By Nathan Duke
Gravelle, 63, who was born in Alexandria, Va., moved to Bayside when she was a teenager and now lives at the City Lights building in Long Island City, has written 20 books aimed at children and teenagers and hopes to eventually segue into the visual arts.She said she loves writing books for younger audiences and that she enjoys interviewing children and teenagers for her nonfiction books, which include “Teenage Fathers,” “Teenagers Face to Face with Bereavement,” “Soaring Spirits: Conversations with Native American Teens,” “The Driving Book” and two books on puberty – “The Period Book” for girls and “What's Going On Down There?” for boys, which have sold about 350,000 copies and 100,000 copies, respectively.”I really like talking to teens – they are as intellectual and articulate as adults and they will share their experiences with you if they think someone will benefit from it, even if they are bad experiences,” she said. “They are amazingly open about stuff adults would never be open about. They are very eager and give you a fresh perspective.”Gravelle stumbled into writing when she was working for an independent film producer in Los Angeles about 20 years ago. She had previously attended Duke University as an undergraduate, studying Spanish, and later earned a Ph.D in science through a City University of New York program with the Natural History Museum in Manhattan.The film producer's partner was writing a book about the sensory system and Gravelle said she could help with the editing. Around the same time he received a contract for the book, Gravelle dabbled in writing children's fiction. She said friends convinced her to send out samples to publishers and she eventually got her own contract.Although she does not have children of her own nor does she have any relatives with young children, Gravelle said she enjoys reading children's fiction, which is what inspires her to write it.”They say there are two types of people who write children's books: people who write for their children and people who never grew up,” she said. “I'm one of the ones who never grew up.”Gravelle said medical writing, including articles about cancer or the immune system for media journals, Web casts and newsletters, is responsible for about 70 percent of her yearly income. The other 30 percent comes from sales of her children's books, which she considers her passion.Although the marketing of a book is often the key to an author's success, Gravelle said it is an aspect of being a writer to which she gives little thought.”I don't write for audiences – I write about things and publishers figure out who to sell it to,” she said. “Some of the books I thought were the best were not the ones that sold most. You can't tell how good a book is by how much it sells.”Gravelle publishes about one children's book per year. She said she is currently working on a novel based on one of her dreams, but said she does not have the patience to write an adult book. She often takes photos for her book projects and would eventually like to make a documentary film companion piece to one of her books, although she does not plan to direct it. She said a dream of hers is to collaborate with an animator on a film based on one of her works.She said she likes the lifestyle which her writing provides for her.”I can write in my nightgown while watching 'I Love Lucy' – it's a great gig for me,” she said.Reach reporter Nathan Duke by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 156.
