Dan Poblocki Author Interview

Photo Credit: Nic DeStefano

Dan Poblocki is an American author of mystery and horror novels for young people. He was born in Providence, Rhode Island. During his pre-teen years, his family moved to Basking Ridge, New Jersey. Dan currently lives in Brooklyn, NY with two scaredy cats.

Dan graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in theater. Subsequently, he toured the United States playing ultra-challenging roles such as Ichabod Crane in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and the Shoemaker in The Shoemaker and the Elves to packed houses filled with literally thousands of screaming children. (He hopes they weren’t screaming in fear.)

Dan ended his promising acting career to focus on other endeavors. While exploring various artistic options, he held a number of jobs in New York City including: a floral groomer, an audience-wrangler for a popular game show, a computer analyst, a chemotherapy-unit assistant, and a traveling bathing suit sales-dude.

That’s right. A traveling bathing suit sales-dude.

Dan now writes full time. He's probably working on something new this very minute!

        

Age Range: 8 - 12 years
Grade Level: 3 - 7
Series: Shadow House (Book 2)
Hardcover: 224 pages
Publisher: Scholastic (December 27, 2016)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0545925517
ISBN-13: 978-0545925518

Praise for YOU CAN'T HIDE

"Shadow House has everything I love—strange characters, magic and the supernatural, endless danger and adventure—and a mystery I dare any reader to try to solve". ―R.L. Stine, author of Goosebumps

Who or what has influenced your writing, and in what way? 

I’ve worked with some really wonderful editors recently who have made me see the value of not using very many or actually really any superfluous or extraneous words. () Keep sentences short!

How would you describe yourself in three words? 

Affable. Nefarious. Wacky.

Did you learn anything from writing YOU CAN'T HIDE and what was it? 

I learned how difficult writing book 2 in a thriller trilogy can be. You’ve got to answer some questions, raise more questions and ratchet up suspense. All while knowing exactly how things will end in book 3, yet not being able to actually tie anything up.

For those who are unfamiliar with the character of Dylan, how would you introduce him? 

I won’t spoil anything from book 1, but I can say that Dylan is a young actor who believes that he’s filming a horror movie with his twin brother Dash. Both boys are keeping devastating secrets from each other. Dylan has been through some things in the past that have made him quick to anger and easy to manipulate.

What part of the characters of Poppy and Marcus did you enjoy writing the most? 

Both Marcus and Poppy change significantly from book 1 to book 2, as the house bears down on them both psychologically and physically. I loved building their arcs. Poppy starts to gain confidence and starts to realize that she’s a leader. Marcus focuses on efforts to make up for mistakes he keeps making, resulting in some very big consequences.

If you could introduce one of your characters to any character from another book, who would it be and why? 

I’d love to introduce Cyrus Caldwell to some of the villains from my other books. Maybe Johnson Harwood from The Nightmarys. Or the ghost of the Nazi spy in House on Stone’s Throw Island. I think it would be fun seeing them try to out-villain one another.

Which character have you enjoyed getting to know while writing YOU CAN'T HIDE? 

Dash Wright (Dylan’s twin brother.) I love his emotional journey. It’s one of high highs and very low lows.

You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your readers. What would it be? 

Finish what you start.

Who was your first girlfriend? 

Minnie Mouse.

When was the last time you wrote a letter to someone on paper? 

I can’t remember. This makes me sad!

Where did you go on your first airplane ride? 

I think it was Disney World. (Where I met Minnie Mouse, of course.)

What is your biggest fear? 

Simple: Sharks!

What decade during the last century would you have chosen to be a teenager? 

Strangely, it’s the one in which I was actually a teenager: the 1990s. I feel like it was the safest one for the type of young person that I was. It feels like a more innocent time. None of us had any idea what was about to hit us after the millennium.

What is your greatest adventure? 

I recently moved away from New York City after being in the area for almost all of my life. I’m expecting this new period to be a great adventure. Otherwise... when I hiked over mountains on the Freycinet Peninsula in Tasmania to stare out at the Southern Ocean toward Antarctica. That will probably stick with me as one of the most incredible days of my life.

Where can readers find you? 

