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Bruce Hale an author for 'nonreaders in a hurry'

By Loren Keller

In an age when portable DVD players, video games and Internet-capable cell phones are getting smaller and just as easy to slip into a backpack as a book, the modern-day children’s author faces plenty of competition when vying for a young reader’s attention.

Author Bruce Hale crafts his books for young readers accordingly.

“I try to write for nonreaders who are in a hurry,” Hale writes in response to a set of emailed questions. “I keep the action moving, keep the jokes coming and, per Elmore Leonard’s advice, ‘cut out all the parts readers skip.’”

The popular youth author, illustrator, storyteller and Fulbright Fellow will be moving as quickly as his prose tomorrow when he visits three Cedar Rapids-area libraries before a 7 p.m. reading at Theatre Cedar Rapids as the first visiting author for “Out Loud! The Metro Library Network Series.”

Hale has written or illustrated more than 20 books for young readers, including the Chet Gecko mystery series. His book The Malted Falcon was nominated for an Edgar Award and Murder, My Tweet earned the Little d Award for humorous juvenile literature. The newest book in the series, Hiss Me Deadly, was recently released as was Prince of Underwhere, the first entry in a new series.

If it isn’t obvious from those titles, Hale loves bad puns and worldplay – and is a huge fan of adult crime fiction and noir writers like Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett and Mickey Spillane.

“I must confess, my books are written first to entertain myself,” he says. “I take as my model the old Warner Brothers cartoons, which worked on two levels and contained humor for both adults and kids. I think my book and chapter titles to appeal mostly to adults, as the kids don’t get the references. But I’d love it if the kids read Chandler or Hammett when they grew older.”

As for what his younger readers will find funny now, Hale’s books are packed with outrageous similies and metaphors: “situations scarier than a midnight plunge in a shark’s Jacuzzi,” “my blood sizzled like triple-strength espresso” and “he smiled back as sweetly as a big brother with a carload of water balloons” are a few examples from his book Give My Regrets to Broadway.

Hale admits it can be a challenge not to repeat himself after writing 14 Chet Gecko books – but he tries to keep the jokes fresh.

“I just use the rule of thumb that if it comes too easily, I’ve probably use the comparison already,” he says. “Then I brainstorm a little bit longer. Luckily, my sense of humor is naturally bent, so it’s not too hard.”

A native of Los Angeles, Hale worked as a magazine editor, surveyor and gardener before he started writing about and drawing geckos when he lived in Hawaii. (He now lives with his wife in Santa Barbara, California.) Hale has illustrated five of his own picture books and composes the interior art for his Chet Gecko books.

“When I’m doing a picture book, the drawing happens nearly simultaneously with the writing, as the visuals are 50 percent of the story,” he says. “But in middle-grade fiction like Chet Gecko, I finish the story before starting illustrations. I love drawing, as it serves as the ‘dessert’ after the hard work of writing and revising the book.”

As a teacher and speaker who gives frequent storytelling workshops at schools and universities, Hale says he aims to maintain a good balance between public engagements and writing. His next book, Pirates of Underwhere, is due out next month.

“I’m one of those extroverted introverts,” he says. “I love the peace and quiet of writing and drawing in my own home office, and I love traveling around the country doing speaking and storytelling. True confessions: I used to be an actor, and I still perform with an a cappella jazz group. Variety is the key."

On Tuesday, Hale will give presentations for young children at 10 a.m. at the Cedar Rapids Public Library, 1 p.m. at the Marion Public Library and 4 p.m. at the Hiawatha Public Library. He will read at Theatre Cedar Rapids, 102 Third St. SE, at 7 p.m. All events are free and open to the public.