Classic Interview: Tarzan

Our latest interview is with everybody's favorite swinger, Tarzan the Ape Man. Due to his aversion to "civilization," we had to journey to darkest Africa to get some face time with the Lord of the Jungle.

 Greg:  Hello, thanks for inviting us, Tarzan. Nice jungle you've got here.

Tarzan:  Thank you. Sorry, we didn't have time to clean up much. We didn't expect you so soon. The vines need trimming and we haven't emptied Cheetah's litter box in a week. I'm so embarrassed. 

Greg:  No worries. We came by jet, much better than those long ocean voyages. Anyway, tell us a little bit about your childhood. 

Tarzan: Not much to tell. Can't remember very much. I was only a baby when my parents and I were marooned here. Mother died soon after. My father was killed by Kerchak, leader of the Mangani ape tribe. The tribe adopted me, or rather Kala, my ape mother did. 

Greg:  Fascinating. How did you, a human, manage to survive among the apes? 

Tarzan:  They took care of me. Kala raised me. I learned much, ape ways and ape speech. I learned to climb, swing from vines like an ape. I grew strong, fought many in the jungle. I learned to speak with apes, monkeys, elephants, lions, tigers, cheetahs, many animals in the jungle. 

Greg:  You're remarkably well spoken for someone raised by apes. 

Tarzan:  I learn man speech from humans who come to the jungle, and I've been to big man cities, to civilization. Many strange things I saw there, and many languages I learned. I did not like it. Smelly, dirty places. Crowded, polluted. All animals slaves there, and many people, too. 

I wanted to leave, but Jane wanted me to stay. It was her home. I wanted her to be happy, but I was not happy, and that made Jane unhappy. In civilization, no one is happy. Tarzan left, and Jane agreed to go, too. 

Greg:  How did you meet Jane?

Tarzan:  A group of humans was marooned on same spot as I was. What are the odds? Jane and her father were in that group. I met Jane, showed her the jungle. She liked the jungle, liked me, too, but her father wanted to go back, so she went.

I decided to leave, too, to find her. I loved Jane, did not want to let her go. I traveled up through Africa, into India. Met Mowgli--nice boy. There is a book about him and his life in the jungle--I forget the name. He got me on an English ship. Sailed to England. Good thing Jane did not go back to America, but went to England. Swim to America is long, they say.

I found Jane--looked her up in the phone book. Ha, ha, that's a joke. I made friends with the crew. They said to go to the Explorers Society, they probably went there. Guess what? They did! Lots of coincidences in my life!

After I found Jane, she and I lived in London, got married. I tried to live civilized to make Jane happy, but it didn't work out. Finally, Jane said that she wanted to go back to Africa, to my home. That made me happy, which made Jane happy. Everybody was happy.

Greg:  So, you didn't like civilization. Can't say that I blame you. How did Jane adjust to living in the wild?

Tarzan:  Jane did well. She's strong. She likes living in the trees and swinging on vines. I built a tree house for her. She keeps it clean, makes it a good home. I bring her things to cook, wildebeests, gazelle, and Jane's favorite--warthog.

Jane also likes to ride elephants, swim, climb, everything that I like to do. She's good fun. Our son likes to do these things, too.

Greg:  Is it true that you call him Boy?

Tarzan:  Ha, ha, that's funny. You're telling me a joke, right?

Greg:  Uh, no, in the films I've seen, you call your son Boy.

Tarzan:  That's not true! It's the silliest thing I've heard. My son is not named Boy, his name is Jack. He makes me proud. He's a good boy.

Greg:  Sorry, I guess you can't believe everything you hear. Well, thank you for taking the time to sit and talk with us a bit. Give my best to Jane and Boy, er, Jack.

Tarzan:  Sure thing. Come again soon. Next time, take a boat, and I'll be sure to kill you a water buffalo. We'll have a big party. Maybe Jack will come instead of staying out all night swinging with his ape buddies. Kids these days, everyone is getting so civilized.

A Writer's Week #152: Moving Right Along

Things have been chugging along since I last checked in. April got off to a great start with an appearance at the Deer Hill Thrift Shoppe in Danbury, CT. It's a wonderful store that is part of the First Congregational Church of Danbury. Periodically, they invite local artisans and authors to sell their products with no fee. 

I had a slot April 11, and it was a great time. I got to meet some great folks, talk a little bit about the craft of writing, and I even sold a few books to boot. All in all, a great experience.

