I know Peter Jackson a tiny-tiny bit from interviewing him about the 'Lord of the Rings' movies over the years. When I was visiting the set of 'The Return of the King,' he let me be an extra so I could see filmmaking from a different perspective. I was a Rohan soldier.

Jeff Giles

Categorized in : Me King Soldier Perspective

I didn't want to write a pure fantasy novel, though I love those and grew up on J. R. R. Tolkien and Ursula LeGuin.

Jeff Giles

pure fantasy want love

I'm definitely interested in two questions: 'Is anybody ever really irredeemable?' and 'How much are we all prepared to do for each other?'

Jeff Giles

anybody how questions two

I'd been wanting to try a YA novel for years because I saw how exciting the genre was and how amazing, hungry, and curious the readers were.

Jeff Giles

amazing try hungry curious

I like beautiful writing, pain, unexpected humor, and the message that, at the last second, people are going to be kind to each other. It almost doesn't matter what the genre is.

Jeff Giles

pain humor beautiful people

Scott Bradfield writes weird, oblique, unsettling stuff.

Jeff Giles

oblique writes weird stuff

In the annals of the rich and miserable, Christina Onassis stands out, if only because she was so rich and so miserable.

Jeff Giles

she only rich miserable

Any time a young adult book throws a girl and a guy together, the clock starts running on the countdown to the kiss.

Jeff Giles

kiss girl together time

In my work at 'Entertainment Weekly,' I had written reviews and news stories about YA books and film franchises and was always moved by how smart and voracious and loyal the readers were. Everything we did got lots of attention and reaction.

Jeff Giles

news smart work attention

The YA category changes pretty fast. I'm so impressed by what these authors do.

Jeff Giles

fast pretty changes impressed

There are all kinds of voices in YA, and they are realistic and unflinching.

Jeff Giles

ya kinds voices realistic

Leaving New York and friends is tough, and there are things about it I still really miss. But Montana is a great place to write.

Jeff Giles

place great friends tough

I had written many things as a journalist, but I had no idea if I could write something scary or romantic or touching that wasn't me writing about someone else's life story. It was really exciting to try.

Jeff Giles

someone me romantic life

My father-in-law lives in Montana, and we would come here every summer.

Jeff Giles

here every come summer

Authors all have at least one thing in common, which is that when we finally get finished copies of our books, we get giddy as kindergartners. We touch them constantly, and build towers with them, and take pictures of our cats and dogs reading them.

Jeff Giles

pictures cats touch reading

Because I'm a writer, I'm really good at being nervous.

Jeff Giles

because being good nervous

Asking the director of 'The Lord of the Rings' to read my novel was exactly as terrifying as you'd think. I came this close to not doing it because I was so embarrassed. But he was so gracious about it.

Jeff Giles

doing think you lord

Tobias Wolff is a hell of a writer, but you knew that already. His first memoir, 'This Boy's Life,' was a Huck Finn story set in the Eisenhower era - a story so rich and wounding that not even Hollywood could make a bad movie out of it.

Jeff Giles

you rich hell life

In its more listless moments, 'Pharaoh's Army' seems a ramshackle collection of memories not overly concerned with telling a larger story.

Jeff Giles

story army moments memories

By now, we all know that Hollywood producers always chase after the same properties, that the sharks circle simply because the other sharks are circling.

Jeff Giles

circle know always sharks

Sharon Stone has made a fortune from her movies, so who says you can't get something for nothing?

Jeff Giles

stone movies nothing you