Because they lived in such close quarters, and because Sachar needed to be alone when he was writing, Carla, who was very supportive of Sachar, would wake up early and leave the apartment, even when she was on vacation from school. He married Carla in , and their daughter, Sherre, was born in Sachar's books were selling well; finally, in , he was able to stop practicing law and become a full-time writer.
In , Sachar and his family moved to Austin, Texas. He was proving to be a prolific writer of children's books. In , Sachar began a series about the comical plights of an eight-year-old boy named Marvin Redpost, writing four Marvin Redpost books between and , and three more in and When the novel did not come together as he had planned, he quit working on it and began Holes , which was published in and won the Newbery Medal Award.
Sachar has received many prestigious awards and honors for his writing. Sachar has an office over the garage of his house where he goes to write each weekday morning. No one is allowed in his office except Tippy and Lucky. After about two hours of writing, Tippy taps him with her paw or barks to remind him that it is time to quit writing because the dogs need a walk.
Sachar has a strict rule that he adheres to when he is writing a book: He does not talk about it. Most of the time, his wife and daughter don't have any idea what he is doing in his office. Sometimes, Sachar spends an entire month just brainstorming. He did not know if he would be able to support himself by writing children's books, so he continued his legal education.
He graduated from law school in and, after passing the bar exam, became a lawyer. Sachar continued to write children's books even as he worked as a lawyer. After eight years of writing books and practicing the law part time, he decided to focus solely on his writing.
He met his wife, Carla, while visiting the school she worked at as a visiting author. They married in Usually I'll know after a week if the story is going anywhere, but there have been a few times where I've worked on a story for several months, and then gave up on it. Does traveling across the country to promote your books inspire your writing? I think seeing all the people who like my books, inspires me to write more. Did it take longer to write Monkey Soup than a chapter book? Is it easier or harder to write a picture book?
It took a few days to write Monkey Soup. Then it took the illustrator a long time to draw the pictures. You mentioned that Small Steps is your personal favorite. What other book of yours is special to you? All my books are special to me. Each one represents a piece of my life.
I thought it would be funny. Because there was no 19th story. How did you come up with the names of the characters? How did you decide what the characters would look like? I wrote what I thought was funny. The characters are all named after the real kids I knew when I helped out at the elementary school. I'd picture them in my head and describe them. The illustrator then drew the pictures, which looked nothing like the real kids I knew. From Becky: In Wayside School , who is your favorite character?
It's hard to pick a favorite. Maybe Todd. From Grant: In Wayside School , there was a teacher who was a witch. Have you had any bad teachers? I didn't like my 5th grade teacher, although she wasn't quite as bad as Mrs.
What are some of your favorite books written by other authors classics or contemporary? Ragtime by E. Nine Stories by J. The Unconsoled by Kazuo Ishiguro. None of those are books for kids. My favorite kids books are Charlotte's Web by E. Have you ever written a book that is similar to something else you have read? I don't think so. From Aaron: Who did you base the characters in Holes on?
The Warden was based on a bridge playing friend of mine. All of the other characters were completely made up. How hard was it to keep three storylines going in Holes? It was difficult. I worried that the reader would lose interest in Stanley's story, if I kept switching away to other time periods. From Nicole: Have you ever wanted to do something else besides writing? I feel very fortunate that I can make a living doing what I like to do.
Do you still feel as passionate about writing now as you did when you first started? Yes, but I think it's getting harder to come up with new ideas. What did you do with the money the first time you sold a book? I don't remember.
It wasn't a whole lot of money. Maybe I bought a sandwich. When you started writing your books, where did you go? Did you have a special place away from everyone?? I lived alone then. Later on, when I got married, my wife and I lived in a very small apartment. My wife would have to leave the house for couple of hours every morning so I could be alone to write. From Peyten: Do you plan on writing any science fiction?
I don't know what I'll write next, but even if I did, I never talk about a book until after it is finished. Not even my wife knows what I'm working on until I'm ready to send it to the publisher. Why did you write There's a Boy in the Girl's Bathroom? A friend of mine told me about a time when he was in fifth grade, and there was a kid in the class nobody wanted to sit near.
That gave me the idea for the book. At around the same time I met a school counselor, named Carla. Where did you get the idea for Sixth Grade Secrets?
I have no idea. I was just trying to come up with something, and somehow I had an image in my mind of a girl with long hair and a cap that said "Pig City. From Nicole: Have you ever tried to put a family member on any book covers? I have nothing to do with the covers. That's all done by the publisher.
In the book Holes , you said that the Warden was a friend of yours. Why did you make his character mean? The Warden has wasted her whole life out in the dried up lake bed looking for buried treasure. That's what made her mean. My friend is very proud of the fact that the Warden is based on her. When you think about dedicating a book, who do you think of?
I dedicate my books to people in my family or my close friends. That book is dedicated to Laura and her mother, Nancy, who taught me to play bridge. Could you give our class two tips for beginning writers? Write what you like, and I hate to say it again, but you have to rewrite. Dominique H. Hemming's class: Do you have any plans to retire?
No, I'm already doing what I like to do. From MO: How many hours of sleep do you get, with writing all those creative stories? I've been writing books for almost 30 years, so even though it seems like I write all the time, I only write a couple of hours each day.
I usually get about eight hours sleep a night. From CO: Do you keep a writer's notebook? If so, did you get any ideas for any of your books from it? I don't keep a writer's notebook.
What do you do when you get writer's block? I just try to get through it. The hardest part is just thinking up the beginning of a story. If I get stuck in the middle, it doesn't bother me that much, because I know I'm going to rewrite the story at least five or six times anyway, so I just try to get something down, and hope to get past the part I'm having trouble with. From Cristian: Do you have any kids at this moment? I have one daughter. She's 19 and away at college.
From MO: Have you ever written a book about your daughter? Marvin's sister is 4 years old. That's not a coincidence. Do you get most of your book ideas from personal experiences and can you give examples? No, my personal experiences are kind of boring. I have to make up what I put in my books. All the kids in that book are named after kids I knew there. But all the stories are made up. From OK: Mr. Sachar, I am a student at a University in Oklahoma. We are doing author studies. Sachar had a short, but extremely successful, stint as a door-to-door salesman.
His first book, Sideways Stories From Wayside School , was started in , and took about 9 months to complete. It was written in the evenings to fit around careers in warehousing and law school. Sachar writes every morning of the week, although does so for typically no more than 2 hours a day. While working on a book, Louis Sachar never discusses his in-progress writing, not even with family or his editor!
Sachar is a keen bridge player, frequently entering tournaments.
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