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Author Revealed

Richard Lewis
Photograph by Noni

Richard Lewis

Richard Lewis is the son of American missionary parents. Although he attended university in the United States, he was born, raised, and lives in Bali, Indonesia. He is the author of four books for young adults, including Monster's Proof, The Demon... Read full bio

Author Revealed:
Q. Who is your favorite fictional hero?
A. Bond, James Bond.
Learn more about Richard Lewis
Richard Lewis Revealed
About Richard Lewis
  • What is your birthdate?:
    2/1
  • Previous occupations:
    Janitor, lab clerk, refugee camp worker, English teacher, factory manager, surf seeker, diaper changer
  • Favorite job:
    Going to places never before seen by surfers
  • High school and/or college:
    Tropical boarding grade and high schools to college in the American Midwest--oh, those winters!
  • Name of your favorite composer or music artist?:
    Eclectic.
  • Favorite movie:
    Fred Astaire is simply the bee's knees. Fish Called Wanda: I had a near toilet incident from laughing so hard.
  • Favorite television show:
    National Geographic and Discovery channel stuff
Revealing Questions
Q. How would you describe your life in only 8 words?
A. Boring, but with moments of heart-stopping thrills
Q. What is your motto or maxim?
A. 1) Never leave good waves and 2) You have to leave good waves to find even better ones
Q. How would you describe perfect happiness?
A. Perfect happiness? I'd settle for approximate happinesses, one of which would be salt water running out of my nose from a fun surf as I drink cold beer and eat hot pizza with my family who tell me what a wonderful husband and father I am. Another would be mail from readers.
Q. What’s your greatest fear?
A. I have the Unmentionable Fear of Committing the Unforgivable Sin. Apart from that, my greatest fear would be claustrophobic in nature, such as the middle seat of an airplane row occupied by athletes of the Sumo Wrestling Association.
Q. If you could be anywhere in the world right now, where would you choose to be?
A. Living as I do in the tropics, with friendly people everywhere, I think I'd choose a snowy mountain with my nearest neighbor a ski run away.
Q. With whom in history do you most identify?
A. Leonhard Euler (1707-1783) was pretty cool. One of the world's most brilliant and prolific mathematicians, every day he discovered six impossible things before breakfast. Plus he really enjoyed his family, and going blind didn't bother him one bit.
Q. Which living person do you most admire?
A. My mother, without question. 82 years old and still going strong, helping others.
Q. What are your most overused words or phrases?
A. My most overused phrase at the moment would have to be, "Would you please turn down the TV?"
Q. What do you regret most?
A. I don't regret much. Choosing the roads less traveled by as gotten me this far, and I might as well keep going.
Q. If you could acquire any talent, what would it be?
A. I'd love to have the mathematical mojo to prove the Lewis Squared Circle Conjecture.
Q. What is your greatest achievement?
A. Apart from my wonderful kids? My novels. I still have a soft spot for my first one, THE FLAME TREE.
Q. What’s your greatest flaw?
A. For living in the easy-going tropics, I sure do tend to get impatient.
Q. What’s your best quality?
A. I don't brag, and when I'm surfing, I don't snake waves.
Q. If you could be any person or thing, who or what would it be?
A. The Internet
Q. What trait is most noticeable about you?
A. My nose?
Q. Who is your favorite fictional hero?
A. Bond, James Bond.
Q. Who is your favorite fictional villain?
A. Count Fosco in WOMAN IN WHITE. The original Evil Dude.
Q. If you could meet any historical character, who would it be and what would you say to him or her?
A. I'd like to meet whoever invented golf and say, "Why?"
Q. What is your biggest pet peeve?
A. Air dryers in public rest rooms
Q. What is your favorite occupation, when you’re not writing?
A. Surfing
Q. What’s your fantasy profession?
A. Traveling on a super yacht to find surf
Q. What 3 personal qualities are most important to you?
A. Honesty, respect, loyalty
Q. If you could eat only one thing for the rest of your days, what would it be?
A. If not an Indonesian "nasi campur" then pepperoni pizza
Q. What are your 5 favorite songs?
A. Alas, don't know their titles, as I only know how to hum them
On Books and Writing
Q. Who are your favorite authors?
A. My favorite author is usually the author of the book I'm presently reading and right now that would JG Farrell (SIEGE OF KRISHNAPUR)
Q. What are your 5 favorite books of all time?
A. I have favorite books of the moment but over the years I've enjoyed far too many to rate top the five or ten or even hundred
Q. Is there a book you love to reread?
A. An awful confession: I don't reread books. Too many new ones to read.
Q. Do you have one sentence of advice for new writers?
A. Read a lot and write a lot.
Q. What comment do you hear most often from your readers?
A. "Did Sarah's dad survive the tsunami?" (You have to read THE KILLING SEA to understand this question)
Q. How did you come to write Monster's Proof?
A. As a boy, I loved numbers. In another life, I'd be a mathematician—authors are easily forgotten, but if you discover an important theorem, you will be remembered forever, as in, for example, "the elegant Lewis Squared Circle Theorem". I decided to write a mathematical sort of novel, wherein a ten-year-old genius brings his imaginary friend to life through a mathematical proof. Bob is not your normal monster. Being a creature of pure math, he loves truth, beauty, and elegance, and decides that our ugly world needs some fixing up. MONSTER'S PROOF is a funny scary novel for who hated math and those who loved it.