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If you could choose any story to live in, which story would it be? Why?
As a child, I dreamed of having my own ray gun and space ship. Even now, flying my own private Millennium Falcon sounds great. So, my favorite story is still Star Wars, probably — at least Star Wars like I saw it when I was eight or ten years old.
Introduce one other author you think people should read, and suggest a good book by him/her.
Philip Reeve from England. Mortal Engines and its sequels are the coolest young adult books I have read in years. If you like adventure, bizarre ideas, and an amazing sense of wonder, these are the books I would recommend.
What do you do for relaxation?
Reading, watching movies, walking the dog. Buying useless stuff on eBay for nostalgia — the last thing I got was a Galaxian arcade game from 1981.
When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up?
An astronaut. With a ray gun.
Why do you write books for kids?
To explore the sense of wonder I fell in love with while reading fantasy and science fiction as a kid. I am always searching for the same awe I felt when I read certain stories, watched certain movies, marveled at certain illustrations and paintings. It has a lot to do with trying to recreate feelings that we easily forget as adults.
Who are your favorite characters in history?
I have written more than twenty historical novels for adults — by now a lot of kids read them as well — and they are full of historical characters. I cannot name one special favorite — well, I liked Cagliostro. Ten years ago, I wrote two adventure novels about the Brothers Grimm, and they were fun, too — at least my version of them.
If you could pick anyone to illustrate one of your books, who would it be and why?
Living: Wayne Barlowe. Dead: Max Ernst. Surrealism never fails to inspire me.
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The next one that will be published in the United States is the 
