Question 1:

Did Mr. O'dell ever visit La Paz, Mexico? What made him want to write about this little town?

Answer:

Yes, Scott and I spent about 10 days in La Paz when he was researching the book. While we were there, we rented a small boat (with captain and a crew of one) and spent the day on the Vermilion Sea. We watched manta rays leaping high into the air and crashing down in the water. He wrote about La Paz because it was the center of the pearl fishing industry at the time the story takes place.

Question 2:

Where did the idea of the Manta Diablo come from?

Answer:

From Scott's imagination, I suspect. There is a Mexican legend of the great pearl, but I'm not certain there's a giant manta ray involved. But Scott lived for a short time (several months) in Potscuoro, Mexico, (on the mainland) and he may have heard such a legend there.

Question 3:

Did Mr. O'dell have any experiences with giant manta rays?

Answer:

He loved the sea, so he had read lots about them, and he probably had seen them from time to time on boating trips around Southern California. But as far as I know, the trip on the Vermillion Sea I described was his primary experience.

Question 4:

Which novel was Mr. O'dell's favorite?

Answer:

Of his own books, he liked Island of the Blue Dolphins and The Road to Damietta best. (Of all the books in the world, he liked Moby Dick best.)

Question 5:

I know that the novel The Island of the Blue Dolphins was a true story. Is any part of The Black Pearl a true story?

Answer:

Not to my knowledge.

Question 6:

Did Mr. O'dell have any plans to write another book before he died? If so, do you know the title?

Answer:

At the time he died, he was working on two books: Thunder Rolling in the Mountains, which was about half done, and Venus Among the Fishes, for which he had written a few chapters. I completed both manuscripts after his death, as he had asked me to do. He always had ideas for books. At any one time, he could think of three or four stories he wanted to write.

Question 7:

What was it like to live with Scott O'dell?

Answer:

Life with Scott O'Dell was never dull. After I stopped commuting to New York City and stayed home to write college textbooks, he was always up a couple of hours before me. When I got out of bed, he was dressed and had been writing for about an hour. He fixed breakfast every day except on Sundays, when I usually made Belgian waffles. He also fixed lunch every day when we ate at home. (I cooked dinner every night.) After breakfast, he went back to his desk and worked until about 11 or 11:30 a.m., then he went to the post office to pick up the mail. While he wrote, he played classical records on the stereo. When he came back from getting the mail, he might split wood for the fireplace or row on the lake.
About twice a week we went out to lunch, where we talked about the book he was writing and any problems he was having with plot or characterization. After lunch, he usually took a nap. (While he was napping, I usually entered whatever he had written in the morning into my computer.) In the late afternoons he might read or play with the dog. Sometimes he worked in the yard, either gardening or working on a stone wall or building a terrace. He liked to watch sports on TV, especially baseball, football, and boxing. He didn't like to watch basketball.
In the evening, he always watched CBS news (this was before cable TV reached our area). Afterward, I often read out loud for half an hour or so. Until bedtime, we either read to ourselves or watched TV.

Question 8:

Would you be able to tell us the names of his children so that we can add them to his biography?

Answer:

His children were actually stepchildren; they were my children. Susan Elizabeth, our daughter, and David Frederic, our son. Each had two children of their own. Susan had a daughter, Lauren Elizabeth, and a son, Scott David. David had a son, Brandon David and girl, Caitlin Marie. Lauren is married and has her own daughter, Bronte Elizabeth, who is 3 l/2 years old. So if Scott were still alive, he would be a great-grandfather.

Question 9:

Did you act as editor for any of Scott O'dell's novels?

Answer:

No, I was never Scott's editor, although I often made suggestions after I read his manuscripts. For his books for young readers, Scott had three different editors at Houghton Mifflin. Austin Olney, Mary K. Harmon, and Matilda Welter. Scott always said that every writer needed an editor.

Question 10:

Which of Scott O'dell's novels was your favorite?

Answer:

The Black Pearl

Question 11:

How would you guide a young author in writing a novel for the first time?

Answer:

That's a big question. I would suggest that a young author should do lots of research, visiting the place where the story is set and reading in depth about the place, any major activity or events featured in the novel, any characters based on real people, etc. I would suggest that the author make an outline for the story, so that the plot is plain; think about the characters, and also about the themes that would be stressed. I would also recommend that she or he set aside time every day to write, and to expect that every chapter would be revised and rewritten at least half a dozen times.

Question 12:

Will you be writing any more novels/ books? If so, will the novel/book be for children or for adults? What will the novel/book be about?

Answer:

I am working on a book for middle-school and/or junior-high readers. It's about a girl who lives in Hollywood in the 1930s, and the setting is the film industry.

Question 13:

How many years have you been a teacher?

Answer:

I've never been a teacher. I've been a public librarian (for 8 years), a university librarian (for 1 year), a magazine editor (for 9 years), and a full-time writer since since 1979. I do visit schools and talk to classes, but I don't teach.

Question 14:

How did you meet Scott O'dell?

Answer:

When I was a librarian, I worked with the school librarian at the local school. Together we put on a book fair every year and brought an author of chapter books and an author/illustrator of picture books to visit the school for two or three days. Scott was the chapter-book author who visited our local school one year.

Question 15:

How did you become interested in Psychology?

Answer:

I took several college courses in psychology, but never pursued the subject. While I was working as a librarian in a university, Scott wrote a book for adults that was to be published by Psychology Today magazine. While he was working on the book, we made frequent trips to the magazine offices, and I helped out. When he finished the book, the editor-in-chief offered me a job as an associate editor. I accepted and stayed with the magazine for 9 years. That meant I read and wrote psychology for 9 years.

Question # 16

Scott O'Dell was in the military. What message do you believe he might send to the USA troops if he were still alive today?

Answer:

I think he would want a speedy end to the war and hope that few people (soldiers and civilians) were killed. He would probably have opposed going into Iraq without a United Nations vote, but once we were in, he would have supported our troops and the President.