interesting that you should ask. When my granddaughter’s sixth grade class prepared to go on such an excursion, she asked if I would help as a sponsor. I wound up in a cabin of sixth grade boys much like the Fighting Lobos of Cabin 12. Wow! What an experience!

2. Are helpful survival tips in the wild offered as part of the novel?

 Not necessarily. Basic stuff is common knowledge to us all--you know, food and the bathroom. Everything just kind of developed as the story progressed.

3. Is Children of the Bones a mystery or suspense? For adults and kids?

 It certainly has mystery to it, but it’s not a mystery. Suspense? More so. A little science fiction? Maybe a bit. It’s basically for kids, but adults will enjoy it as well… I hope.

4. What led you to write in this genre? Do you have other books available?

 I’ve been a secondary school teacher for over 45 years. Lots of YA books have gone through my life. Currently, Bones is my sixth YA published novel; I have The Shadow Walkers coming out in the fall; and July 28 a pictorial history of the southwest Salt River Valley near Phoenix will hit the bookstores. It is a collection of over 200 historical photographs and artifacts telling the story of the area from before statehood to modern times. It’s part of the Arcadia Publishing Company series.

5. Where is the setting for Children of the Bones? Why there?

 The setting is in the heart of the Tonto National Forest just under the Mogollon Rim in central Arizona. It is in the area where the famous early 20^th century western writer, Zane Gray, wrote his novels. Many who read Bone will recognize the reference to the Sinagua Indians, Flagstaff, Sunset Crater, and Tonto Creek. This is where my granddaughter’s trip took me. As well, as a youngster, I spend many summers camping with family in the same area.

6. Who are the protagonists in Children of the Bones?

The protagonists are the youngsters (ten of them) who find themselves in this strange phenomenon.

7. What is your favorite fiction to read and written by whom?

 I’m not so sure I have a favorite. A lot depends on the book, on my mood, and a bunch of intangibles. I love Twain, his local color, his realism. I can’t put down a Louis Lamour Sackett. But I like to struggle with Kafka and Calvino. Steinbeck makes me think, and Robert Frost makes me smile (Oh, you asked for fiction, sorry). I wish I liked Tolstoy and Chekhov, but I don’t. What I enjoy most is reading young writers’ works before their creativity has been stifled by conventions, style, and structure.

8. What good movie have you seen lately?

 I don’t attend movies often, although I do enjoy a good action adventure. I’m not much on movies that require you to think, analyze, and prepare to fight a battle. I Am Legend with Will Smith I thought was pretty intense. Maybe it was that survival thing like in Bones that intrigued me. The novel/movie has quite a history as well.

9. How long did it take you to write Children of the Bones?

 Beginning to end, first draft, probably six months, three to five hours a week.

10. How does the title fit into the story?

 The story is based on a legend surrounding the eruption of Sunset Crater volcano near Flagstaff around 1065-66 at the same time of a lunar eclipse. The Sinagua Indians were mystified, and their penance to the gods was to sacrifice the first born of the tribes. The new summer campground attended by the sixth graders from Fountain Lakes Middle School was in the location where the Native American children were sacrificed a thousand years earlier. Add a little supernatural and Viola, Children of the Bones.

11. What do you like best about novel writing?

 Letting the storyline, the characters, and their situations take the writer where they choose.

12. Do you write full-time?

 No, I am program director for an alternative school in west Phoenix.

13. What book should readers be looking from you next?

 As I said, The Shadow Walkers, another YA novel will be out in the fall. Tolleson that I co-authored with a friend will be in the bookstores July 28. And Thanks for asking.