Ms. Cathy A. Hapka, author of the BIONICLE™ Chronicles, recently responded to some questions I had posed to her.

Q: Would you please tell our readers a little bit about yourself?

A: I live in PA (Pennsylvania), (and) have been writing full-time for ~7/8 years.

Q: Are the BIONICLE™ Chronicles books your first time working with The LEGO® Company?

A: Yes – it was a nice experience; they’re cool people & they really love the world of BIONICLE.

Q: How did you come to write these books?

A: I knew the editor at Scholastic who was in charge of finding an author & she contacted me. (We’d worked on previous projects together.)

Q: How much guidance were you given in creating the books?

A: The LEGO people were very helpful in providing info. The books are based on storyline they’d created (for the website, comics, etc.).

Q: How much time did you spend writing each of the stories?

A: We were on a tight publishing schedule, so I spent about 2/3 weeks on each manuscript.

Q: Which book was the most difficult to write? Which was easiest? Why?

A: The easiest was #4 because it was adapted right from the film script (for Mask of Light). Each of the others had different challenges, but I wouldn’t say any of them was much harder than the others.

Q: Are you currently working on any other BIONICLE books?

A: No.

Q: Do you have a work routine for writing your books? Where do you write? What tools do you use?

A: My routine varies, but I usually try to get some writing done 1st thing in the morning. I work from my home, & use a Macintosh computer.

Q: Do you have a favorite BIONICLE character? If so, why is that character your favorite?

A: I like all of them, but my favorite is probably KOPAKA. I like his independence & intelligence.

Q: You have written many, many books. In which of your other books (past, present, or future) do you think our readers might be interested?

A: I have a middle-grade series called Star Power coming out next summer. It’s very different from BIONICLE though – it’s about a teenage girl’s adventures in the music business.

Q: When did you first consider becoming an author?

A: Around 9th grade.

Q: When did you first sell a book, and what was your first published book?

A: I began writing for a middle-grade series called The Saddle Club in 1993.

Q: Many of our readers already write BIONICLE stories themselves. What tips and advice can you give to our aspiring writers?

A: Keep at it, & don’t be afraid or reluctant to accept constructive criticism. All writers need a good editor to help them.

You can see a picture of Cathy Hapka and read more about her in this interview on Dinotopia.com.