In a society suffering from what Richard Louv has labeled a “nature deficit disorder,” author Roland Smith creates a dilemma. Louv’s “Last Child in the Woods” has created a movement since it came out in 2007 to get our electronically-anchored kids off the couch, out the door and into nature. Roland Smith’s adventure-based novels would do just that — if you could put them down. Smith’s novels have young explorers going on engaging adventures, be it climbing Mt. Everest (“Peak”), falling out of a jet at 18,000 feet and into the Congo (“Cryptid Hunters”) or trying to protect a parent who has become Big Foot obsessed (“Sasquatch”).

Smith’s adventures are born from a childhood of adventure, a childhood that was typical of most kids growing up in the 1950s. Smith grew up in Portland, Ore., walked most places, rode his bike when he wanted to explore farther than he could walk. At age 5, his parents gave him a typewriter; he quickly became taken by the “the sound and the look of the letters on the crisp white paper.” As an English major at Portland State University, he took a part-time job at the local children’s zoo. His work there would continued for 20 years and play a key role in informing his writing: Many of his novels involve the search for “cryptids,” critters such as Big Foot and the Loch Ness Monster that are thought to exist, but haven’t been scientifically verified. His work has won a host of awards, most recently the 2009 National Parenting Publications Award and this year’s North Carolina School Media Association Young Adult Book Award.

Smith is in North Carolina this week to discuss his work at local schools, as well as at two public appearances (details follow the interview). We caught up with Smith at the small farm he shares with his wife, Marie, south of Portland to discuss his work.

GGNC: How did your childhood inform your writing? Were you like a particular character of yours? Or perhaps a composite?

Roland Smith: All the characters in my novels are composites.  They are made up of people I know, people I’ve read about, my imagination, and there is a small/large dose of me in all of the characters.  I think my main characters are idealized images of myself…meaning they are people that I would have ‘liked’ to have been when I was that age.

GGNC:I’m curious about how you come up with ideas for your books. Take “Peak,” for instance: A story in the current “Outside” magazine addresses the race to put the youngest climber atop Mt. Everest. Is this where the idea for Peak came from?

RS: The old adage “Write what you Know” is a misnomer.  I think you write about what is important to you, what interests you.  In the case of “Peak,” I was born and raised in the Pacific Northwest surrounded by mountains.  In my youth I was a climber, but not a high-altitude climber.  Years ago I saw an interview on television with a woman who was attempting to summit Everest for the third time (she failed the two previous attempts).  At the end of the interview the interviewer pointed out that she was a single mother of a 5-year-old daughter.  He asked her what she had done for her daughter in the event that she died on Mt. Everest.  The woman responded that she had written her daughter some letters.

This might have been one of the most outrageous responses I’ve ever heard.  I don’t know if the woman made it to the top or not, but if she died I’m sure her daughter would have much rather had her mother than a pile of letters.

I think climbing is a wonderful sport and that it can be done perfectly safely if you climb at the right time of year with the right gear.  The problem with Everest is that you don’t know how your body is going to respond to the rigors of oxygen deprivation.  And you cannot control the weather.  One of these conditions can kill you very quickly regardless of your conditioning.    Thousands of people have gotten to the summit of Mt. Everest.  Over 500 people made it to the top last year spending tens of thousand of dollars and weeks to get there.  And for what?  I guess so they can tell people they’ve been to the top, or for the egocentric satisfaction of telling themselves that they’ve reached the summit.

I understand why Sherpa’s climb.  They are at least supporting their families by doing so.  I think this might be worth the risk.  And to a much lesser extent I understand why expedition leaders climb.  They too are making a living.  But why do the “clients” do this?  In “Peak” I wanted to take a look at the “dark” side of Everest.  Most novels for young adults (and adults) are about conquering the mountain.  My novel examines the commercialization of the mountain.

GGNC: “Peak” is a good example for explaining how you research your books. Your account of the ascent is as vivid as any I’ve read from people who have actually been on the mountain. To what lengths did you go to create such an authentic, you-are-there feel?

