From the ages of 5-11, Gavin Extence enjoyed a brief but illustrious career as a chess player, winning numerous national championships and traveling to Russia. Fast forward to now, and we find the fascinating and eclectic world of Alex Woods in The Universe Versus Alex Woods, Gavin’s first book.
A rare meteorite struck Alex Woods when he was ten years old, leaving scars and marking him for an extraordinary future. The son of a fortune teller, bookish, and an easy target for bullies, Alex hasn’t had the easiest childhood.
But when he meets curmudgeonly widower Mr. Peterson, he finds an unlikely friend. Someone who teaches him that that you only get one shot at life. That you have to make it count.
So when, aged seventeen, Alex is stopped at customs with 113 grams of marijuana, an urn full of ashes on the front seat, and an entire nation in uproar, he’s fairly sure he’s done the right thing …
Introducing a bright young voice destined to charm the world, The Universe Versus Alex Woods is a celebration of curious incidents, astronomy and astrology, the works of Kurt Vonnegut and the unexpected connections that form our world.
YOUNG ADULT: What three words come to mind when you think of writing?
Gavin Extence: Difficult, terrifying, fulfilling
YA: Tell us a little bit about your latest work. What is different about The Universe Versus Alex Woods?
GE: It’s a quirky coming-of-age story about an unlikely hero and an unconventional friendship. It’s narrated by Alex, who is the second person in recorded history to be hit by a meteor. (The first was a woman in Alabama in the 1950s.)
YA: This story draws from influences as disparate as Vonnegut, Vietnam, astronomy, astrology, and even the Hadron Collider. How did the idea for the work come about?
GE: I started from Alex’s voice. I had a very clear idea of how he should sound, and his odd interests and back-story grew from there. I’m also a bit of an astronomy geek – hence the meteor – and I’ve always loved Kurt Vonnegut. He was the single biggest influence on the book.
YA: Take us through a typical writing day for you.
GE: I usually wake up around 7 thinking about what I’m going to write that day. I’m definitely a morning person, so most of my ideas come first thing. I try to write for thee or four hours every morning, usually 9-1, then spend the afternoon typing it up and making small changes and corrections. (I always write my first draft long-hand.) I finish around 5-5:30, but also make a point of spending the last part of the evening before I go to sleep thinking about what I’m going to write the next day. (It’s basically just your normal 9-5!)
YA: Besides the classic ‘never give up’, what advice would you give to aspiring young writers today?
GE: Read lots, practise lots (every day if you can – even if it’s just for a few minutes), and, above all, enjoy it. Writing should be fun – everything else is secondary.
YA: What other authors, YA or otherwise, do you idolize? Or, what YA books are on a pedestal for you?
GE: Kurt Vonnegut, John Irving and Haruki Murakami are probably my three favourite authors. As for YA books, Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time is wonderful, and I adore Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy.