***Please note that if you’re reading this in 2019 or later, a lot of these posts might be missing the photos that originally were posted along with the blog post. When I switched platforms, not all of the photos transferred! Thank you for understanding!***

This past weekend, after spending all day Saturday at the super epic Ontario Teen Book Fest, I got another super great opportunity through the Mission Viejo Library (You rock, Allison!) and was able to score an interview with best-selling author, Eoin Colfer, author of books like The Supernaturalist, The Wish List, and most notably, the Artemis Fowl series.

His most recent release, The Reluctant Assassin, is the first of a planned trilogy called Warp. According to Eoin, the books involve time travel (where he got inspiration from Back to the Future and Doctor Who!) and is supposed to scare the pants off of you!

Eoin was a super fun and HILARIOUS guy! I enjoyed interviewing him and I enjoyed his presentation. He was SO funny. I had no idea I would attending a comedy show. He told stories about his friends and family, his sons, and his writing processes and its just absolutely hilarious. I have met a ton of authors, especially in the last few months, but he was so incredibly funny and he won’t be one that I’ll forget.

He also wrote on my “writing advice” poster. Check it out! SO funny.

It says “Get rid of boring friends!” for those who may not be able to read his awesome handwriting haha.

He was an absolutely delight to interview :) Check out the interview below!

Me: Okay so you first published Artemis Fowl in 2001. How does it feel that these novels are still successful and that you keep gaining new fans?

Eoin: I think its great. I never wrote it with that in mind. When I started to write Artemis, it was kind of aimed at reluctant boys who wouldn’t read, boys in my class, what I thought they would like. (Eoin Colfer used to be a teacher). So I wasn’t expecting it to go global. It’s a great feeling. Its very hard to connect with it when you’re living in a small town in Ireland, when millions of kids read your books.

Me: I first read your books when I was about 13 and I’m 25 now.

Eoin: That’s awesome.

Me: They definitely keep going, with the fans.

Eoin: I met a kid last year that was like ‘You’re a classic!’ I was like, no, classics are old and possibly dead. I’m alive…and its a really nice feeling.

Me: That’s awesome. This is a fan question, I’ve actually had a couple people ask me to ask you this. They said, The Supernaturalist came out quite a few years ago. Is there going to be a sequel?

Eoin: Um, maybe, I haven’t decided yet. I haven’t decided if to do a sequel but I haven’t started planning one. I do have a little one paragraph of where its going to go if I do go back to that. That’s the book I do get asked about the most, is there going to be a sequel to this? So I think maybe I will.

Me: I hope so

Eoin: But maybe I won’t (laughs).

Me: (laughs) All right. What made you want to write science fiction and fantasy books? 

Eoin: They were the books that I really loved when I was a teenager and even younger, this was in the 1970s. Back in the 1970s, it was a big boom in science fiction and fantasy. Star Wars was made and it was great. And the first Star Trek movie was made and it was great and even a cartoon of the Lord of the Rings was made and it wasn’t so great. And then there was the Planet of the Apes movies and I loved those. So when I was a kid, that was the youth culture. And its faded out a bit but not for me. Its come back into fashion just at the right time and all these great movies are being made and great books are being written. So its a great time to be a reader.

Sara: Yeah, it really is. What are some of your favorite authors to read, and who inspires you?

Eoin: The guy who inspires me the most I think is a guy called William Goldman and he has written movies and screenplays all his life. He wrote movies like the Sting and All the President’s Men and he wrote books like Marathon Man, which is one of my favorites, and The Princess Bride, which is my favorite kid’s book. 

Me: Right, I’ve totally read that! Its a great book!

Eoin: So, he would be the guy…What I like about him is that he doesn’t just stick in one genre, he does everything. You know,  I’d like to eventually do that as well. I know I’ve just done eight books in one genre which is sort of, which is a bit boring. Not boring for me or the readers but you want to move onto something else. You have to do other books, like crime or whatever.

Me: That’s awesome. My last question is, what advice do you have to aspiring young writers?

Eoin: If you are an aspiring writer, it starts off fantastically because you’re full of hope, you’re writing new stories, everyone in your family is telling you that they’re the best stories ever and you think ‘Wow, I’m on my way’. And then sometimes, when it doesn’t happen for four or five years, you can go through a bad time thinking, ‘maybe I’m not a writer’. But almost every writer  who has been published has had those bad years, where they doubted themselves. 

And the ones that do get published, are the ones that don’t go by the wayside, during that period. You gotta know that its going to be a few years here  and I’m not going to get published and I’m going to have to push through those few years. And of course, there are some writers who are so brilliant they get published immediately, but that is rare, rare, rare. So any writer will say they were reject. J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, everybody. 

So the writers who persist are the ones that get published.

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After I had the interview with him, was his actual presentation. He was super super super funny, and my brother and sister, who are both SUPER big fans, really had a great time. He had a magician named Travis before and after the presentation and because I was the blogger, I got to be the lucky one who participated in the magic show. Where, you know, I nearly got my hand chopped off!

But it was a good time. I had a great time. And I was incredibly honored to be able to interview him. He is a best-selling author and kids love him. I remember kids loving his books when I was a kid and being in that room at Mission Viejo Library, where he was surrounded by kids again, that’s powerful, that’s magic. Because he continues to gain new fans, new readers and it takes a talented writer to do that. Artemis Fowl came out in 2001 and he continues to enjoy success and I think that’s a wonderful thing.

My sister, Jessica, and brother, Stevey, waiting for Eoin.

I’ve also seen two of my siblings become readers from his books, and so it was really awesome being able to see how excited they were to meet him and see him. I’m sure they felt the way I felt while meeting Meg Cabot, Sarah Dessen, Cassandra Clare and the others. And I am so behind any author that is encouraging people to read and introducing kids to the love of reading. This is added to the fact that he seems SO good to his fans. He has a family, a wife, some kids, but he keeps on writing and touring. Coming to California from Ireland? Not exactly a short trip but he’s personable and he talks straight to the kids and makes them laugh and he’s the type of author that you meet and you know there’s no way you’ll ever forget meeting him, no way.

Eoin Colfer and I at the Library. I don’t know if he’ll ever see this but thank you Eoin for the interview, for making me laugh like crazy, for taking place in an iFandoms Collide vlog and for just being all out awesome! I appreciate and love authors who reach out to their fans, and are accessible to their fans and you were awesome. I’m definitely going to give Warp a chance!

And I’m glad you thought the interview was cool :)

Hope you guys enjoyed my interview with Eoin Colfer. Definitely read his books, if you haven’t had the chance to read them before. They are children’s books but they are much like Percy Jackson, and enjoyable for all ages. And the Reluctant Assassin sounds super cool. I’m definitely going to be reading it.

Also big big big thanks to Allison Tran at the Mission Viejo Library. I’ve said before, and I’ll say it again, you rock! You are a dedicated librarian with such passion for what you do and it comes across. You and Alex (from A Whale of a Tale Bookstore) always put on such wonderful events, events where a reader can enjoy themselves because we know that you are enjoying it as well. Thanks for giving me this AWESOME opportunity to interview this epic, epic author!

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Check back soon for a personal interview from Unremembered author, Jessica Brody!

And don’t forget to check out previous interviews!