READER'S ROCK LIFESTYLE MAGAZINE VOL 2 ISSUE 4 NOVEMBER 2014 Vol. 1 Issue 5 November 2013 | Page 12

determine how much of my time a writing project will require, inclusive of writing, review, and everything else that a book involves. 1 page = 1 hour. Thus, if I’m writing a 700page book (inclusive of all front matter and back matter), I must plan for the project requiring 700 hours of my time. What’s your favorite food? Robert: My military career took me all over the world, so I have many favorite foods. I love yakisoba and sushi. I love kalbi and kimchi. I love schnitzel and sauerkraut. I love gyros and spanakopita. I love kalua pork and poi. Oh and I love pho, and now just thinking about all those wonderful foods is making me hungry. :-) Where’s your favorite place to read? rather than read for very long). What’s the most interesting thing a fan has ever said to you? Robert: The Kingdoms and the Elves of the Reaches and In the Service of Dragons books are popular with tween boys and I often hear from readers who tell me they never really enjoyed reading until they discovered these books. I’ve heard from fans who read the books for fun while being forced to read a “classic” book that they hated at school. That was fun for me to hear. I think though that one of the best things that has ever happened to me as a writer is the first time an entire class wrote letters to Buster Bee. The first time that happened I was overwhelmed. It was Robert: Currently, I am working to finish an 8-book contract with my publishers. The contract is the largest one I’ve ever signed and it couldn’t have come at a better time. The project, which has consumed part of last year, all of this year and will carry me well into next year, entails over 4,000 pages of writing—and I’ve been going at it 7 days a week trying to meet all the timelines. Two of the eight books have now been published and I am working my way through writing, reviewing, and final work on all the others. I’m very grateful to have this work, especially as the industry is in such flux right now. There was a great deal of uncertainty prior to this about the future. The uncertainty continues, but at least I have work to keep me going. What an amazing interview thank you Robert for allowing the readers of Reader’s Rock take a sneak peak behind the scenes and into your career. It’s been out pleasure chatting with you. Robert: Reading is big at my house, so we have reading nooks all over the place. When I have time, I like to read in the sun room (but the sun room is also my office so I’m usually tempted to go back to work simply amazing to receive so many letters from kids who love the Bugville Critters stories. What are you working on currently? Wondering what books Robert Stanek has written? You can find a visual guide to 102 of his books in print at http://www.robertstanek.com/print-books.htm and a visual guide to 75 of his books in audio at http://www.robertstanek.com/audio-books.htm. Robert Stanek is on Twitter at http://twitter.com/robertstanek and on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/robert stanekauthor.