Kiwi Magazine interviewed Carl Hiaasen, author and environmentalist. See end of entry to win three Carl Hiaasen books for tweens and teens.

Kiwi Magazine: In the letters you have received from kids about your books, what are they saying? Is it the cause or the characters that draw them in?

Carl Hiaasen: They connect strongly with the characters, but they’re also very passionate about wildlife and nature. Kids have an instinctive curiosity and affection for the outdoors.

KM: If you were somehow displaced from Florida, do you feel like you would be drawn to the oddities in your new locale as you are to the oddities of Florida? Or, is human nature just human nature and those oddities just show themselves over time?

CH: I’m sure I’d write the same kinds of novels wherever I lived, but there’s no place as rich with weirdness and depravity as Florida.

KM: Do you have conservation or animal protection groups lobbying you to be your next book topic or character?

CH: Occasionally I get a letter asking me to include a certain critter in the next kids’ novel. It’s heartening that people care so much. I try to explain that I don’t have a game plan, or a platform, going into any book. I just wing it.

KM: What’s your first memory of a book or reading?

CH: I have a very early memory of reading the sports pages of the Miami Herald to my father over breakfast in the morning. My mom says that’s how I learned to read, from picking up the newspaper every day.

KM: Have any other professions appealed to you?

CH: I gave some thought to being a veterinarian, actually, but I can’t stand needles. I also considered going into the law, because my dad and grandfather were lawyers, but it seemed like a tough grind.

KM: Since you started with books for adults and have moved into children’s literature, are you considering other types of writing such as picture books or other genres?

CH: No, I’m going to stick with the novels. Every once in a while I write a light non-fiction book, but I prefer the rhythm of the novels.

KM: What’s your favorite place to read? To write?

CH: The only time I get to read is on airplanes, which are not my favorite places to be, period.
I write only at home, in my office. I don’t have a laptop and wouldn’t write on it if I did.
I use an old-fashioned PC.

KM: Do you feel that writers are born or can they be made? If advising a young fan on becoming a writer, what do you recommend?

CH: Writers aren’t born that way. Typically they grow up in a household full of books, with parents who love to read and pass that love along to their children. The best way for any aspiring writer to start is by keeping a personal journal - write something in it every day, whether it’s a paragraph or a thousand words, just to get into the habit. You don’t have to show the journal to a soul - just keep writing.

KM: How can someone make a difference at all in the big problems facing the world when it comes to global warming?

CH: Sounds corny, but the only way to make a difference is to get involved and stay involved. Show up at the local zoning board meeting when they want to pave a meadow and put up a shopping mall - raise your hand, ask questions, write letters to the mayor. That’s what it takes to get things done in your hometown, or in Washington, D.C. Democracy doesn’t work unless folks make themselves heard, and I’ve found that kids are some of the most eloquent and effective crusaders for change.