Were you born in Los Angeles?
I was born in a small farming town in Northern California. I moved to the Bay Area for college and later moved to Los Angeles for a job as a tour guide at Warner Bros. Studios. Both the Bay Area and Los Angeles feature prominently in my first published novel, Do Not Resuscitate. I’ve yet to feature a small town like the one where I grew up in any of my published works. However, I’ve written several personal essays about my childhood in Northern California that have not yet been published. I think the places where I’ve spent lots of time tend to influence a lot of what I write.
What is your best childhood memory?
Easy answer: Disneyland.
How do you think earning a degree in mathematics has helped you in your career?
My degree in mathematics has allowed me to work for over a decade as a middle and high school math teacher and tutor. I don’t make enough money from selling books to support myself, so I am grateful every day that I made the decision to get a degree in math since it keeps me employed. However, both my degrees in mathematics and astrophysics inspired my second published novel, The Maiden Voyage of the Destiny Unknown, about a crew of human lost in space. I actually did a great deal of mathematics and physics to calculate the travel times and distances for that epic space voyage. Although the book is satirical with many completely fantastical elements, much of the physics is indeed accurate.
Since how long have you been a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers & Illustrators?
I’ve been with SCBWI since 2019. Since that time, the society has honored me with several accolades: the Sue Alexander Grant in 2020, the Writers Day Contest Award for YA in 2021, and the Writers Day Contest Award for YA in 2022. The truth is, without SCBWI, I would never have found my fantastic literary agent, Stephanie Rostan, at LGR Literary. The lessons I’ve learned from all the SCBWI conferences and workshops have proved indispensable. I encourage any writer of children’s literature to sign up ASAP.
What was your reaction when you were awarded the Sue Alexander Grant?
Wow. I was so thrilled when I learned that my unpublished YA novel about a boy struggling with OCD (Boy, Obsessed) won this prestigious award. In fact, it was the first time my writing had ever been recognized by a mainstream organization, and it encouraged me to pursue the traditional publishing path. I found my wonderful agent, and we’ve been working to get Boy, Obsessed in the hands of traditional publishing houses ever since.
How often have you embodied the role of Jim Frost? What’s going to surprise people about this character?
Hah. Jim Frost from Do Not Resuscitate is the version of me that says whatever he’s actually thinking. In my day-to-day life, I tend to be overly diplomatic. I wish I could say whatever I think like Jim Frost does. The truth is that I write to express all of the things I have trouble saying aloud. Writing is therapeutic for me. The biggest surprise about Jim Frost is that he is so morally gray—a passive vessel—yet he makes you want to keep reading.
What challenges did you face while writing the novel short story, The Button?
The Button is a short story about a lonely man assigned to guard a button that when pushed will end the entire human race. The challenge of this novel was keeping the reader guessing: will he or won’t he push the button? I had to make it feel plausible that this lonely fellow would do such a thing. You’ll have to read the story to find out what finally happens.
What motivated you to start writing your own books?
I don’t know. I’ve been writing my own stories since the third grade when I made an illustrated series about anthropomorphized animals in a woodland kingdom called Fifi Forest. My third grade teacher offered to submit the stories to a magazine for publication, but I was too self-conscious to consent. So the stories ended up in the trash heap of history. And now I wish I had published them!
What are some of the biggest mistakes new writers make?
A lot of new writers are too scared to let anyone else read their work, thinking it has to be perfect before anyone can see it. I don’t know if that’s a mistake, but I do know a lot of writers who have spent years trying to perfect a single project without any input from the outside. It sounds truly tedious to me. I like to get input early—before I even finish writing the first draft. It’s a lot easier to make adjustments based on critiques when you haven’t already completed the whole novel.
What’s your perfect Sunday afternoon look like?
Going to a public library or a local coffee shop and writing for a few hours. Then going for a walk and having lunch out somewhere—usually something simple like In-N-Out.
What advice would you give to an aspiring runner just starting out?
Oh, man. Running. I was a crazy obsessive runner for twenty years. I ran marathons. I coached high school cross-country and track. Now I don’t do any of that. I run very rarely because I don’t think it was very good for me psychologically. If you want to start running, don’t be obsessive about it if you can help it. Try to do it leisurely and don’t beat up on yourself when you have to stop and walk. The quickest way to defeat yourself is to say, “If I don’t do _ miles every day, then I’ve failed.” That often leads to not running at all. Do what you can and be happy with that.
When you have a five-minute break during writing a book, what do you spend that time doing?
Eating a snack.
How did you first come to know that your book, Do Not Resuscitate won a Reader Views Reviewers Choice Award?
I think I got an email with a review attached. Even more important than the award is the actual feedback you get from the reviewer. They said, “Ponticello's style is like a wholesome Palahniuk or less trippy Vonnegut.” That was about the biggest compliment I could have received since Kurt Vonnegut is my all-time favorite author.
If someone was going to make your life into a movie, who would play you?
I want to pick someone youngish, since I think the most interesting story to tell about my life takes place from high school to about the age of 30 when I suffered the most from OCD. I also want to pick someone without a lot of credits since I don’t think someone super famous should play me. So I’m going with this kid I just looked up online under “Italian actors” named Gavin Casalegno. I’ve never seen him act, but he’s currently starring in Amazon Prime’s The Summer I Turned Pretty, and he looks kind of like me when I was younger.
How has your experience with AllAuthor been?
Wonderful! I highly recommend that new authors get on AllAuthor right away and use the amazing promotional tools (including banner images and gifs featuring your book!). The folks at AllAuthor really want to help you get publicity for your books. Do it!
