Q: Who influenced you to become a writer?

My strongest influence to become a writer and my strongest influence not to become a writer were the same person. My dad. Writing was my father’s passion. He wrote every day of his life. But, his regular 9-5 job was as a business executive and he was never able to get his work published, no matter how hard he tried. And he tried very hard.

And so I learned two things from him. One was that writing was a blast and two was it would break your heart. It took me a long time to come to terms with this for myself and to be willing to take the risks necessary to pursue a career as a writer. Unfortunately, my father died when I was a teenager, so he never lived to see me publish anything. But he was one of the most generous people I have ever known. I know he would have been very proud of me.

Q: What was your first job as a teen?

I braided manes and tails for horse shows. I was never as good as Lynn Moscrop or Lisa Polaire though, so they made a lot more money than I did. I soon moved on to my second job which was horse back riding instructor for blind and deaf children.

Q: If you could have any superpower, what would it be and what would you do with it?

I know I should say I’d like the power to create world peace, but the truth is what I’d really like is to be a fly on the wall . . . . only I hate flies. So how about if I could borrow Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak. I am incredibly, amazingly, astoundingly nosy. I love to listen in on conversations I’m not supposed to hear. I love to know people’s secrets and to see how people act when they don’t think they’re being observed.

© 2005- Gennifer Choldenko. All rights reserved. If you would like to reuse or reprint anything on this website, please ask the author's permission.