John Green

John Green's books include The Fault in our Stars and Paper Towns. From his Q&A with Kate Kellaway for the Guardian:

I’ve read that you once wanted to be a preacher? Where were you born and what did your parents do?

I did – although my parents were not very religious. I grew up in Orlando. Dad worked for Nature Conservancy, an organisation that preserves land. My mother was a community activist, working with victims of domestic violence and marginalised young women. My brother and I feel a need to do values-driven work – that is the only way to make our parents proud, they are not at all impressed by me hanging out with famous people. I want to make my parents proud, I have the highest regard for them.

What were you like as a teenager?

I was a poor student but a very engaged reader. I went to boarding school, was quite nerdy and surrounded by other pretty nerdy people. I was troubled in the sense that I smoked cigarettes and drank. In my head, I felt different, on the outside of everything, disconnected from people. I felt like an observer, a tail to a comet rather than a comet. I always felt I wasn’t the protagonist of the story.

Are there any teenagers in your life now?

I don’t know any teenagers and I don’t know much about them. Even...[read on]

--Marshal Zeringue