Why did you choose to end the series at book 12?
I wanted Everworld to end with people still wanting more. Not everything in life has to be dragged out to the bitter end and kept going long after it has ceased to entertain - like Cher's singing career. With Everworld readers, to paraphrase the Rolling Stones, I felt I should walk before they made me run. Maybe Everworld could have gone another two or three books, but I felt I should have ended Animorphs about ten books earlier than I did. It's hard to judge these things.
What was your motivation for focusing on the very sensitive topic of missing children?
Say what? I didn't focus on the topic of missing children. Everworld had nothing to do with missing children. The characters were all at least 16 - not exactly children -- and were never missing in any real sense of the word. I would be very distressed if I believed anyone thought Everworld was a commentary on that problem.
What do you think kids can do to help find missing children?
This is not a topic I know anything about, so I kind of think I should keep my mouth shut and let experts address this.
Do you think there is an Everworld? If so, in what ways is it similar or different that what you described in the books?
I certainly hope there's no real Everworld or I'll be in some kind of trouble over copyrights. Seriously, no, I don't have any reason to suspect the exitstence of an actual Everworld. And as a rule if I don't have evidence that something wildly outside of observed reality exists, I assume it does not. I remain openminded, of course, and of course I love fantasizing about alternate constructions of reality. Doesn't mean they're real, but they can be fun.
Senna died in book #11, was this foreshadowing that the kids would be stuck in Everworld?
Well, stuck is kind of relative, isn't it? Stuck for how long? There's short-term stuck, like when you're stuck at a red light. There's long-term stuck, like when you're on a plane waiting to land at O'Hare. And then there's eternally stuck, like when you're waiting for telephone tech support for your computer. I hope the Everworld kids won't be as stuck as long as that.
Is there any hope that they can get out...another gateway?
I've written from the start that Everworld is a construct, and that anything that's built can be analyzed and understood. No trap is ever perfect. Jalil is working on the matter right now.
Although the series is officially over, what other adventures and challenges do you see Jalil, David, April, Christopher going through?
I think if I had continued the series I'd have wanted to explore less familiar mythologies. I had a chance to play with Norse, Aztec, Greek, Roman, Irish, Egyptian and some African myths, but there was a lot more materiel out there. I'd have liked to take the kids to pre-Columbian North America and have some fun with Native American myths and stories.
Did you model any of the characters after yourself, anyone?
I suppose part of the writer is always present in just about any character. I mean, obviously I'd have to have an idea present in my mind before I could implant it in a character. But no, not as a conscious thing, I don't usually model characters on anyone. And even when I've started out thinking I would, the character inevitably grows away from the model.
In Animorphs, you kept the kids home town a secret, but in Everworld you came right out that the kids are from the Chicago area, why did you do that?
It's easier. Working with a real place as your model makes it so much easier to control the geography. You don't have to wonder what would be on a street corner, you know: a gas station, a Kinko's and a bagel place, or whatever. Besides, there was a reason for concealing the home town in Animorphs and no such reason in Everworld.
Have you always been interested in mythology? Was there anything in your research that shocked you?
I'm interested in the imaginative efforts people make to fill in the blanks in their own knowledge. Rather than simply admit they have no real idea why the sun rises and sets, they'll come up with a fabulous story about some god driving a golden chariot across the sky. You picture a couple of ancient Greek farmers standing out in a field somewhere and one saying, "What's the deal with this cold weather, anyway?" The other guy says, "Cold weather? Well, I'll tell you why it's cold. See, long ago, there was this goddess . . ." Did any of it shock me? Only that people take it so seriously. Some ancient writer cooks up a great story and a few years later people are sacrificing virgins, torturing heretics or starting wars over it.
