Another YA author with fine, fine musical taste, Paul Acampora is the author of Defining Dulcie. Read this interview, then read his fine, fine book.
Books Currently Reading:
Freaks: Alive on the Inside by Annette Curtis Klause
The other end of the leash: why we do what we do around dogs by Patricia B McConnell
CDs Currently in Rotation:
Lucinda Williams: Essence
Kinks: Greatest Hits
Richard & Linda Thompson: Shoot out the Lights
Victoria Williams: Loose
Billy Bragg & Wilco: Mermaid Avenue
Last Movie Viewed:
The Black Stallion Returns
I loved the Black Stallion books when I was a kid. I think I read every book Walter Farley ever wrote. My eleven year-old son discovered the books and the movies (which I didn’t even know about) recently. I’m having a good time walking down this path again.
Literary Crush (real or fictional):
(definitely fictional) Kate DiCamillo.
I find her work as frightening as it is beautiful. She gives her whole heart to every word. It’s like watching a great actress completely throw herself into the role of Lady Macbeth. I always wonder if she can be sane again when the show is over.
Pet Peeve:
Rudeness.
Current Obsessions:
Carnivals, carousels and amusement parks:
I grew up a couple miles away from Lake Compounce, the oldest amusement park in America. It was a run down dirty old park back then but always such a fascinating and fun and frightening place. I’m told it’s a much cleaner, more family friendly destination these days. That’s probably for the better. Unless you want to grow up to tell stories about it.
Dogs:
We recently adopted a two year old Golden Retriever. He is doing a really nice job of training us.
This photoblog:
A Walk through Durham Township, Pennsylvania.
The photos here so often completely capture a sense of place. Plus they really have a sort of voice. I love writing that really gets those two things - voice and a sense of place – just right. Seeing it happen in a completely different medium is remarkable.
Guilty Pleasure:
A kids tv show called "Jakers: The Adventures of Piggly Winks" which I watch with my kids and then we walk around speaking with bad Irish brogues for several hours. Also, it has Mel Brooks doing the voice of a sheep. It cracks me up.
In a separate guilty pleasure: I dog ear books. I write in them too.
Irrational Fear:
Those rabbits with red eyes.
Favorite word:
Naugahyde.
Again from my growing up years when my parents would take us to the Naugatuck Mall for pizza and an ice cream cone on a Friday night. For some reason, I thought they said Naugahyde not Naugatuck. I could never figure out why they named the place after a kind of plastic leather. Many Friday nights, I strolled the Naugahyde Mall -- hand in hand with my sister and parents -- looking for the Naugahyde Store. Never found it. Even when I have to sit on it today, I still associate the word with good things though.
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