Chris Grabenstein
Presented by: Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures Words & Pictures
When: 2:30 p.m., Feb. 12
Admission: $11
Where: Carnegie Library Lecture Hall, Oakland
Details: 412-622-8866 or pittsburghlectures.org
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Updated 29 minutes ago
Writers often acquire a reading habit during childhood, and Chris Grabenstein was no exception. His literary options, however, were limited. One publication that inspired him is a pulp magazine that has long vexed adults and delighted kids: Mad Magazine.
“I grew up in Tennessee and our public school, I don't even think we had a library,” says Grabenstein, who appears Feb. 12 at Carnegie Library Lecture Hall as a guest of Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures' Words & Pictures series. “.… And I used to love reading Art Buchwald's columns as a kid. I used to emulate him when I wrote essays.”
Grabenstein, whose children's books include the “Welcome to Wonderland, Home Sweet Motel” and the “Mr. Lemoncello's Library” series, took a circuitous route to becoming a published author. He started out in improvisational comedy in New York City. Bruce Willis was once part of his troupe, and he also performed with Robin Williams.
“I attribute a lot of my success to improv comedy,” he says. “The one rule of improv is you say yes to everything. And that's what I've done my whole life: I'll try that.”
Grabenstein eventually decided to look for a full-time job where he could be “creative every day.” He was hired by J. Walter Thompson, an international advertising agency in New York City and his boss became the link to Grabenstein's career as an author. Before James Patterson became the world's most prolific writer, he also worked at J. Walter Thompson.
“Jim was my first boss,” Grabenstein says. “I learned a lot from him. He of course left advertising when the Alex Cross books took off and became the No. 1 bestselling author in the history of writers.”
Patterson eventually recruited Grabenstein to help him write children's books, including the “I Funny” series. Usually Grabenstein will receive a 70-80 page outline, which he then fleshes out.
“What's really impressive is Jim's dedication to kids,” he says. “What he really wants is that every kid who picks up a book will say, ‘please give me another book.'”
In an age when children are inundated with information and distractions, instilling a love for reading can be difficult. Grabenstein say it can be especially difficult to reach boys.
“You have to work overtime to get their attention,” he says. “Those are the favorite emails I get: ‘I hated reading until I read your book.' There are other ways for them to get information, but reading is still so important to everything that will come from that point on.”
The easiest way to do that is to tell a compelling story. In Grabenstein's “Escape from Lemoncello's Library” (which won an Agatha Award for Best Children's/Young Adult Novel), Luigi Lemoncello is a famous gamemaker. “The Island of Dr. Libris” features a mysterious doctor who seems to be able to make book characters come alive.
While the stories are important, the secret to keeping a young reader engaged uses a principle the author learned in advertising.
“All my stories start with a bang,” Grabenstein says. “and you never take them where they want to go right away. You have to make them want to keep going. You have to leave the reader dangling in suspense – What! What's going on? – and then they keep reading. I end each chapter with a cliffhanger or a hook.”
Rege Behe is a Tribune-Review contributing writer.
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