Sneak Peak at Our Christopher Paolini Interview

Antonia got to interview Christopher Paolini when he was in the Bay Area. Yes, she did ask him how old he is (24, and, this November, 25). Here's a sneak peak of Christopher talking about the problems young writers encounter:

"Well one of the biggest problems for me when I started, the biggest psychological barrier I had, was that I just didn’t know of anyone my own age who had done what I was trying to do. So in some ways I was thinking well, maybe it’s impossible, maybe there’s a reason no other young person has done what I was trying to do. After the fact, of course, I learned that there have been plenty of other young authors, I just didn’t know about them. For example, the author of The Red Badge of Courage was 18 or 19 when he wrote that book. Steven King started The Dark Tower series when he was 19, I think, so there were a lot of talented young writers in that age range. I do think the biggest difficulty young writers have is not having someone who can mentor them, or who can edit their work and help them really develop as a writer. That’s something they end up having to do on their own, which takes another 10, 15 years. Also, they don’t know anyone who would allow them to get the attention their work deserves, someone in marketing or publishing or someone to tell them something as simple as how to format the manuscript properly or how to send it out properly, or even how to write submission letters to the publishers and the agents. That can be difficult stuff to do when you’re 15 or 16 or 17. You maybe don’t know how to navigate the adult world yet, and that’s where family can be very important."

What would you most like to ask him?