Aaron Starmer’s work fluctuates between travel writing and children’s writing – and there’s never a dull moment with either.
Just a few days before Starmer talked to The Reporter to promote his new book, The Only Ones, he spent time in the Galapagos Islands, reviewing the exotic vacation destination. But when he’s not working on freelance travel writing gigs, he’s in his Hoboken home working on new fiction projects. Starmer, who has a master’s degree from New York University in cinema studies, lives with his wife.The Only Ones is his latest book.
“I’ve always got a few projects that I’m tinkering with.” – Aaron Starmer
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Starmer said he writes for all audiences, but his official target readership is children ages 10 and up.
Starmer realized that as a fiction writer earlier in his career, his “strongest work” came from his portrayal of younger characters.
“I had written a lot of short fiction for adults and a novel that never really got off the ground,” he said.
He said that he began travel writing after his initial push to be a fiction writer did not go as he had hoped. Starmer co-authored a book on tent camping in New York State.
“Once I got a few projects under my belt, more agents and publishers were willing to take me on,” he said.
First, he wrote Dweeb, a story about a group of young boys that Starmer calls a “comedic adventure.” His second go-round with children’s publishing is The Only Ones.
The idea for The Only Ones came to him in 2009.
“I have a family house on an island in Maine, and I saw a series of paintings by Jamie Wyatt about a boy by himself on an island,” he said.
The writing process
“The main work that went into it, the writing, was probably between September 2009 and May 2010,” he said. “It wouldn’t necessarily be writing every day, but it would be over big chunks of time.”
During the writing process, Starmer also worked on freelance travel pieces.
When writing for children, Starmer said he doesn’t necessarily have to change his style.
“I have a straightforward style of writing,” he said. “I steer clear of some vocabulary and some content, but you have to give kids the benefit of the doubt or you’ll come off as pretty condescending…I don’t think about [changing my style] overtly.”
Starmer said it isn’t his style of writing that makes his work children’s literature, but the fact that the main characters are children makes the book suitable for a young audience.
“The target audience is ages 10 to 14,” he said. The characters in the book are also between approximately ages 11 to 14, he said. “A good reader younger than that could read it, though.”
Starmer said he is working on more projects for the future.
“I’ve always got a few projects that I’m tinkering with,” he said. “There may be a sequel to The Only Ones in the future…there’s nothing on the publishing calendar right now. I’ve been bogged down with other works.”
He said he hopes to come out with a new book within the next year or two.
In between college and his latest writing ventures, Starmer worked for a company that helps inform travelers who plan trips to African safaris. “It was my job to decide what books we would sell and recommend to travelers,” he said. But he mostly wanted to write.
“Since I was a kid I was always interested in writing full time,” Starmer said.
The Only Ones is published by Random House and is available wherever books are sold.
Ray Smith may be reached at RSmith@hudsonreporter.com