I have a Facebook author page (@danpoblockibooks), a twitter account (@danpoblocki), or you can find me writing at a number of cozy cafes in New York’s Hudson Valley.

TEN DREAMS VACATION STOPS (NO ORDER

• Meteor Crater – Flagstaff, AZ
• Freycinet Peninsula – Tasmania, Australia
• Table Mountain – Cape Town, South Africa
• Ram’s Head – St. John, USVI
• Charles Bridge – Prague, Czech Republic
• Neuschwanstein Castle – Hohenschwangau, Germany
• The Haunted Mansion – Disney World, FL
• Highgate Cemetery – London, UK
• White Mountains – New Hampshire
• The Pyramids of Central and South America

Shadow House will find you . . .

Poppy, Marcus, Dash, Dylan, and Azumi are all trapped within Shadow House, a sinister estate where past and present intertwine. As they fight to find a way out, the kids think the ghosts of the house are the greatest danger they face. Little do the kids know it's the secrets they're each hiding that will prove even more lethal.

They're going to have to come face to face with their fears if they stand any hope of escaping the house alive. Is there anyone or anything in the house they can trust? Or is all hope disappearing, too. . .

Enter Shadow House . . . if you dare.

BONUS: Step inside Shadow House with the free app for your tablet or phone! Each image in the book reveals a haunting in the app, where the choices you make determine your fate.

You can purchase You Can't Hide at the following Retailers:

        

And now, The Giveaways.

Thank you DAN POBLOCKI for making this giveaway possible.

7 Winners will receive a Copy of You Can't Hide (Shadow House #2) by Dan Poblocki.

WEEK ONE

MARCH 6th MONDAY The Avid Book Collector EXCERPT

MARCH 7th TUESDAY JeanBookNerd INTERVIEW

MARCH 8th WEDNESDAY Sabrina's Paranormal Palace REVIEW & FAVORITE BOOKS 

MARCH 8th WEDNESDAY Books, Dreams, Life RANDOM THINGS

MARCH 9th THURSDAY Allison's Nook REVIEW 

MARCH 9th THURSDAY Bittersweet Enchantment TENS LIST 

MARCH 10th FRIDAY CBY Book Club EXCERPT 

WEEK TWO

MARCH 11th SATURDAY The O.W.L. REVIEW & TENS LIST 

MARCH 12th SUNDAY Reading for the Stars and Moon EXCERPT 

MARCH 12th SUNDAY TTC Books and More SPOTLIGHT 

MARCH 12th SUNDAY Rose's Book Corner SPOTLIGHT 

MARCH 13th MONDAY Captivated Reading MUSIC PLAYLIST 

MARCH 14th TUESDAY A Dream Within A Dream REVIEW & DREAM CAST 

MARCH 15th WEDNESDAY Book Lovers Life EXCERPT 

MARCH 15th WEDNESDAY Insane About Books RANDOM THINGS

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Dan Poblocki Author Interview

Photo Content from Dan Poblocki 

Dan Poblocki is an American author of mystery and horror novels for young people. He was born in Providence, Rhode Island. During his pre-teen years, his family moved to Basking Ridge, New Jersey. Dan currently lives in Brooklyn, NY with two scaredy cats. 

Dan graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in theater. Subsequently, he toured the United States playing ultra-challenging roles such as Ichabod Crane in The Legend of Sleepy Hollow and the Shoemaker in The Shoemaker and the Elves to packed houses filled with literally thousands of screaming children. (He hopes they weren’t screaming in fear.)

Dan ended his promising acting career to focus on other endeavors. While exploring various artistic options, he held a number of jobs in New York City including: a floral groomer, an audience-wrangler for a popular game show, a computer analyst, a chemotherapy-unit assistant, and a traveling bathing suit sales-dude. 

That’s right. A traveling bathing suit sales-dude.

Dan now writes full time. He's probably working on something new this very minute!

        

Was there a defining moment during your youth when you realized you wanted to be a writer?
I always tell the tale that my friends and I would gather in my neighborhood after school to share ghost stories, trying to see who could freak everyone out the most. I loved the reactions I would get from my friends, and I think that was probably the spark that led me to eventually putting words down on paper.

