• RIF: You've written more than 80 books. What do you like most about writing?

WDM: I enjoy writing because it inhabits my imagination. I don't have to experience something to write about it... I just have to imagine it.
 

• RIF: What else do you do for fun?

WDM: I enjoy playing the flute or the alto flute.
 

• RIF: What was your favorite book as a child?

WDM: Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain, because it was one of the first books my sister gave me. 
 

• RIF: What was it like growing up in Harlem, especially down the block from Langston Hughes?

WDM: It was wonderful; everything I loved was in Harlem. I was a happy kid.  And Langston? He was such an inspiration because he looked like me and was so well-known and accomplished. 
 

• RIF: A lot your stories take place in the city.  Why is that?

WDM: Kids who grow up in urban areas have different experiences than kids who grow up in small towns or in the suburbs. I want young people who live in cities to find themselves in my books.  
 

• RIF: What advice do you have for kids who want to be a writer like you?

WDM: Read and write on a regular basis. It's like playing the flute... if I practice every day, I'm bound to get better. 

 

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