10 Questions for Al Roker

What inspired you to write a mystery novel?

John West, DURHAM, N.C.

I have always loved mysteries, from when I was 7 years old. The Hardy Boys, Sherlock Holmes, Edgar Allan Poe. I always thought someday I'd love to write a murder mystery. The obvious way would have been to write about a weatherman who's an amateur sleuth, but that would be a little too obvious. I've made my hero a chef. The chef is African American, a little on the stocky side and bald. Which pretty much rules out Will Smith or Jamie Foxx playing me in the movie.

You seem like a sincerely friendly, easygoing guy. What ticks you off?

Terry Reeves, METROPOLIS, ILL.

The same things everybody gets ticked off about. I'm always kind of amused when people say I never seem to get upset. Call it a hunch, but I think a grumpy weatherman isn't something that would play very well.

What is the best thing about being a weatherman?

Michel John Allones

ILOILO, PHILIPPINES

Job security. Unless you live in a dome--and at that point you've got other problems--the weather's always changing. Every day it's different. Every day there's something to talk about.

What aspects of meteorology interest you the most?

John R. Durant, DUVALL, WASH.

The ones I don't understand, which is most of them. No, I love clouds. The different formations and the color gradations--you can look at them endlessly. You know how a fire is so hypnotic? Clouds are much the same way.

Does doing four hours of live television daily ever get overwhelming?

Kyle McKenzie

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y.

My dad drove a bus eight hours a day in New York City. A lot of people have far harder jobs than I have. Wake Up with Al on the Weather Channel starts at 6 a.m. I get up at 3:15; I'm in the office by 4:45. It helps me in a way, because I've already been doing the weather for an hour by the time I get to the Today show.

You were very public about your gastric-bypass surgery a few years ago. Looking back, would you go through it again or try another method to lose weight?

Neil Thakur, ACWORTH, GA.

Yes, I would go through it again, because I tried every other method. But I'm not an advocate for gastric bypass. It's dangerous surgery; 1 in 200 people dies from complications. It's a very complex decision that people have to make for themselves, not because somebody on TV made that decision.

Any suggestions for the rest of us on keeping the weight off?

Sharon Melnick

WELLINGTON, FLA.

It's an amazing secret: if you eat less and exercise more, you will either maintain your weight or lose weight. It's crazy. I've just discovered this.

How and when did you become interested in meteorology?

Juanita Scates, PITTSBURGH, PA.

I had no desire to be a weatherman. I wanted to be a TV writer or producer. In my sophomore year of college, my department chairman put me up for a weekend weather job in Syracuse, N.Y., which was odd because he told me in my first performance class that I had the perfect face for radio.