5 Minutes With Amelia Atwater-Rhodes

Amelia Atwater-Rhodes had her debut with In the Forest of the Night at the age of thirteen, and she's been spinning webs of dark urban fantasy ever since. This summer, Random House re-releases her first four novels- the Den of Shadows collection. And her latest novel, Persistence of Memory launches in December, 2008.

I recently got to spend 5 minutes with her- let's see if I managed to avoid asking about her status as an official prodigy!


Congratulations! You've recently graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in English and Psychology, an impressive accomplishment! As you start on the path to your career as a high school English teacher, do you think you'll bring a unique perspective to your students as a novelist, or will those two worlds be completely separate for you?

As I have mentioned in quite a few cover letters so far, I consider my career as a writer, and more importantly my interactions with my readers, to be one of my biggest strengths as a teacher.

Through letters, emails, school and library visits, and especially my message board, I have been given a very unique perspective of learners and readers. I often speak to individuals who hated to read before a teacher or librarian handed them that right book, or have young writers tell me, "You inspired me."

I also see the more difficult side of these reader's and writer's lives. I see the struggles they go through, which may affect their academic success without anyone ever seeing anything other than a "lazy" or "unmotivated" student. I hear directly from them about their favorite teachers, and about what makes them feel so frustrated they want to tear their hair out.

My readers are, in short, my primary motivation to teach. They inspire me.

You've said before that you have strong feelings about literacy education- what do you think is the most important literacy issue facing teachers and students today?

I think the greatest issue is probably the same as it always has been: timeand money. Reading and writing are not simple, easy things to teach. There is no way to really teach someone to write through a 50-minute lecture and a multiple-choice test, but assigning and grading essays takes time. Teaching peer-editing skills (and self-editing skills) requires more time, often one-on-one detailed time. Even the most dedicated of teachers are often held back by the limitations of school resources-and of student resources.

Kids who don't learn to read or write don't do so because they're stupid or lazy. They don't learn to read when, for whatever reason, the opportunity is not given to them, or not given in a way that is realistic to their situation. This is a failing of school and community, which itself often boils down to the same problems: time, money, teacher availability.

As an animal lover, you've owned a variety of pets, ordinary and exotic, and Nyeusigrube is populated by a wide range of shapeshifters. My question for you: is there any breed inherently too silly to write about as a shapeshifter?

Too silly? I never thought of it that way. I've always found lemurs to be somewhat intrinsically amusing. Also llamas. I think I would have a hard time writing about were-dachshunds, too.

You always listen to music when you're writing- but do you choose music that you know well, so it blocks out the world, or do you choose music that moves you to sometimes sing along? And what's on your current playlist?

I tend to do a combination of the two: I prefer to write to music I know well, which is often the same music I will put on in the car and sing along to. Oddly, I find music with lyrics fades better into the background while I'm writing than instrumental pieces.

My current playlist contains Dar Williams, for the fantasy novel I'm working on, and is otherwise empty. I have a new story I'm working with, and might go with H.I.M.'s "Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights" album (which was the same music I used for Falcondance), but I don't have a good enough feel for the character yet to know for sure.

Finally, the most important question- which is harder, directing Aristophanes or writing a novel?

Directing, absolutely. I may struggle mightily to control my characters at times, and sometimes writer's block sets in, but at least I only need to juggle my own life while doing so. Directing busy college students, many on the cusp of graduation and very few drama majors, is a little like herding cats into a glass of water using only a wet noodle. No matter how willing and motivated and inspired and talented they are, they all have their own lives, which must be taken into account.