David Lubar was born and raised right here in New Jersey, in Morristown to be exact. He was a reader right from the start with several libraries in walking distance from his childhood home. His mother was a school librarian too, so you can only imagine the amount of books he read. Books surrounded him and even when he moved throughout New Jersey he still enjoyed traveling to libraries. And to this day he enjoys visiting local libraries and book stores, where ever he goes.

A true Renaissance man, Mr. Lubar graduated from Rutgers University with a degree in Philosophy, and played guitar in a blue grass band. He tried writing when he graduated but found it difficult to have his work published. He found a job as an editor with Creative Computing Magazine, and within two years he was offered a job in California to design and program video games. It was during this time he met some of the pioneers for video game community.

He worked for many years developing games, including Home Alone for the GameBoy, and Fantastic Voyage and River Raid II for the Atari 2600. He worked as a translator (a person who takes a game from one system and makes a new version to work on another system) for a version of Carmen Sandiego , two versions of Shanghai , and two versions of Ultima . In 1998-1999 he designed and programmed Frogger 2 for the GameBoy, and he programmed the GameBoy versions of Frogger and Super Breakout .

However, during this time Mr. Lubar continued to write and in 1995 he published six books. Though he enjoyed his time as a game designer, his true passion has always been books. He enjoys writing humorous, scary and books that might be considered a little strange. He has written for magazines and has a humor column in VOYA, a magazine dedicated to YA books. He has several story collections as well and hopes to one day write a movie or cartoon series.

He has spoken all over the country and says “The most important thing I can say about writing is that I really enjoy it. I get to create whole worlds, and those worlds can be as weird or strange or magical as I want.” He encourages everyone to follow their dreams and to work hard to achieve their goals. Though he has accomplished a great deal throughout his life, he still enjoys staying home with his family, playing with his cats, and of course writing books.

Questions and Answers

Q. How many books have you written?

A. Written or sold? I've written dozens. My closet and hard drive bulge with manuscripts. On the other hand, I've published about twenty. Writing is like anything else -- the more you practice, the better you get. The first five or six novels I wrote might never get published, but that doesn't mean I wasted my time. The more I write, the better I get.

Q. Where do you work?

A. I have an office in my house. Working at home can be tough, because it's easy to goof off or go raid the refrigerator. (I do that so much, the 'fridge trembles when it sees me coming.) My office is a little messy at the moment. It will be messy later on, too.

Q. Do you use a computer?

A. I write on a computer. After I finish my first draft, I print out a copy so I can mark changes on it by hand. Editing on paper feels different from editing on a computer, so I like to do both. I put the changes into the computer file, and then keep revising until I'm happy with the whole book. By the time I'm finished, I will probably have gone over the whole book at least eight or ten times. I don't mind -- revision is my favorite part of writing.

Q. What's the first thing you ever sold?

A. I sold a joke to a place that buys jokes and then sells them to comedians. I made 75 cents. I still have the check. I keep it in my bathroom. After that, I sold some magazine articles, and then started selling short stories.

Q. How much money do you make?

A. People never ask their doctor or their neighborhood cop this question, but writers are asked this all the time. But since you asked, I'll reveal everything. Writers get paid a royalty. This is a percentage of the price of the book. For paperbacks, a typical royalty is 6 or 8 percent of the cover price. For hardcover’s, it's ten percent. So every time you buy one of my paperback books, I earn about enough to buy a postage stamp. (If you buy the book from a book club or book fair, I earn less, so I have to settle for a post card.) The more copies a book sells, the more I make. Some of this is paid ahead of time. That's called an advance. I earn extra money if a foreign publisher buys the rights to print the book in another language. I'll earn a lot of money as soon as a major studio realizes what a great movie one of my books would make.

Q. Do you do your own art work?

A. I wish I could, but I have no talent in that area.

Q. So who does your book covers?

A. My publisher picks the cover artists. I've had great luck so far, including covers by Greg Swearingen, Bill Mayer (who does those awesome Weenies), Glin Dibley, and Chris Sheban, as well as a story illustrated by the amazing Tony DiTerlizzi. A guy couldn't ask for better artists.

