Chaim Potok was born in New York City in 1929. He began writing fiction at the age of 16. Today he is the author of work spanning numerous genres: essays, plays, short stories, articles, children books, and novels. His most famous work is The Chosen, a novel about the friendship that develops between two Jewish boys living in Brooklyn in the 1940s. Besides writing, Potok enjoys travel and being with family. "Moon" is from Zebra and Other Stories, a collection of short stories by Potok published in 1998. Below, Potok answers some questions about this story.

How did you decide to write "Moon," and how do the events of the story relate to the true-life story of Iqbal Masih? One morning I heard over the news the story of a boy who had appeared in a high school near where I was living and talked about labor conditions in his country. He had come from Pakistan and had returned there–and was killed in a road accident. That is the core of truth in "Moon." The rest–people, places, tensions, conflicts–comes from the imagination. I don't know why I called the boy in the story Moon. Perhaps because he feels himself to be a pale reflection of his parents: not quite sure of who he is as he tries to work out his sense of self.

What kind of research did you conduct before writing "Moon"? To understand the background of the Pakistani boy, I did a great deal of reading on child workers, on poverty, and the sale of young children. I lived in Asia years ago and saw some of that myself. Also, I spent many hours with my son, Akiva, who is an excellent drummer; he taught me something of the power and mystery of that complex set of instruments. The drums somehow seemed to me to be a splendid way for someone to express a sense of power and self in the presence of helplessness. Playing the drums is also one of the oldest forms of communication, of people talking to each other across chasms of separation.

Can you give some advice to young, aspiring writers? To those of you who want to write: Read as much as you can and write as often as you can. Find a teacher or a friend who will look at what you write and react to it honestly. Get a good education. Go out into the world. Find one or two writers you love, and read everything they've written. And write, write, write, write.