Linda Sue Park

Linda Sue Park
Linda Sue Parkis an American author of teen fiction. Park published her first novel, Seesaw Girl, in 1999. She has written six children’s novels and five picture books. Park's work achieved prominence when she received the prestigious 2002 Newbery Medal for her novel A Single Shard. She has written the ninth book in the 39 Clues series, Storm Warning, published on May 25, 2010...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionAuthor
Date of Birth25 March 1961
CountryUnited States of America
books easy finish great instead pages
When I'm writing, I try not to think things like, 'Gosh, I have to finish writing this book.' Books are very long and it's easy to get discouraged. Instead I think to myself, 'Wow, I have this great story idea, and today I'm going to write two pages of it. That's all - just two pages.'
across best books came considered country fact finest korean liked pottery references several tiny
When I was reading books for 'Seesaw Girl,' I came across several references to the fact that in the 11th and 12th centuries, Korean pottery was considered the finest in the world. I liked that - the idea of a little tiny country being the best at something.
book thinking want
I want all my books to provoke some kind of response in the reader, to make them think something or feel something or both, and for that to become a part of them and work into their own lives.
war book writing
With a book called 'Keeping Score,' I really did want to write a book about the Korean War, because I felt that it is the least understood war in the American cultural imagination. So I set out with the idea that Americans didn't know much about the Korean War and that I was going to try to fix a tiny bit of that.
book writing long
All my books take a long time to research. I spend several months researching before I start writing, and in the middle of writing I often have to stop and look up stuff. At my local library, I am one of the best customers! The research takes several months.
girl book taken
Each of my books has taken me a different length of time to write - eight months for 'Seesaw Girl,' eight months for 'Shard,' three years for 'When My Name Was Keoko!' The publisher takes another year and a half to work on the book, so altogether each book can take up to three or four years to publish.
book years library
God bless Interlibrary Loan. I pay a lot of library fines. In the case of 'A Single Shard,' I was using books that hadn't been checked out in 30 years, so I didn't feel too bad.
book reading son
My son and I discovered Terry Pratchett's books together, when he was about eleven years old. He'd be reading on his own and would start to laugh, and then eagerly read the passage aloud to me--and I'd do the same to him! Pratchett's books became a shared source of delight for us back then, and they still are today.
fear trying
If you're trying to write about very strong horror, very strong fear or very strong emotion, it's easy to overwrite it.
active family
I enjoy my family a lot. I have active teenagers, and they're in soccer and choral events.
became main mom reader reading reason stories wrote
I've been writing for as long as I can remember, and reading even before that. My mom still has stories that I wrote when I was in kindergarten. I was a reader and a re-reader. That's the main reason I became a writer.
became chance charming degrees dublin gave high irishman london lots moved near reading received stanford university
After high school, I went to Stanford University and majored in English. Of course, that gave me a chance to do lots more reading and writing. I also received degrees in London and Dublin - where I moved to be near a charming Irishman who became my husband!
writing thinking giving
I can give advice to anyone interested in writing in one word: Read! I think it's much more important to be a reader than to be a writer!
jobs thinking issues
I do think that part of literature's job is to comment on and participate in the social issues of the time.