Curious about author Jessica Day George's cake-pan collection, or the first car she's ever driven? Then read on, as the PRINCESS OF GLASS author shares ten random facts about herself, where she covers everything from the number of books she's read this year and the unusual trait she shares with her older sister, to her childhood ambitions and favorite reads.
1. Since Christmas of 1999, I’ve recorded the title and author of every book I’ve read in a diary. I number them and each year I try to beat the year before. My “high score” was in 2006, when I read 152 books. So far this year I’ve read 70.
2. My only sister is eight years older, and we look nothing alike, but our voices are identical. On the phone, even our own mother can’t tell us apart, and when she was in college, my sister would have me answer the phone and talk to her friends (even her boyfriend), if she was too busy to answer.
3. Until I was in fifth grade, I thought I had to be a teacher when I grew up (I don’t know why), but I didn’t want to --- because my fourth and fifth grade teachers were both very mean. At the end of fifth grade, my family pointed out that I could be a librarian or a writer instead, since I loved books so much.
4. I’ve applied for several librarian jobs, but no one ever wants to hire me!
5. I’m obsessed with cake, and I collect the Wilton character-shaped pans. I’ve made Wall-e cakes, Lightning McQueen, Boba Fett, R2-D2, castles. . . I just bought a pirate ship! Anyone having a pirate-themed birthday party?
6. I’m in my thirties and have two kids, yet whenever I travel by myself my parents make me call twice a day to “check in.”
7. The word “dragon” appears in every one of my books.
8. Despite having a long list of favorite dragon books and collecting dragons since I was a little kid, DRAGON SLIPPERS was the first book I’d even thought of writing with a dragon in it. It was my seventh novel.
9. In high school, my drivers’ ed teacher thought I was a foreign exchange student. When I finally explained that I was American, he asked why I had a British accent. (My family is still trying to figure that one out.)
10. The first car I ever drove was a black extended cab pickup truck. It was so tall that I had to put one hand on the seat, the other on the steering wheel, and vault into the cab. On several occasions I caught guys in parking lots fondling my truck and talking lovingly to it.
Ten Books Jessica Recommends
1. BEAUTY by Robin McKinley
2. THE WOMAN IN THE WALL by Patric Kindl
3. TEN CENTS A DANCE by Christine Fletcher
4. ELLA MINNOW PEA by Mark Dunn
5. GETTING THE GIRL by Markus Zusak
6. TAM LIN by Pamela Dean
7. TO SAY NOTHING OF THE DOG by Connie Willis
8. I CAPTURE THE CASTLE by Dodie Smith
9. THE POWER OF ONE by Bryce Courtenay
10. DEEP SECRET by Diana Wynne Jones
-- Jessica Day George
