Stopping by WORD today is debut author W.C. Peever!
W.C., aka Bill, just published the first in the Jumper Chronicles, a series about my favorite wizard. No, not Harry - Merlin!
Charlie is an awkward twelve-year old living a normal life till he is abducted and thrust into a world of ever-looming danger, a world of Magic, of Angry Gods, and Creatures that are should only exist inside of fairytales.
Charlie and his three friends must unravel the mysteries of their new found abilities, save the father Charlie has never known, and uncover a secret that will change their lives forever.
Check out the interview - we talk about the origins of the book as well as some other Merlin books, J.K. Rowling, and the most memorable moments of Bill's life!
Oh, and come back at 12 p.m. EST to enter a GIVEAWAY for this new book! (I would be reading it for review, but my to be read pile fell the other day, and I could have sworn it caused an earthquake.)
N: Welcome to WORD, Bill! What inspired you to write Merlin's Map? Where did you get your ideas from?
W: When Abby (my first daughter) turned one, my wife and I decided that I would “temporarily retire” from teaching high school science and become a full time stay at home father. The decision was completely voluntary on my part and made a great deal of sense considering the fact that she made a great deal more money than me. I thought I had it made, play with my daughter, wash a few dishes and watch Ellen with my morning coffee. What didn’t occur to me at the time was that I was going from teaching organic chemistry and advanced placement environmental science to playing with a toddler, listening to Barney, The Wiggles and Big Bird. At some point, my brain started to feel like oatmeal…and not the nice steal cut kind… I am talking instant just add water. So my wife suggested I write; it was always a simple pleasure of mine, writing, and reading. So I looked out of the window of my sea side house in Massachusetts, it was a cold night in early January, the snow was drifting in that lazy way it dances across the street… and I wrote this sentence “The Wind howled outside the small, colonial blue, seacoast home, as February bared its teeth in the small New England town of Marblehead.” I had no idea where I was going to go from there, no plan, nothing… slowly the story just took on a life of its own; every chapter I wrote was a surprise for me! It was like reading one of those chose your own adventure stories that I grew up with. I was enthralled, and I fell in love with Bailey, Tillie, Charlie and Mick. A great deal of the story you are reading today was not in the first draft, I had an enormous amount of editing and re-editing to do but I am pleased with the end result. So pleased that I have written the second book; Path of the Templar was planned however, not as much fun, but a better book for it!
N: Do you have a favorite Merlin book? I'm a fan of The Lost Years of Merlin meself.
W: I have to say that I am a huge fan of T. H. White’s The Once and Future King, and the sequel that was published posthumously The Book of Merlyn. In these books Merlyn is the wise teacher, instructing Arthur on politics and ethics, something that Merlin needs quite a lot of tutoring in. It was the idea that Arthur was an undisciplined, ethically corrupt individual that always caught my attention, prodding me to ask the question: What would happen if Arthur never learned those lessons… What would Merlyn do? The Jumper Chronicles was born the day I answered that question.
N: You went to Bennington College in Vermont. What's your favorite memory?
W: Too embarrassing to say! It is my favorite memory but the knotty things we do in our youth should stay a memory! I will say that I made many great friends, people who both transformed my life, and helped me become the person I am today. Bennington College is a very, very different place, a place where the students have the power, and the teachers facilitate the discoveries of learning rather than lecture them. I would recommend the college to anyone who would like to stretch their creative wings, and actually fly!
N: You know, that just makes me even more curious to know just what it is you did - but everybody deserves a secret! You get Merlin's power's for 24 hours. (Given to you, of course, by a certain Norse God.) What do you do?
W: Hmmm… Go back in time and give the younger me all of the Harry Potter Books! I would have loved to have been the person who changed YA/MG fantasy! J.K. Rowling is my hero; she literally took Tolkien (my other hero) and made him relevant again. She broke the age barrier and allowed adults like myself who love YA books the opportunity to cheer for Harry, for Peeta and for Jacob! Before Rowling, if you were an adult reading a YA book you were scorned, by her last book, every adult on a plane was reading the tomb! What I would not give to be J.K.Rowling, and the money would not be bad either!
N: Ah, but if you were J.K. Rowling, the Harry Potter books might never have existed! Although I have to admit - she is one amazing woman. Speaking of women, you have two daughters. What's the most memorable thing you've done with them?
W: Each of their births was the most memorable moment of my life. To hold such a fragile person in your arms, know that you are responsible for their health and happiness, its humbling. For the first time in my life I believed in love at first site, because that’s exactly what it was.
N: How do you write? Do you work with outlines, notes, or make it up as you go?
Pen or pencil? Keyboard or typewriter? Microsoft Word or... something else?
W: The first book in THE JUMPER CHRONICLES, was written as I said on my laptop, in front of a roaring fireplace. I just wrote, not outlines, and no net.
Book Two which I sent to the publisher today, was written with extensive planning, outlining, and draft after draft. I put pictures and ideas up all over my study, I just taped them to the wall, and then I put post-it notes on all of the pictures, linking my ideas. It really helped bring the whole thing together for me. I am very happy with how it all worked out. Then I began to write, the first three chapters were so bad I burnt them in the fireplace, but then everything came into focus and out popped around 90,000 words, about 25,000 more than the first book.
N: What are some of your favorite movies?
Love Actually, because it is the first movie that really shows the meaning of Love, and it’s a great holiday flick.
Indian Jones (1-4), some of the movies are better than others, but every time I hear the theme song I get as excited as I was when I first saw Temple of Doom in Kindergarten.
Star Wars, I love them all for different reasons.
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Peter Jackson made Fantasy into Oscar material! I never thought it would happen, but now I cannot wait till The Hobbit is released!
Star Trek, I do not own memorabilia but I loved Chris Pine as Kirk!
Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang, I rediscover this classic Dick Van Dyke movie with my three year old, and the song, Toot-Sweat brought back a slew of fantastic childhood memories.
Thanks you for having me as a guest, and I hope you enjoy my book! Check out my website www.jumperchronicles.com for current contests and information!
Thanks for stopping by! The first book in the series is on sale now - don't forget to check it out!