Polly
Holyoke grew up in Colorado and loves hiking, camping and skiing in the
mountains. Graduated Phi Beta Kappa, summa cum laude from Middlebury
College in Vermont and earned her teaching certificate from the University
of Colorado. She taught middle school social studies for almost a decade
before leaving teaching to concentrate on my writing career. And couldn't be
more happier c:
Yoshi
Lover- What inspired you to write the book The Neptune Project?
Polly Holyoke- I’ve always cared about the ocean and I
love scuba diving. I’ve been frustrated, though, because a lot of sea books are
written by non-divers, and they don’t really capture the beauty of the world
under the waves. I also thought kids might enjoy a sea story set in a world
where climate change was wreaking havoc. I hoped a tale like that might make
young readers care more about our oceans and climate change in general.
Yoshi
Lover- When creating your characters, did you use
inspiration from your friends and family, or were they created from thought?
Polly Holyoke- Sometimes I do borrow people I know or
my daughter’s friends to become the basis of my characters. But for some reason
all of the Neptune kids came to me easily and quickly. In fact, the plot of the
whole book took shape in my mind in just a few weeks. Writing it went really
swiftly, too. I was having so much
fun as my characters fought sharks, giant squid and blood-thirsty government
divers!
Yoshi
Lover- Neptune
Project is the first book of your series,
so what made you decide to try Sci-Fi instead of another type genre?
Polly Holyoke- I’ve always loved reading sci-fi, and here’s
a hint for all you writers out there who long to be published. You have to write the kind of book you love
to read. I enjoy stories set in other realities where shy kids get to become
heroes. So that’s the story I wrote!
Yoshi
Lover- I also love the ocean, and swimming in
general. Would you ever consider in exploring the ocean or even just taking
some marine biology?
Polly Holyoke- I’ve always wanted to go down in one of
those mini-subs like the one James Cameron owns and explore the deep sea. I
felt like I took several self-taught classes in marine biology and oceanography
as I read dozens of books to research The
Neptune Project. I do hope to take a real class in marine biology someday, but
in the meantime, I’ll settle for another scuba diving trip. I’d like to go
diving in the Queen Charlotte Strait. That’s where The Neptune Challenge (the sequel to The Neptune Project) is set, and I’m dying to see for myself some
of the beautiful white cloud sponges and orange gorgonian corals I describe in
my books.
Yoshi
Lover- Since Nere is telepathic, would you ever
consider of becoming one too (if you could that is)?
Polly Holyoke- Hah! There are times as a parent I wish
I could read my teens’ minds… but not really. I think being telepathic would
actually be a terrible burden. Can you imagine being to “hear” what everyone
truly thinks about you? We are probably all better off
not being able to think what our friends and family are thinking about us!
Yoshi
Lover- I know author tend to have a special
connection with each of their characters, but who is your favorite (I know this
might be a hard one)?
Polly Holyoke- I suppose I relate to my heroine Nere
the best. I was also very shy when I was young, and I wasn’t very confident. Of
course, she’s way braver and thinks way faster than I do, though, in dangerous
situations!
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