Interview with the Author: Brent Hartinger
Conducted by: Peter Klaus

1. When did you first know you wanted to be a writer?

"It wasn't until I graduated from college and it hit me that I had to decide what to do with my life (duh!). But I'd been doing creative projects with my friends all my life--movies, plays, newspapers, an annual haunted house in my garage. I figured why not try to get paid for doing something fun like that? Unfortunately, it took ten years before I finally got my first real paycheck from writing fiction!"

2. Any tips or advice for a teen who wants to be a writer one day?

"Read everything you can find, both good and bad. When you really like something, try to figure out why you liked it. When you really hate something, try to make sense of that too. That's how I learned the "craft" of writing--how I discovered "voice" and structure and dramatic need and all the other things that make good books so good. But more than anything, reading will inspire you to try to write as well as the few good writers, and it will motivate you to do things better than all the bad writers!

"It also helps to find writing buddies. Being an unpublished writer is a very frustrating, lonely experience, and a lot of people will try to discourage you from your dream. Supportive friends can make all the difference."

3. What is your "Anti-Drug?" The hobby, person, or interest that has kept you away from using illegal drugs.

"Writing is my passion. It's also an extremely competitive business. I don't want to do anything that would screw up my focus. I get distracted enough as it is!

"Some people think drugs make them more creative, but they're wrong. At best, they'll make you think you're creative, but only as long as the high lasts. And all the creativity in the world is worthless if you don't have the discipline and focus to organize your words into a finished product."

4. If you weren't a writer, what do you think you would be doing today?

"My second great love is the theatre, so maybe I'd be directing plays. Of course, my dream job would be designing new rides at Disneyland. They'd make a killing if they'd only commission my Journey to the Center of the Earth ride!"

5. What is your favorite book?

"The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. Ponyboy Curtis isn't that much like me on the surface, but I so related to him and his situation, and the unfairness of it all. That was the book that made me realize that books don't have to be boring. The Outsiders is probably the reason I write books, and it's definitely the reason I write for teenagers."

6. Can you tell us a little about your inspiration for writing THE LAST CHANCE TEXACO?

"I used to work in a group home for teenagers. Within five minutes of walking through the door, I knew it would make the perfect setting for a book. Everyone was so interesting and so complicated. My group home was the place for kids who had been given one "last chance" before being sent off to juvenile detention, just like in my book. It was definitely life on the edge, and the stakes were very high."

"I also knew that a group home was a great setting for a book because who doesn't love an underdog? And man, nobody is more of an underdog than a group home kid. Everything is against them."

7. What are the qualities shown by the young people in the novel that you most admire?

"I like that Lucy, my main character, is a survivor. She's had to put up with a lot in her life--plenty of prejudice and misunderstanding--but she's kept going, and she's somehow stayed sensitive and real. In spite of everything, she's still open to the possibility of friendship, and even love, which are the things that make life worth living."

"I also like that she's shrewd, which is a good thing since the book has a mystery she has to solve!"

Read the first chapter of THE LAST CHANCE TEXACO