Dave Serafino
ORP: What inspired you to begin writing or creating? Has that source of inspiration changed throughout your life?
Dave Serafino: My mom kept some of my elementary school notebooks, and in first/second grade I was writing detective stories like the ones I was reading (3 Investigators, Hardy Boys, Nancy Drew) - my first story was called Abigail Adams and the Case of the Haunted Dollhouse. So I'd say it was monkey-see-monkey-do, and also that reading is still one of my main sources of inspiration.
ORP: Does writing or creating energize or exhaust you? What aspects of your artistic process would you consider the most challenging or rewarding?
DS: I find it calming. I like to write in the mornings, and always feel a bit out of sorts if I haven't. Like going to bed with a book, it just seems like part of a good life to me. The whole thing is challenging, though I particularly struggle with first drafts (and second and third drafts, too). It's all rewarding, too, but what I like best is that I'm a grown-up who still hangs out with his imaginary friends, going on adventures, cracking jokes, all that fun stuff.
ORP: Do you know more than one language? How does this influence your art and/or writing?
DS: I work as a translator, mostly Spanish, but also some of the other romance languages. I live in Colombia, too, so I live most of my life in Spanish, and English is for phone calls, reading, and writing. I'm actually thinking of writing my next book in Spanish, for a Colombian audience, about some of my experiences here. Either that or a sci-fi novel. We'll see.
ORP: What do you hope readers (or your audience) will take away from your creative work?
DS: Entertainment, mostly. It's interesting that you said "readers (or your audience)". I'd like my audience to be non-readers, so if I come up with some good stories, maybe I'll be the one to get them into reading. That'd be a good thing to take away from a story.
