Frequently Asked Questions

If you would like to interview Mr. Carman please contact swolfert@scholastic.com.

Mr. Carman presents at approximately 75 schools per year. The vast majority of those presentations are tied to national touring events for different book releases. If you would like to request a school visit, please contact Karen Carman at ruthiecarman@gmail.com.

The cost of a school visit varies depending on the event type, the amount of travel, and the time involved. Please contact Karen Carman for details. Karen’s email address is ruthiecarman@gmail.com.

Regardless of age, Mr. Carman focuses his presentations on the importance of reading and writing and the magic of storytelling. His talks are humorous, memorable, filled with stories from his own childhood, and inspiring for students.

Mr. Carman writes books for children as young as 1st grade all the way up to young adults in high school. The best groups are usually grade clusters of 1st and 2nd graders, 3rd – 6th graders, 7th – 8th graders, and 9th – 10th graders, but other mixes can be just as successful.

Mr. Carman’s school presentation usually lasts about 45 minutes, followed by Q and A and small group visits.

The best thing a school can do to prepare for an author visit is to have the students read Mr. Carman’s books. Kids who have read even one of Mr. Carman’s books get a lot more out of the visit than those that have read none.

Send an email to fanmail@patrickcarman.com with the subject line ‘FAQ did not answer my question’ and then ask your question in the email. We will do everything we can to answer you quickly or update the FAQ and let you know your question has been added to the site. Please be patient! Sometimes Mr. Carman is traveling or on a writing deadline and cannot answer new questions for several weeks.

Elliot’s Park is perfect for first time independent readers age 6-8, but can also make a great read aloud for younger children. The Land of Elyon series is great for students age 9-14. Atherton is a little more complex and best for students age 9-15. Skeleton Creek, a little bit scary, is best suited to 10 and up, perfect for middle schoolers. Patrick Carman’s YA novel (April 2010), 13 Days to Midnight, is appropriate for ages 12 and up. Trackers (June 2010) has a wide range, for ages 9 and up.

Elliot’s Park is all about cooperation in solving problems and being willing to ask for help. The importance of teamwork and friendship are also key themes. The Land of Elyon is largely about finding your place in the world, overcoming fear, and not reading a book by its cover. Atherton is at once about protecting the world we live in and having the courage to change and grow. Skeleton Creek is a book and a movie at the same time, but it’s also a story about friendship, trust, and stepping out into the world even when we’re afraid.

Send an email to fanmail@patrickcarman.com with the subject line ‘FAQ did not answer my question’ and then ask your question in the email. We will do everything we can to answer you quickly or update the FAQ and let you know your question has been added to the site. Please be patient! Sometimes Mr. Carman is traveling or on a writing deadline and cannot answer new questions for several weeks.

Mr. Carman’s birthday is February 27th, 1966. You’ll have to figure out his age on your own!

The Land of Elyon is comprised of several parts. The core trilogy is made up of The Dark Hills Divide, Beyond the Valley of Thorns, and The Tenth City. Into the Mist is a prequel to the trilogy, but some have said it’s actually the fourth book in the series. Both answers are correct in their own light. A reader may find equal footing if they begin the series with Into the Mist or read Into the Mist after finishing he trilogy. There are significant advantages to reading Into the Mist as the fourth book, most notably the knowledge of certain important characters and situations that come into play in the prequel. The fifth Elyon book, Stargazer, is available beginning in the fall of 2008. Stargazer comes after Into the Mist and after the trilogy, so it is by rights the 5th book. As of the writing of this section, there are no plans for a 6th Elyon book, but that could change!

The Atherton series will contain three books: The House of Power (fall 2007), Rivers of Fire (fall 2008), and The Dark Planet (fall 2009).

Elliot’s Park is currently scheduled to include the three books now available: Saving Mr. Nibbles, The Haunted Hike, and The Walnut Cup. A school play can be found at www.elliotsparkplay.com.

If Mr. Carman is actively touring you can find his schedule by clicking on the events tab at www.patrickcarman.com.

