Introductory Interview (Pt. 2)

Time for the second and final part of my interview from TEEN JUSTICE: Justice Has a Curfew—Book One. This set of questions dives further into the world of TEEN JUSTICE and also provides some more insight into my approach to creative writing. I'm sure you'll enjoy it!

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9. What was the most challenging part of writing this book?

Convincing myself that what began as a cool idea I had as a twelve-year-old was more than just a creative way of purging the succeeding years of trauma. Each of the Teens are Me—not a piece of me, a fully formed, living, breathing, Me. I couldn’t bear the thought of having a Peter Banning (from Hook) midlife crisis before telling my story. All of my stories. Oh, another challenge: having a full-time job really cuts down on available writing time. Lots of late nights.

10. What drew you to this particular story?

I actually wrote a full TEEN JUSTICE adventure more than 15 years ago. It had some good stuff in it, but tonally it was all over the place. A total pastiche of all my influences. When I set out to write the sequel, I realized I had to flesh out the origin story first. I realized that even though I knew who these kids were, there was only so much that readers could glean from exposition, which is always tricky to blend with a moving plot.

11. What other books have inspired you?

The first one that comes to mind is Denny O’Neil’s novelization of the Batman: Knightfall comic storyline. It was the first novel I read that made me think I could write seriously about something fantastic. Later, I read the original Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton and realized that you could turn a two-hour movie into a ten-hour miniseries. (This was years before Western television warmed to the concept of longform serialized storytelling.) Throw in the Animorphs series, any number of DC and Marvel movie novelizations, and bookend my list with Greg Rucka’s Batman: No Man’s Land. 

12. How did you come up with the title?

As crazy as it sounds, the first name I had for my group of non-powered, vigilante teenage heroes was The Avengers! (This was back in the late 90’s when Marvel Comics was in the toilet and I only knew Iron Man from the Saturday morning cartoon that was nowhere near as good as X-Men, Spider-Man, or Batman: The Animated Series.) Eventually, I came up with The Justice Teens and started designing their belt buckles and gadgets with stylized initials. That finally changed to Teen Justice, and the Curfew part came from the first line of dialogue I ever wrote.

13. What is your favorite passage in the book and why?

“You don’t have to be the enemy to beat the enemy,” hands down. It’s a real phrase that my real Granddad said to me when I was a real teenager. It doesn’t get much of a reaction in the story, but it had a profound effect on me. Granddad had a way of espousing wisdom like it was candy, and this piece has such a “great power, great responsibility” or “why so serious?” quality to it that it totally sounds made up. But it isn’t, and it eventually becomes the foundation of one character’s entire worldview.

14. What aspects of your own life helped inspire this book?

Definitely my own struggles with identity and the uncertainty of growing up with one half of a parental narrative. Most of the supporting characters are based on real people, and all of the emotions they experience are authentic. Since the five Teens are all Me, I’ve done most of the things they do . . . good, bad, and otherwise.

15. What can readers hope to learn from this book?

Readers will learn that true friendships can only be bonded in the midst of tragedy. They’ll see how tragedy can be orchestrated with the intensity of love. And they’ll discover that love can evaporate in a moment of ecstasy. 

Also, hopefully, they’ll learn that justice has a curfew.

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That's it for this interview! Hopefully there will be more to come, especially once Curfew—Book Two is released on Friday, November 29, 2024. Until then, be sure to stay tuned for updates, giveaways, and much more!