RS: Again, I used to be a climber, but high-altitude climbing is very different than the sport I participated in.  I read dozens of books about climbing Everest. I know a few people who have reached the summit.  The trick with Peak was to use the climbing nomenclature so people who climbed knew that I knew what I was talking about, but not so much jargon as to detract from the story.  It took me a couple years to do the research and write the novel).

GGNC: How did your fascination with cryptids come about? And this is an obvious question, but I’ll ask anyway: How do you see these creatures as an effective way to pull kids into your stories?

RS: I grew up in Big Foot country. When I was young everyone was seeing Sasquatch in the PNW.  I even tried to catch one in my backyard (in the city) by digging a deep pit.  I caught my mother.  (A scene that I use in “Cryptid Hunters”.)
When I was growing up we believed in everything. Young people are a lot more skeptical these days. Looking for cryptids is not as much about the creature as it is about the journey.  If you aren’t out looking you can’t discover anything.
I was an endangered species conservation biologist for over a decade.  When I write about cryptids I’m really writing about endangered species. If one were to actually exist it would be one of the most endangered species on the planet. Using cryptids gives me an intriguing way to talk about conservation and endangered species biology).

GGNC: Do you have any personal cryptid experience?

RS: No.

GGNC: Your kid characters have great insight into how their parents and other adults think. How does that help in luring young readers into your stories?

RS: My characters are a lot brighter than I was at their age.  One of the interesting things about YA literature is that we have to get rid of the parents so our young protagonists can resolve their problems on their own and become the heroes of the stories.  In real life, if a young person has a problem they should it to take it to their parents and the parent’s resolve the problem. Of course this doesn’t work in fiction.  The stories would be about six pages long.  Therefore I (and all other YA authors) have to think of ways to get the parents out of the picture, or story).

GGNC: When we were kids, our parents would tell us to go outside in the morning and not come back until dinner. Today, parents are loathe to let their kids out of their eyesight. Is one of your goals to rekindle that sense of exploration and discovery, even if it’s looking for crawdads under a river rock and not Sasquatch in a lava tube?

RS: I was raised in the 50s.  The television was black and white [and had three channels].  I lived in Portland, but I never took a bus to school.  I walked or rode my bike, a three-mile round trip.  When I got home we played outside until dinner.  After dinner we played outside until dark.  On weekends we rode our bikes for miles, played with friends.  The “neighborhood” watched out for us.  We didn’t have fast food.  The closest burger place to us was four miles away.  If my parents decided to treat us to burgers we rode our bikes to the burger joint and rode back with our baskets filled with burger, shakes, and fries.  Like I said earlier it’s a different world now.  We didn’t wear seatbelts.  Our parents smoked and drank and all their friends smoked and drank.  I survived.  I didn’t feel as if I were in any danger because this is how we lived.  If we went on a long bike ride and something happened like a flat tire, we’d knock on the nearest door, and perfect strangers would let us use their phones to call home, or they would fix the flat tire, or they would throw the bike into the trunk and drive us home.

GGNC: You have a good kid perspective. How are you able to think young?

RS: I have children and grandchildren.  I don’t consciously try to get into the minds of my young readers. I don’t over-think the process.  I suppose I do pay close attention to people around me, but I’m not really aware of that, either. I just try to write the best novel I can by paying very close attention to the characters in that novel.

GGNC: What’s the main thing you hope to convey to young readers through your books?

RS: When I write a book I’m trying to create readers.  Being a reader is what made me what I am today. I can’t tell you how many gratifying emails I’ve gotten from parents and teachers saying:  “Bobby or Sue weren’t readers until they read your book.  Now they read everything.”  That’s the best reward and “award” there is.

Where he’ll be

Roland Smith will discuss his book at two events, both in Apex:

• Wednesday, 7 p.m., All Booked Up Bookstore, 104B North Salem St., Apex. 919.412.3135.
• Thursday, 6 p.m., Eva Perry Regional Library, 2100 Shepherd’s Vineyard Dr. 919.387.2100.