R.L. Ullman is the bestselling, award-winning author of books for young readers. He writes the kinds of books he loved reading as a kid, featuring fast-paced action, laugh-out-loud humor, and lots of heart. R.L. has sold over one million books, and his work has been translated into multiple languages. He lives in Connecticut with his laptop and family.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Hello and thanks for stopping by! I thought I'd use this space to answer some frequently asked questions I get from readers (especially for book reports). If you have a different question, just email me at RL@rlullman.com. I promise I’ll reply within a few days.

1) When you were a kid did you want to be an author?

Well, sort of. When I was a kid, I wanted to write and draw comic books. Although I didn't make that dream happen (yet), I’m happy with how things turned out because writing for kids is the best job in the world!

2) When did you start writing books?

I started writing books in my early 40s (yep, I was ready for a nursing home). When I was a younger man, I wrote screenplays that never got made into movies. However, it was great practice for writing books because I learned all about character development, pacing, and plot. Fortunately, my work wasn't totally wasted because one of those screenplays became EPIC ZERO and I haven’t looked back since.

3) Will any of your books be made into a movie or animated series?

I would love to see my stories on the big or small screen. If you know a producer or director who would be interested, please send them my way!

4) Where do you get your ideas from?

Ideas usually pop into my head in the form of a "What if?" question. Typically, I try to think of ideas that have irony baked into the question. Here are some examples:

1) What if an ordinary boy grew up in a family of superheroes? That idea became EPIC ZERO.

2) What if the only kids who could save humanity happened to be monsters? That idea became MONSTER PROBLEMS.

Sadly, I have way more ideas than time to write.

5) Do you write full-time?

Yep! I'm lucky that I can stay home all day and write stories in my pajamas. Occasionally, I leave my house to walk the dogs, but I don't think my neighbors appreciate my taste in pajamas.

6) Here's some random info that's super-useful for filling space on a book report:

Year of Birth: 1972 (please don't do the math)
Favorite Food: Dumplings
Favorite Color: Kermit the Frog green
Favorite Candy: Twix
Favorite Book: Jurassic Park (I've had way too many dinosaur book ideas)
Favorite TV Show: Survivor
Favorite Movie: Star Wars - the original original (you know the one)
Favorite Sport: Tie between basketball and soccer
Favorite Character I've Created: That's tough because I love them all!

Well, that's it for now. If you have other questions or just want to say hi, feel free to email me at RL@rlullman.com.

Thanks for visiting!

R.L.