Back in spring 2009, you might remember that the Lexicon as well as other Twilight sites that were in operation then hyped up an event called Save the Book Babe. The event was to raise funds for Faith Hochhalter, a former YA book buyer at Changing Hands bookstore in the Phoenix area, who was fighting breast cancer. Faith was instrumental in supporting many YA authors and in particular Twilight.  Aside from signings and promotions, among events that would not have come off without Faith’s help was the Eclipse Prom in May 2007.

One of the major organizers of the event was author Jon Lewis (J.S. Lewis) known to many as the author of the Grey Griffins series (pictured above at the Save the Book Babe event). Jon acted as the emcee that day and he was hilarious, kept the show fun and interesting. At the time I told him that if he books are half as entertaining as he is then my son would love reading them, which turned out to be true.

So, where is this all going? Jon is updating us on Faith, the future of Project Book Babe (right now Book Babe is auctioning on Ebay some left over stock. It’s a great time to get Stephenie Meyer signed items and to support breast cancer research!), and an exciting new series he has coming out.  After our interview with Jon, leave us a comment and a random person will receive a prize pack donated by Jon. It includes:

• A copy of his most recent novel in the Grey Griffins series that Jon describes as “The series is a continuation of our GREY GRIFFINS books from Scholastic, but it’s an all new trilogy — same main characters, new school, more exciting adventures.”
• A signed Book Babe poster by with autographs from the attending authors such as Stephenie Meyer, Shannon Hale, Jon and more.
• A Bella and Edward action figure.

What drew you to writing and writing in your particular genre?

Growing up, I thought I was either going to work for Disney as a character animator or for Marvel or DC as a comic book illustrator. But I realized early on that in order to draw a story, you actually need a story and I ended up liking the storytelling more than drawing. As to genre, I actually love all kinds of stories. But I started with middle grade because (as my wife will attest) when I look in the mirror I still see a ten year old kid. I could live in Toys R Us and never get bored, and I still get excited when I see one of the characters walking around Disneyland.
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