Richard: Briefly, I was born in Allendale, New Jersey on February 20, 1926.  I grew up in Brooklyn and graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School.  I enlisted in the Army Specialized Training Program and attended the same at Cornell University.  When the program shut down, I was put in the Infantry and went to Germany in December 1944.  I got frostbitten feet and was hospitalized, then discharged from the Army in June 1945.  I attended the University of Missouri from September 1946 to 1949.  Graduated in June 1949 with a Bachelor of Journalism degree.  I started writing professionally and sold my first story in the fall of 1949.  I wrote short stories and novels, and sold THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN to Universal in 1955 and wrote the screenplay.  Went on from there to write more novels and short stories, screenplays and television scripts.  I wrote 14 Twilight Zone scripts and a number of theatrical films including SOMEWHERE IN TIME, and many TV films including DUEL, THE NIGHT STALKER, THE MORNING AFTER, and THE DREAMER OF OZ.  I may have a play produced this year in London; a suspense-mystery.
 

Bev: Your young adult book, ABU AND THE SEVEN MARVELS, is sure to become a classic...it's a book that kids and parents will want to read over and over.  It is certainly different from your adult fantasy novels (Stir of Echoes, What Dreams May Come, and The Incredible Shrinking Man).  You are also well known for your Twilight Zone episodes.  What is it like to write for such different audiences?

Richard: I don't differentiate my reading or viewing audiences.  I write the same way in all mediums.  I "see" the story in my mind, hear the dialogue, write it down.  It is more complicated to do it in prose, since I do everything. In films and television, there are many people who work with the material.  But, of course, you don't get complete credit as you do with short stories and novels.
 

Bev: What does it feel like to know that you have been an important influence to such great writers as Stephen King and Ray Bradbury?  Has any other author been an influence on your work?

Richard: I may have influenced Stephen King (he has said so), but if anything, Ray Bradbury influenced me -- and every other writer in the genre that I new personally -- i.e., Charles Beaumont, William F. Nolan.  I can't be sure what other writers influenced me, I read so many of them.
 

Bev: How did you come up with the idea for ABU?

Richard: ABU was, in 1961, planned as a cartoon -- which never was made.  The story was devised by me and William F. Nolan - who should have a co-credit on the story in the book and will in the next printing.  Years later, I wrote it as a novel but it has to be a good 40-plus years ago.
 

Bev: The characters in ABU are great...I really enjoyed Zardak and the Genie.  Which character in ABU did you have the most fun creating?

Richard: I think I had the most fun creating and writing the old, cranky, inept genie.  I think he's pretty funny.
 

Bev: What was it like to work with William Stout: Did his illustrations accurately portray the mental images you had while writing ABU?

Richard:  William Stout's illustrations are marvelous.  I couldn't ask for more.
 

Bev: Do you have any other children's books planned?

Richard: Since it has been so long since I wrote ABU, I don't plan on writing any more children's books.  Gauntlet Press is giving out a chapbook with the limited edition of ABU, a children's story entitled PROFESSOR FRITZ AND THE RUNAWAY HOUSE.  Pretty amusing, I think.  But I never repeat myself.  It is startling to me even now that I wrote five westerns.  I was into westerns at the time obviously.  I'm not now.  Nor into fright stories or suspense stories - I have one more coming out in July entitled HUNTED PAST REASON by TOR Books.  That's it.
 

Bev: Do you think ABU will eventually be made into a movie?

Richard: I plan to submit ABU to various animation producers.  I hope it will be made into a feature -- with my screenplay.
 

Bev: What is your opinion of the computer age and it's effect on publishing?  Are any of your books available in e-book format?

Richard: I am completely in the dark about the computer age.  I never bought one.  I write in longhand and have it typed up.  The only think I have on computer is on my website.  I made a metaphysical CD and it can be downloaded from my website.  It's called REALITY.  Metaphysics is what I am really interested in these days.  I have a book coming out in a month of two called A PRIMER OF REALITY.  I had a book entitled THE PATH: A NEW LOOK AT REALITY published some years ago.  As far as fiction is concerned, I hope to concentrate exclusively on writing plays.
 

Bev: Do you have any other thoughts you would like to share with us?

Richard: I think there is a nice moral basis for ABU.  I am pleased with that.  I hope it is a point not lost on children.  That LOVE is the most important marvel in the world.

Also, a slogan which I have repeated many times - I don't know where it came from -- is this: THAT WHICH YOU THINK BECOMES YOUR WORLD.  I think this is true on all levels from the most fundamental physical level to the highest spiritual level.  Think about it.

Here is a rare treat from one of my all time favorite authors, but certainly a departure from his other works.  Abu and the 7 Marvels is Richard Matheson's only children's book.  He takes you to the land of genies and their magical feats with a bewitching twist on the traditional quest tale.

The King is in search of a husband for his beautiful daughter, but she falls in love with Abu, a young peasant.  The King certainly doesn't want his daughter to marry a peasant, and so he assigns Abu an impossible mission to prove himself worthy and gain the hand of the princess.  Abu, ever optimistic, sets off with an ancient, crotchety genie in search of the seven marvels of the world.  This is no ordinary genie and search story.

With the sure touch of a master, Matheson creates unique characters to be remembered forever, and a funny, exciting story to be read over and over again.  From a flying carpet that keeps unraveling, to a land made of sweets, and a city under the sea, this tale takes readers on a magical journey of true love, bravery, glittering treasure, and intrigue. The villains gaining on Abu and trying to stop his quest give the story just the right amount of excitement and suspense.  The wonderful illustrations by William Stout add visual impact to the story.  It will certainly become a classic.

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