It took years and years for me to show my writing to anyone after that. I never thought I was any good. But when I moved to New York City in 1999, I was lucky enough to meet a group of like-minded people who were kind enough to offer helpful criticism. With their advice, and a lot more work on my own, I finally felt comfortable submitting a manuscript to a publisher.

Why is storytelling so important for all of us?
For me, both writing and reading are an escape from the stresses of reality—living and working in NYC comes with plenty of stresses.

I love finding a world in a book in which I can submerge myself for a week or two. In my own work, creating those worlds is even more satisfying.

Better than helping us escape, stories also make us think. Recently, I’ve felt that actual, real thinking is a valuable commodity. What better way to replenish brain cells than by sharing thoughts, sharing stories, of all sorts, with one another?

What is the best piece of advice you ever received from another author?
Rachel Cohn—co-author of Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist, author of the Gingerbread books and most recently the sci-fi novel, Beta—once told me that distractions come from all directions and that as a writer, we need to keep our “blinders” on.

Blinders. You know the kind that people put on horses at the sides of their eyes so they can focus on the road ahead? Like that.

Over the years, whever I was feeling down on my writing—either from self-doubt or external influences—I always remembered her words. “Put on your blinders.” It’s really kept me moving forward. I’m not sure I would have ever finished a manuscript if Rachel hadn’t shared this advice. So thanks, Rachel!

In your new book; The Ghost of Graylock, can you tell my Book Nerd community a little about it?
The Ghost of Graylock is a middle-grade, family drama wrapped up inside a tale of madness, murder, and messages from the “beyond.” A group of kids explore an abandoned hospital in their town, and after escaping a particularly frightening experience inside the building, they wonder if someone or something has followed them home from the institution.

For those who are unfamiliar with Neil, how would you introduce him?
Neil is the main character in the book. He’s a twelve-year old boy whose mother has recently been dealing with clinical depression. He and his older sister Bree are staying with their aunts in a small town in the Catskill Mountains while their mother gets medical help.

Neil is inquisitive and friendly, but he worries about his mom and about the effect that her illness might have on him and his sister. He loves ghost stories and spooky legends, and he is obsessed with a television show called Ghostly Investigators, so much that he desires to become a ghost hunter himself.

When he learns that there is an abandoned psychiatric hospital in the woods near the aunts’ house, and that there’s a rumor the building is haunted by the ghost of a killer nurse, he decides to distract himself from his family problems by exploring the ruins of the old building, and possibly discover the truth behind the stories of the three murders that supposedly happened there years before.

What are some of your current and future projects that you can share with us?
My next novel is due out next fall. It’s another spooky mystery called The Haunting of Gabriel Ashe. It deals with bullying and family secrets and broken friendships. Oh and there’s a big scary monster in it too! Yeah!

I’m also putting together some other top-secret projects. I’m very excited about all of them and hopefully will be able to share them sometime soon.

If you could introduce Neil to any character from another book, who would it be and why?
Maybe this answer is a cop-out, but I’d love for Neil to meet the characters from my other books: The Stone Child and The Nightmarys. I feel like Neil and Eddie and Maggie and Harris and Timothy and Abigail would get along great. What they all have in common is a desire to protect their friends and families and to stop “Big Bads” from wrecking havoc on their towns.

I can imagine all of them forming a type of middle-school Justice League, using their various horrific experiences to combat an apocalyptic evil.

Actually, I like that idea. Maybe I’ll write that book one day!

When asked, what’s the one question you always answer with a lie?
“Hey Dan, how are you?”

If I tell the truth on that one, people’s eyes tend to glaze over with boredom. So I usually go with the standard: I’m fine!

What’s the best advice you can give writers to help them develop their own unique voice and style?
Everyone says this one but only because it’s totally true: Write a lot, and read a lot.

I think it’s important to be aware of others’ voices and styles. You might find that your voice/ style is similar to someone else’s or discover that there’s a certain style you despise.

Once you’re aware of what’s out there and what you respond to personally, you can decide to hop into a certain genre-pond, swim around, explore. Or you may leave all that behind and try for something no one’s ever done before. Check out Mark Z. Danielewski to see what I mean.

If your work makes you happy, no matter how weird or dark or inaccessible, I believe it’s worth it.

