Today on “10 Questions With…” we have Tim O’Shei from Live! Starring … You!

1. Can you tell readers a bit about your background in writing?

Sure. I’ve always focused on entertainment, sports, business and children’s writing. The magazines I’ve written for range from Dance Spirit to The Sporting News to Scholastic’s Scope, which is for middle schoolers. As an author, I’ve written more than 60 books for kids on subjects like spies, princesses, and survival.

One of my favorite things about writing books is author visits in schools. When I do those visits, I like to tell kids about my succession of dreams, all of which seemed to fail (but actually didn’t): When I was 4, I wanted to become Superman – but couldn’t fly. At 10 I wanted to become a rock star – but the only instrument I was good at was the tuba. Then, at 14, I wanted to be a baseball player — but couldn’t hit the ball.

By 16, I realized I was pretty good at writing, and that I loved doing it. I pitched a story about a baseball scout (who was also a family friend) to a national magazine called Baseball Digest. The editor called and said, “I like your idea, but I have no idea if you can write. Go ahead and do it, and if we like it, we’ll pay you $150 and publish it. If not, then that’s it.” So I went ahead and did the interviews, wrote the story, and got it published. The editor was pretty happy with it and offered for me to do more writing for the magazine. So, in 11^th grade, I ended up interviewing big-league baseball players in the locker room and on the field.

Through that, I realized that that writing was a great way to touch all of my dreams – and in a sense, make them come true. Over the next bunch of years, I interviewed hundreds of athletes as a sports writer and hundreds of performers – including rock stars – as an entertainment writer. Once I got to play a game of “professional” baseball, which was actually a movie shoot. (I was writing a story about this baseball movie and they asked me to be an extra, playing left field for a team called the Omaha Royals.) I even interviewed two actors who played Superman – Christopher Reeve and Dean Cain – which I suppose is the closest I could possibly come to that dream!

2. You have written for dance publications during your career. Which ones have you done articles for and how did you get involved with the dance world?

I’ve written a bunch of stories in the last four to five years for Dance Spirit and Dance Teacher. Both are great magazines. I got started when I met a woman named Katia Bachko, who at the time was a Dance Teacher editor, at a writing conference in New York City. I was working on the original Live! Starring … You! book at the time, and wanted to incorporate dance into it. I figured the best way was to write about it.

When I met Katia, she looked at me and said, a bit hesitantly, “Do you dance?” I’m 6-foot-1 and more than 200 pounds  — and I wish I could dance.

“No,” I told her. “But my wife was a dancer. And I’m a teacher.” (Which is true — I’ve taught elementary, middle, high school and college.) Then I added, “So I figure I could write for Dance Teacher!” That worked. I started writing for DT, and DS soon followed.

A funny side note: I actually made my dance debut recently in a dads’ routine for my daughter’s studio. I was dressed as a tulip – with green petals and pink tutu and ribbon socks – and we did a two-minute ballet to Tiny Tim’s “Tiptoe Through The Tulips.” That really made me appreciate dancers’ skills!

3. What do you enjoy about writing articles that have to do with dance?

Dancers impress the heck out of me. They’re so incredibly skilled and passionate. Dance is a perfect mix of athleticism, story telling and visual art.

Beyond that, I’m also fascinated by the mentality that dancers in the commercial world must adopt in order to survive. When you’re a backup dancer for big pop star – Lady Gaga, Beyoncé, Usher, Britney, Rihanna, Justin Bieber, whomever – you’re right on stage, playing a key role in a huge show, and on the receiving end of massive cheers. But they’re almost never meant for you. And once you’re offstage, the makeup is off and the street clothes on, you’re a regular person. Depending how you look at it, that’s either seriously cool or (if you want to be the star) will leave you desperately wanting more.

4. Can you talk a bit about what your latest project, Live! Starring … You!, is about? [Read more…]