Mr. Carman began writing novels in 2001. His first book, The Dark Hills Divide, was published by Scholastic in 2003.

Visit the Awards page for a current list

Mr. Carman has produced a nine part video series on the writing process to help aspiring young writers. You can find the videos at www.athertonseries.com under the Writing Atherton link.

Mr. Carman is a social butterfly, so the hardest thing about writing is closing the door and staying alone for hours on end.

Mr. Carman’s favorite writers are John Steinbeck, David James Duncan, Fyodor Dostoevsky, Roald Dahl, Charles Dickens, JRR Tolkien, Norman Maclean, Edgar Allen Poe, and Richard Russo.

For the very young: Where the Wild Things Are, anything by Dr. Seuss.

Middle grade readers: The Borrowers, Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of Nimh, James and the Giant Peach, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Holes, Frindle, Mr. Popper’s Penguins, the Graveyard Book.

All time favorite reads: East of Eden, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Catcher in the Rye, The Grapes of Wrath, The Brothers K, Ender’s Game, The Outsiders, The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint, A Separate Peace, Cannery Row, Tortilla Flats, A River Runs Through It, The Alchemist, Huckleberry Finn, The Once and Future King, All Over But the Shoutin, The Killer Angels, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell, The Glass Castle, The Sky Fisherman, Motherless Brooklyn, The Pillars of the Earth, Empire Falls.

Favorite Classics: Le Miserable, The Brothers Karamazov, Frankenstein, The Old Man and the Sea, Oliver Twist, The Turn of the Screw, The short works of Edgar Allen Poe.

Favorite Poets: Robert Frost, William Carlos Williams, Edgar Allen Poe, Shel Silverstein

About writing: On Writing (Stephen King)

The great outdoors: The Solace of Open Spaces, Into the Wild, The River Why.

Desert time: Blue Like Jazz, A Generous Orthodoxy, When the Heart Waits.

The rights for The Land of Elyon movies have been purchased and the series is currently in pre-production as a CGI film. Skeleton Creek has been optioned by Intrepid Pictures. 39 Clues has been optioned by Dreamworks. There are no plans at present to make films of Atherton or Elliot’s Park.

Keep an eye on the site for everything Patrick Carman will be working on in the future.

Fly fishing, playing guitar, just plain playing (basketball, pickleball, dodgeball), being with his family.

Two dogs, Taffy and Otto. Taffy is a mix-breed from the pound that looks like a small golden lab, Otto is a long hair Chihuahua.

Mr. Carman has a wife and two daughters, plus the two dogs listed above.

Usually in an office in downtown Walla Walla, Washington, but sometimes at home when he does not feel like being ‘out and about’. The most important thing for Mr. Carman is to be focused and alone when writing.

This varies wildly depending on the project. A big novel takes up to six months, a short chapter book might only take two weeks. It really depends on the length more than anything. 100,000 words takes longer to write than 5,000.

If you have a book or a story you would like to have published, Mr. Carman’s best advice is to read Stephen King’s book On Writing. All the answers you need are in there.

He used to, but the number of submissions Mr. Carman receives makes it impossible to continue doing so. He wishes he had time to read everything that comes across his desk, but there’s simply not enough time in the day. He hopes readers will understand!

Mr. Carman’s books are all inspired by different people for different reasons. Each book has a dedication that can be found in the first few pages. Often, there is also an acknowledgement section at the back of each book that lists other important people that inspired the book.

This is best answered by watching the two Writing Atherton videos called Developing Characters sequence 1 and 2. Those videos can be found at www.athertonseries.com in the Writing Atherton section.

Very rarely. It’s far more common to find a certain character trait or a physical feature based on someone Mr. Carman knows. He has, on occasion, inserted a character based on someone he knows, but he has not revealed who those characters and people are.

Send an email to fanmail@patrickcarman.com with the subject line ‘FAQ did not answer my question’ and then ask your question in the email. We will do everything we can to answer you quickly or update the FAQ and let you know your question has been added to the site. Please be patient! Sometimes Mr. Carman is traveling or on a writing deadline and cannot answer new questions for several weeks.