It also helps when you have something to say. Discover your perspective. Make choices about your life so that you can relect those choices in the world of your story. Seek out what is Capital-T-True. And then figure out the opposite of that. And, of course, don’t forget Rachel Cohn’s “Put on your blinders.”

Who is the first person you call when you have a bad day?
My mom. She’s always got a great attitude and wisdom to spare.

What is your favorite room in your home and outside environment?
I live in a tiny apartment in Brooklyn, so it’s mostly like one big room. I do like laying on my bed in the sun with my cats though. I read, and they sleep.

Which is the hardest thing you ever had to do?
I took a ballet class in college where I needed to touch my toes. Impossible.

Most horrifying dream you have ever had?
You’re going to think I’m sick . . . but I’m game!

In a dream, I once approached a deli-counter in a grocery store and ordered half of a frozen human baby. But the butcher only had a whole frozen human baby. (Of course.) So he had to take out his buzz-saw . . .

I woke up from that nightmare hating my brain for doing that to me!

Who was your first girlfriend?
In Woonsocket, Rhode Island, I shared a playpen with my first friend, a girl named Chrissy. I’m pretty sure we were engaged before we turned three years old. So, I suppose she was more like a fiance than a girlfriend, but still, that’s all I got for ya.

Who was the last person you hugged?
A brunch buddy here in Brooklyn, NY. Everybody hugs after brunch here. It’s part of the Sunday morning ritual.

What is the one, single food that you would never give up?
If there are cupcakes in a room that I enter, there are rarely cupcakes left in that room when I leave.

Where can readers find you?
Danpoblocki.com is the website where you can find my email address. I try to respond to everyone as soon as possible, but sometimes I fall behind. Sorry!
I also exist in other electronic formats:
@DanPoblocki on Twitter.com
@TheStoneChild on Instagram
TheStoneChild on Pinterest.com

Does an abandoned asylum hold the key to a frightful haunting?

Everyone's heard the stories about Graylock Hall.

It was meant to be a place of healing - a hospital where children and teenagers with mental disorders would be cared for and perhaps even cured. But something went wrong. Several young patients died under mysterious circumstances. Eventually, the hospital was shut down, the building abandoned and left to rot deep in the woods.

As the new kid in town, Neil Cady wants to see Graylock for himself. Especially since rumor has it that the building is haunted. He's got fresh batteries in his flashlight, a camera to document the adventure, and a new best friend watching his back.

Neil might think he's prepared for what he'll find in the dark and decrepit asylum. But he's certainly not prepared for what follows him home. . . .

Scary, suspenseful, and surprising, Dan Poblocki's latest ghost story will keep you turning pages deep into the dead of night.

Dan Poblocki’s utterly frightening book, The Ghost of Graylock, will leave its readers feeling stone cold that even thrill-seekers would abandon any thoughts of ever entering a haunted building. When Graylock Hall was in operation, it was a place where children and teenagers plagued with mental disorders can go to for help. Unfortunately, it was shut down after the mysterious deaths of several patients. Abandoned and forgotten, Graylock Hall has not seen a single soul since closing its doors. Until Neil Cady and his sister Bree moves into town and learns about the hospital and sets up an adventure hoping to find thrills within the compounds of the deserted building. He’s ready for whatever the rotting building will show but nothing could ever prepare him for what follows him home.

This book is entirely scary and suspenseful book but beautifully written. Author Dan knows exactly what gets under his readers’ skin and skillfully puts it in words that will leave them with frightful thoughts and visions. The vivid descriptions he provides are engrossing that makes this fast-paced read perfect for its genre. A lot of times, this type of story tend to be predictable but it certainly was not the case here. Even with the ghostly figure hinting the siblings who the killer is, only towards the end that readers will find out who it is. Dan’s eloquent writing style allows for such great story-telling that it will be difficult to step away from its enthralling story. The Ghost of Graylock is creepingly interesting that at times, you may want to stop because of the fear of being frightened, but remain dedicated to its gripping tale and continue.

You can purchase The Ghost of Graylock  at the following Retailers:
          

And now, The Giveaways.

Thank you DAN POBLOCKI for making this giveaway possible.

1 Winner will receive a Copy of The Ghost of Graylock  by Dan Poblocki.

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