Blue at the Mizzen
By Patrick O'Brian
W. W. Norton, $24
ISBN 0393048446

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Howard Bahr
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Children's Authors

Arlene Alda
Jim Arnosky
John Bemelmans Marciano
Maurice Sendak
David Shannon
David Wiesner
Audrey Wood
Jane Yolen

Title of your new book:
Blue at the Mizzen

Who is one of your favorite authors?
Jane Austen

If you could choose a famous author from the past to read your book, who would he or she be?
Henry Fielding

Are the characters Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin modeled on real-life people?
No

Why is the setting of a boat so interesting to a novelist?
Because, the people in it are cut off from outer influences -- they react with other members of the crew, no one else: and this, clearly, heightens the reaction.

Do you see this restricted setting as a plus or minus in writing fiction?
I find it an advantage: though it would scarcely do for Proust

What one thing would you like to learn to do?
To back a motor car quickly. safely. efficiently

If you had a ship, what would you name it?
The Golden Hind

Will the Aubrey/Maturin series continue?
Perhaps: with the blessing

In addition to 20 volumes in the highly respected Aubrey/Maturin series of novels, Patrick O'Brian has written acclaimed biographies of Pablo Picasso and Sir Joseph Banks and has translated many works from French. O'Brian lives in the South of France.