Interviews
On Saturday, December 6th, barnesandnoble.com welcomed Carl Hiaasen to discuss LUCKY YOU.
Moderator: Welcome, Mr. Hiaasen! Thanks for joining us -- how are you tonight?
Carl Hiaasen: I'm just fine, Mr. Moderator!
Robert from New Orleans, LA: Any chance of syndicating your column? I tell you, I would love to read you in the
Times-Picayune.
Carl Hiaasen: Starting in January, the column will be syndicated by the Chicago Tribune Knight Ridder Services, though I'm not sure about New Orleans; with luck it will be there soon, too!
Paul from Morris Plains, NJ: Any chance of bringing LUCKY YOU to the big screen? Any Hollywood deals in motion?
Carl Hiaasen: Actually, the book was purchased on the basis of five chapters, so it's been bought, and they're working on a screenplay. This was not by choice, but the chapters leaked out to Holywood so we had to do it that way, the producer Jaffe is working with it -- so, we'll see....
Nancy Newberry from West Hartford: Mr. Hiaasen, my husband and I love your work! Did you ever take fiction-writing classes, or is this talent organic? Where do you get your sense of humor?
Carl Hiaasen: I did take fiction-writing classes in high school and college, but I was writing short stories, neighborhood journals, since I was six or so -- I took the classes out of that love. I knew from that early age that I would make my living by writing, but I never knew how successful I'd be -- though some might say I've never surpassed that six-year-old age level.
A.W from Hinsdale, IL: Of all your characters, which is your favorite?
Carl Hiaasen: Well, I guess I probably have the most affection for Skink, the semi-deranged ex-governor of Florida. I guess I like him so much because he's subversive and unpredictable -- I wish I could get away with what he does in real life. I'm sure he'll resurface in some way in future books.
Heather from Boston: Hello, Carl...I am a big fan of your books!!!! What would you consider to be your major inspirations in your writing? Do you write a lot from stuff that really happened to you?
Carl Hiaasen: A lot of the stuff in the books is inspired by real events -- often taken from the headlines in Florida; to a lesser extent some of the things have happened to me, but none of the extreme stuff. I wish I could say I've a weed-wacker attached to my arm as a prothesis, but that's not the case.
Mark from Nutley, NJ: What can we expect next from Carl Hiaasen in terms of next novels?
Carl Hiaasen: I have no earthly idea. I haven't started a new one yet, and I've another writing project to work on. I just got off a long book tour, so I haven't gotten all my energy back.
Gary from Roswell, MA: What is it about Florida that attracts such crazy people -- the likes of Bode and Chub and JoLayne?
Carl Hiaasen: I think Florida has always attracted all kind of characters; centuries ago it attracted adventurers and navigators -- it's always been one of those places. It's tropical and warm and beautiful, so people come here with dreams -- good and bad. We've had our share of hoodlums, it's just that today they wear suits and carry briefcases!
Todd K. from East Side: Does your career in journalism have an effect on your fiction writing? Do the two styles ever conflict?
Carl Hiaasen: Well, what the journalism gives you is the discipline to sit down and write when you don't really want to...you learn how to edit, to listen to the way people speak -- which gives you a broad range of dialogue in fiction. Newspaper work clearly feeds the fiction in terms of the discipline and the work involved.
Randall from Waco, TX: Who are some of your favorite writers out there today? Just one or two would be sufficient....
Carl Hiaasen: I'm very fond of Tom Wolfe, and I'm also a fan of Martin Amis, and many others...
Francine from Ann Arbor: How carefully do you plan your novels before you write them? Are you ever surprised by the way they turn out? Thanks!
Carl Hiaasen: The answer, which will shock and appall English teachers everywhere, is that I don't plan them. I start with a cast of characters and let them do their thing -- I want to be surprised, that to me is part of the fun of it.
Neil from Studio City, CA: Mr. Hiaasen, my son and I are big fans of your writing. I was wondering if you could tell me how you got your start in writing? How old were you when you got your first book published?
Carl Hiaasen: When I was in college I worked on two novels as a ghostwriter with a friend of mine -- so that's when I was published, though my name wasn't on them. That was my first experience -- and I guess I was in my early twenties; in my late twenties I wrote a book with a reporter friend of mine, which my name did appear in. Then I did write my own books, which was exciting, but then you have no excuses when you're not collaborating -- if it goes down in flames it's your fault.
Karry Baker from San Antonio: Hey, Mr. Hiaasen, I just wanted to tell you how great I think your writing is! I just started LUCKY YOU. Tell us -- what are your plans for the holidays?
Carl Hiaasen: Thanks for the very nice words! My plans for the holidays are to get out on the water as often as I can and reinvigorate myself after the tour!
Randi from Allentown, PA: Hello, Carl, what would you say are a few of the funniest movies ever made?