I also had the tremendous honor of being interviewed by Jed Doherty for the Connecticut Book Festivals Podcast. I'd been interviewed by Jed a couple of times previously on his Reading With Your Kids podcast, but this was a feature length interview of about 24 minutes. It was really a fantastic experience, and we covered a lot of ground. Jed asks a lot of fantastic questions. We talked about Fire & Ice and what it was all about. We also delved into my writing process, and why I write for a primarily middle grade audience. I have posted a link to the podcast on the message bar to the right if you'd like to take a listen.

Meanwhile, I have been inching forward slowly on my WIP. The second book in the Dragon Island Legends series is starting to take shape. I know where I want to go, but I'm still a little hazy on how I get there. That is bound to slow me down--unless I have a sudden epiphany.

In any event, I am up to a little over 6,200 words and am starting chapter 14. I am right at the point where circumstances will dictate that Shadra will have to do something. What she decides to do could very well make or break this little story. Am I worried? Sure, a bit, but I've learned that more often than not, the characters point me in ways I didn't anticipate.

When that happens, I'll be sure to let you know.

Peace

Classic Interview: Peter Pan

This week Classic Interviews returns with an interview with the boy who never grew up, Peter Pan.

Greg: Welcome, Peter. I know you have a busy schedule, so we'll get right to it. Can you tell me a little bit about your childhood? 

Peter: Ha, ha! Silly grown up man! That's a good one! My childhood is my whole life, and I hope it will never end. 

Greg: Of course, how silly of me. Can you tell me how you first came to Neverland? 

Peter: I was lost. My parents lost me. Tinkerbell found me. I would have died. She took me away to Neverland. Soon, we both flew out together, looking for lost boys like me. They became my men. We have a great time fighting pirates, teasing mermaids, and having councils of war with the Indians. 

Greg: Don't you miss having a mother? 

Peter: Nah! Mothers are nothing but trouble! 'Sides, we had a mother once. Her name was Wendy. She darned stockings and told us stories. We had some grand adventures, I can tell you. That was about the only time we had a mother. She wasn't so bad, but she had to grow up. 

I wanted her to stay and be our mother always, but she had to take her brothers, John and Michael, home. They missed their real mother. 

Greg: Do you ever miss Wendy? 

Peter: Sometimes I do. I used to visit her every summer. But every year she'd get a little older, until she wasn't any fun to play with anymore. That's the part that makes me sad. When the kids grow up. That's when they stop being interesting. Like you, you write about kids and stuff, but you're just a boring old daddy man. 

But Wendy, she was never boring. Even after she grew up, she could still be a little fun. Funny thing is, when she got real old, like 30-35, she was no fun at all. But then she got positively ancient, like 70, and she was a lot of fun again. She liked to play all sorts of games again. I could never figure that out. 

Greg: Why don't we talk about some of your adventures. What was it like to face Captain Hook and his pirate crew? 

Peter: Captain Hook, why'd you want to talk about him? He thought he was so smart. Always laying traps for us, he was. But we were always too smart for him. 

I remember one time, he tried to set a trap for us. He tried to get us into a cave to rescue the Indian princess, Tigerlilly. I swooped in and rescued her, and he couldn't stop me. I got him to chase Wendy, and she led him into the lagoon. The crocodile was there, waiting for ol' Hook. Ha, ha! That crocodile chased him clear back to his ship! Hook didn't set another trap for us for more than a month!

Hook's funny, but he can be dangerous if you don't watch out. The rest of his men are harmless, but great fun. That Mr. Smee is the funniest of them all. He's always upsetting the good Captain. It makes our job a whole lot easier!

Greg: What plans do you have for the future?

Peter: The future? I don't worry about the future. Whatever happens, happens. There'll always be pirates to fight and Lost Boys to find. Tinkerbell is always around, too. She's a lot of fun, but sometimes she can be a little nasty. When that happens, I just banish her until she shapes up. That usually fixes things.

Sometimes I think that if people could just have fun, and banish people until they stop being mean, that everyone in the world would be a lot better off. Take you for example. If you didn't worry so much about selling your books, and just had the fun of writing them, you'd be a lot cheerier and I bet your kids would have more fun, too.

Greg: I daresay, you're probably right, Peter. Well, thank you very much for talking to us. I feel younger just talking to you.

Peter: All you need is a little pixie dust, and you'd be back to having fun before you know it. Just say the word, and I'll send Tink over to your place with some. Leave the window open, and we'll have an adventure!