Q. How long does it take you to write a book?

A. That varies a lot. A first draft usually takes a month or two. But I do a lot of revising. I once wrote most of a book in four days. I'd gotten the idea for the Accidental Monsters series a week or two before Thanksgiving. I was working at the time, so I decided to wait for the four-day holiday before getting started. While I waited, I began thinking about the first book, The Vanishing Vampire. I began to write the opening paragraph in my head, and I let the whole concept of the book bubble and perk in my brain until Thanksgiving. Then I sat down, and it all started pouring out. I wrote 5,000 words (about a quarter of the book) the first day, and had the book nearly finished by Sunday. But I spent weeks revising and polishing it. On the other hand, I have some books I've dabbled with over a period of years.

Q. What's your favorite book?

A. I have to put Katherine Paterson's classic, A Bridge to Terabithia , at the top of the list. I've read it over and over. There are too many wonderful books to list, but among my favorites, I'd have to include Ender's Game, Matilda , A Summer to Die , Dragonwings , Jennifer Murdley's Toad , The Boy on the Black Horse , Cannery Row , To Kill a Mockingbird, and Bunnicula . I also really like short story collections. Chris Crutcher's Athletic Shorts is great. The movie Angus is based on one of the stories in that book. And I love funny picture books like Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. As a kid, I loved the Freddy the Pig series by Walter Brooks. Freddy wrote poems and solved mysteries. Not bad for a piece of walking bacon.

Q. Who are your favorite authors?

A. Again, a long list, presented in random order. Katherine Paterson, Robert McCammon, Orson Scott Card, Roald Dahl, John Steinbeck, Robert Parker, Donald Westlake, Stephen King, Nancy Springer, Bruce Coville, Lois Lowry, C. S. Lewis, Calvin Trillin, and many, many others.

Q. Did you always want to be a writer?

A. When I was a kid, I wanted to be a comedy writer. I got that idea from watching the Dick Van Dyke show. I thought he had the coolest job in the world. Then I wanted to be a stand-up comic. I probably got that idea from television, too. Recently, I've sort of had a chance to do comedy since writers get asked to give a lot of talks. I try to make my talks fun. I figure there are already enough people out there sharing serious information. Besides watching a lot of television, I played a lot of pinball. Naturally, I wanted to be a pinball machine designer. I never got to design any pinball machines, but I did get to write a pinball game for the Atari 2600.

Q. Do you have any hobbies?

A. Some people call reading a hobby. I think of it more as an essential part of life, like eating or breathing. But I definitely spend a lot of time reading. Other than that, my hobbies keep changing. I'll get interested in something for a couple years; get totally absorbed and fanatic about it, and then move on to something else. (Though some interests have stayed with me through the years, such as playing the guitar.) When I was a kid, I was into magic. Then I got involved in martial arts. I earned a black belt in Isshin Ryu karate (an Okinawan style) when I was 18, but dropped out a couple years later. I wish I'd stuck with it. I've also been absorbed by fishing, brewing, pool playing, and programming. That last hobby turned into a career. You never know where your interests will lead you.

Q. Why do you write scary books?

A. I loved monsters when I was a kid. I watched horror movies and read monster magazines such as Famous Monsters of Filmland and Monster World. I also read spooky comics book like Creepy. I guess they made an impression on me. But I don't just write scary stories. I also write funny stuff. I think both types of books let you use your imagination. My scariest story, "Collared," and my funniest, "At the Wrist," happen to be in the same collection ( In the Land of the Lawn Weenies and Other Misadventures ). But horror is really only a small part of what I write. My books range from fantasy to real life.

Q. Do you get to pick your own titles?

A. For the most part. But sometimes things get changed. I'd originally called my Scholastic series Momentary Monsters and called the first book The Accidental Vampire . The other three books were called The Unwilling Witch, The World's Smartest Werewolf, and Ghost Rory . They changed everything except for The Unwilling Witch . I liked my titles better, but that's natural. Some of you may know that Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone was originally published in England as Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone . "Philosopher's stone" is the actual term for the item in the book, but I guess the publisher felt it wasn't exciting enough.

Q. Do you know any famous writers?

A. I've met many writers. Some are good friends. Others might think, "This guy looks familiar," but not really know where we've met before. I know most of the writers on my links page. I also know some excellent artists. When I was designing video games, I worked with Marshall Rogers. He's one of the comic artists who drew Batman. I also worked with Glen Schofield. He later did artwork for Gex 2 and lots of other games, and I believe he recently produced the second Lord of the Rings game for Electronic Arts. I'm sure some of the kids I meet at schools will go on to do amazing things and become very famous.

Sample of Books by David Lubar

Lubar, David. "Personal Information." David Lubar . David Lubar, Mar 2010. Web. 19 Jan 2012. .

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