Get to know... Colin Frizzell!

Over the course of the winter 2010 edition of S.W.A.T., we're posting brief interviews with each of our participating Writers-in-Residence. We want to give all of you a chance to get to know the amazing people who work so hard to make the S.W.A.T. program a success!
 
Today we present the sixth of our twelve writer interviews — with the clever Colin Frizzell!
 
Colin is the author of the Orca Soundings novel Chill (2006); and the Young Adult novel, Just J (2007). The Ontario Library Association named Just J as a Best Bet for 2007 and in the Canadian Children’s Book Centre highlighted it in their Best Books for Kids & Teens 2008 magazine. Chill is currently being taught at Father John Redmond Secondary School in Toronto. Colin Frizzell is the S.W.A.T. Writer-in-Residence for James Cardinal McGuigan. 
 
Our Q & A with Colin Frizzell… after the jump!

NOW HEAR THIS!: What inspired you to become a writer?

Colin Frizzell: I’ve always wanted to be writer I think. I got lost along the way but the desire never left me so I gave in to it.


NHT!: What was your favourite book when you were 15?

CF: The Haunting by Judith St. George


NHT!: What recently published book do you wish you could have read when you were 15?

CF: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon


NHT!: What book(s) are you reading right now?

CF: A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving, Self-Abandonment to Divine Providence by Fr. J.P. de Caussade


NHT!: What are you writing right now?

CF: A new teen novel.


NHT!: Where is your favourite place to write?

CF: My office.


NHT!: Do you do a lot of research when you’re writing fiction or poetry?

CF: It depends on the project.


NHT!: Do you write with an audience in mind or just for yourself?

CF: With an audience in mind.


NHT!: What was the first thing you published and (if you don’t mind us asking) how old were you?

CF: In college I had a poem published in a small alternative magazine called Scream. I think it only ever had one issue.


NHT!: What’s the best advice you received as a young writer?

CF: To try writing books rather than screenplays.

 
NHT!: What advice do you have for young writers who are trying to get published?

CF: Keep trying.

Look out for our next writer interview with Nic Labriola: it will be posted to the NOW HEAR THIS! blog on Friday, April 2!