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FAQ

• Q. Jake Ransom's Fate
  A. Jake's fate (ie., publication date) is still up in the air. Whenever I get some concrete details--o ... Read More
  A:

  Jake's fate (ie., publication date) is still up in the air. Whenever I get some concrete details--one way or the other--I'll get them posted immediately.

• Q. How do you relate so well to a middle grade audience?
  A. Whatever music you liked in high school is the music you like the rest of your life. I think the sam ... Read More
  A:

  Whatever music you liked in high school is the music you like the rest of your life. I think the same applies to books. What I liked at 13, I still love today: those exciting, pulp adventures that give you a good story, a few chills, and at the same introduce you to a new world – just like Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow.

• Q. How does writing for a younger reader differ from writing for adults? Did you face any challenges writing in this new tone?
  A. The story here is more linear, but is otherwise not much different. I don't think it serves to write ... Read More
  A:

  The story here is more linear, but is otherwise not much different. I don't think it serves to write down to kids. I think a well-told tale will appeal to any age.

• Q. How much research did you do to prepare to write this adventure?
  A. Similar to my adult novels, I love to weave real world facts into the fantastical. This novel – wh ... Read More
  A:

  Similar to my adult novels, I love to weave real world facts into the fantastical. This novel – which centers on the ancient Mayan civilization – required months of research, including trips down to the ruins of Chichen Itza and Tulum in Mexico, and to a set of newly excavated ruins in the jungles of Belize.

• Q. How would you define a heroic character? What unique traits make a hero in your eyes?
  A. While I certainly enjoy a bit of magic and strange science (which you'll see in this story), I also ... Read More
  A:

  While I certainly enjoy a bit of magic and strange science (which you'll see in this story), I also love the Everyman Hero. A character with no super powers, no James Bond gadgets…who must survive by his wits alone against all odds, against all challenges. And that's Jake in a nutshell.

• Q. That's the "fact" side of your story. What about the "fantastical"?
  A. In this story, science and magic blend into a world of prehistoric creatures, ancient peoples, and a ... Read More
  A:

  In this story, science and magic blend into a world of prehistoric creatures, ancient peoples, and a mysterious lost civilization that has left behind bits of strange technology. But to tell you anymore would ruin some wonderful surprises!

• Q. What did you find most interesting/surprising to learn while you mapped out the plot elements of Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow?
  A. During my research, I discovered the Mayas were the first to use the cocoa bean to make chocolate. A ... Read More
  A:

  During my research, I discovered the Mayas were the first to use the cocoa bean to make chocolate. And they also used the sap of the chicle tree to make chewing gum. Even Wrigley used this sap to make their original chewing gum in the 1890s.

• Q. What do you find most exciting about a sense of adventure?
  A. The story started because of a Cabinet of Curiosities that I began putting together from my own jour ... Read More
  A:

  The story started because of a Cabinet of Curiosities that I began putting together from my own journeys: It holds dinosaur eggs, tyrannosaurus teeth, and many other fossils, plus pinned butterflies and other insects behind glass, and ancient artifacts and wooden totems from the four corners of the world. It awakened my own joy of the grand adventure that is life on this world. I knew I wanted to set an adventure that began with this Cabinet.

• Q. What future adventures do you have planned for Jake and Kady?
  A. In future installments, Jake and Kady will continue to piece together clues to their parents' fate, ... Read More
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  In future installments, Jake and Kady will continue to piece together clues to their parents' fate, crossing from one end of the world to another, exploring lost cultures and facing new threats from the mysterious Skull King.

• Q. What specifically attracts you to the fantasy/adventure genre? Are these the types of novels you enjoyed growing up?
  A. I grew up reading Hardy Boys and Danny Dunn's scientific adventures. I loved the old serial pulp nov ... Read More
  A:

  I grew up reading Hardy Boys and Danny Dunn's scientific adventures. I loved the old serial pulp novels from the 1930s and ‘40s: Doc Savage, The Shadow. And it's what I love to write today – stories of high adventure, action, and suspense, and laced with fantastical elements.

• Q. Which character's voice did you find easiest to capture? Do you see pieces of yourself in this character? Why do you think you were able to relate so well to this specific character?
  A. I love writing Jake. He is who I was as a kid: ever curious, impatient, slightly geeky but knowing i ... Read More
  A:

  I love writing Jake. He is who I was as a kid: ever curious, impatient, slightly geeky but knowing it and unable to change. But I can also understand his relationship with his older sister. Being the middle son between three brothers and three sisters, I know this relationship all too well: the arguments, the resentments, but ultimately a deep and unshakable bond of family.

• The Connection to James Childhood
• Jake Ransom and the Skull King's Shadow Book Trailer
• Jake Ransom and the Skull Kings Shadow Cover Story