Carl Hiaasen: Some of my favorites were "Animal House" and "Raising Arizona," and I was vastly entertained by "Fargo" and everything Monty Python ever did -- that's a couple off the top of my head.
Lance from Cleveland, OH: Do you prefer writing novels or writing your column?
Carl Hiaasen: I prefer doing both. What I mean is not having to make a choice -- there are some days when I don't feel like working on either; right now I could pick the novels. From a writer's point of view, it's a much greater challenge to write a novel and a good novel. Though I'd also say it'd probably be more important to do the journalism.
Sharon Lake from Larchmont, NY: If you had to categorize your writing among your contemporaries, who would you compare yourself to?
Carl Hiaasen: That's a tricky one...I'd love to be compared with Wolf, or Joseph Heller, or John Irving, at least in my dreams. This is not false modesty, but the writers I like the most I think are better than I am, and I would not compare myself to them.
Greta from Oak Park, IL: Good evening, Carl Hiaasen; do you play the lotto?
Carl Hiaasen: And what do you mean by that, Greta? The answer is no -- I wait till there's a couple million in the jackpot and then I'll spring a buck or two for tickets.
Allison from New York: Who is Laureen, and why did you dedicate LUCKY YOU to her?
Carl Hiaasen: Laureen is my girlfriend.
Maghan Grant from Amherst, MA: Of all the entertainers out there today, whom do you find really funny? I figure you're an expert opinion...any favorite TV shows?
Carl Hiaasen: I watch "Seinfeld" and "Frasier" and Letterman, but beyond that I don't watch much TV, except for the news -- because that's what I do for a living, I'm a news addict. I don't watch many dramas.
Howard from New York, NY: Mr. Hiaasen, were you happy with the screen version of STRIP TEASE?
Carl Hiaasen: I wasn't as unhappy with it as some of the critics were and as some of my readers were; I went into the thing with rather modest expectations and with the knowledge that my books are very hard to transfer to film for many reasons, so I knew the project would be different from the book. I did find much of it funny. I wasn't thrilled with the ending, but very few authors are ecstatic about what happens with their books when they're sold to Hollywood.
Buddy S. from Dade County, FL: Are you a fan of Edna Buchanan's writing?
Carl Hiaasen: Sure, I'm not only a fan, I'm a colleague -- she used to work at the Herald -- and a friend. She might have been the best police reporter we've ever had, and she'd be a colorful character in anyone's novel.
Chris from The Beach House: Do you see yourself in any of your characters? Perhaps Tom Krome, the journalist?
Carl Hiaasen: An author can't honestly divorce himself from any of his characters because they all spring from his imagination. Some are more my voice than others, and I think Tom Krome is probably that character in LUCKY YOU. He goes on a long riff about the sorry state of journalism in this country -- which I've probably said more than once myself.
Liz Smith from Los Angeles: Getting back to the earlier question about journalism and fiction... I guess I always assumed your "real" ambition was to be an investigative journalist (Bob Woodward) because what I like about your fiction is the juxtaposition of serious issues with human zaniness; I mean there is a mystery but there is also an issue...
Carl Hiaasen: I was an investigative reporter before I started writing the column -- I had a great deal of energy for it and I thought it was terribly important work. In a novel, if you are introducing opinions...a column is a better forum. Investigative reporting, while it's very exciting, should and must always be sanitized of any opinion on the part of the journalist.
Sascha from Pasadena: You've already written so many books! How long does it usually take you?
Carl Hiaasen: It takes anywhere from 14 to 18 months to do a novel from start to finish. And then, it takes another 5 to 9 months before the book is published, depending on what the publisher wants to do.
S.D. Woolever from woolever@wbuffalo.com: Are you a 90-day wonder who worked ten years (or whatever) to become successful? Can you tell a lot of difference between today's publishing world and publishing when you started?
Carl Hiaasen: I think it's harder today for first-time writers because the industry is trunked, there are fewer and fewer midlist books being purchased, there are larger advances being paid to comedians and celebrities to write books, and that means less money for first-time novelists trying to catch a break. I don't think in 1980 there was a publisher foolhardy enough to pay O. J. Simpson's girlfriend $2 milion plus for a worthless book that nobody bought.
Allison from New York: What inspired you to write novels initially -- was it your way to make a point about the environment and overdevelopment of Florida? Or were these very funny stories just coming alive in your head, and you wanted to share them with the world? Or just to make a living? Etc.
Carl Hiaasen: All of the above. Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to write books. I don't think it's possible to write a good novel that doesn't include the currents and emotions that are going through the writer. I think it's natural, even though I write funny novels, to weave in the issues that are important to me and to use the humor and satire against what I consider to be sins against nature.
Moderator: Thanks, Mr. Hiaasen, goodnight and happy holidays!
Carl Hiaasen: Goodnight, and thanks to everybody for all the good questions!