Bestselling author David Baldacci released his newest book in his Vega Jane series called: "The Width of the World". For those of you familiar with Miss Jane and her journeys, you know she's been through a lot and can handle it. With themes of enslavement and savagery, his next fictional story brings her out of the frying pan and into the fire. Vega Jane is a leader, a friend, a strategist and ...a teenager? Although the path that she shares with her dog and some reliable friends, takes her through challenges that you and I couldn't even imagine, we're lucky that David Baldacci's imagination can.
David sat down with us on Great Day Washington and talked about this book from the perspective of the author.
Q: David, you are a best selling author for adults and teens. Adults are hard enough to figure out, but since your books do well with teens, are you one of the few adults that actually understands teens?
David: (LAUGHS) I don't think I'd ever make that claim. I just try to write a good story. I don't "write down" to kids. I bring my a game for this. The plot, characters, narrative, twist and turns, it's stuff you find in my adult books. Kids are way too smart.
Q: Vega feels like the whole world has lied to her in this series. That also seems like a common theme with teens in the real world. Do you think that resonates with them?
David: Her (Vega) past was a fabrication. She doesn't really know what the truth is. So she set on this Journey from the first book, "The Finisher" to "The Keeper" now "The Width of the World" trying to find out, who she really is. And what the truth is about where she came from and her past. I think she needs to know that if she's going to move on in the future...if she has one. Obviously there's a lot of danger in this book.
That's a pretty universal theme. I've got two kids They go through growing pains. I sort of remember what it was like being a teenager. And it's tough, there are a lot of challenges.
Q: She (Vega) is a teenager. You put a lot of weight on her shoulders. She's got her dog and some friends, but she comes out as a strong woman. Do you have a lot of those in your life?
David: Yes. My mother was very incredibly strong. I wrestled in college. I couldn't beat my mother in arm wrestling until I was 16. That's how strong she was. She was from the mountains of West Virginia. I'm only telling you that, Chris. Don't tell anybody else. My wife is a very strong and independent woman. My sister is strong. I raised a daughter the same. I don't write about damsels in distress. I don't know any of them. I know strong independent women and that's who I write about.
Q: You have an interesting beginning. You had to use a pseudonym when you started out writing?
David: I did this for the Vega Jane series. I didn't want publishers to buy the book just because my name was on it and they could sell a million copies. So I used the name Janis Pope. Janis is the Roman two faced God and Pope is just that catholic thing. So when I sent it to publishers, they thought I was a brand new writer. They evaluated the book, just on the book. When scholastic bought it, they thought I was a brit because the way the book was written it was like someone from England wrote it. So when I went to New York to meet them, They said: "why are you here?" I said, you just bought my book "The Finisher" and they all fainted (laugh). That was actually a lot of fun to do it that way. It validated me. They're a great publisher. They published an amazing array of children's books. I knew if they bought the book, thinking it was a new writer, they believed in the story.
Q: What's happening with Vega Jane in this book?
David: She's left the Quag. Now she's in a town called True, which is nothing but. It has nothing to do with the truth. Its a modern place where they have cars and people in clothing that we would recognize but she comes from a very primitive village. Sort of an alternate universe. They're not used to this at all. They have to try to fit in. This is where they're going to meet the evil force that they're going to have to take head on in this book and the next book: "The Maladons" Maladon is a strange language that means painful death. That's what these people are all about. They have to survive until they gain the experience and knowledge they need to go toe to toe with these people because right now, they are totally overmatched. This force they're confronted against is far too powerful that they are, so they just have to survive this book in order to be able to confront them on a level playing field.
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