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| Matthew Kadish, Author EARTHMAN JACK VS THE SECRET ARMY |
Matthew Kadish’s
hero, Earthman Jack, continues a “rollicking good time” in the second book of
this “space adventure” in EARTHMAN JACK VS THE SECRET ARMY touted by reviewers
as “one of the best young adult science fiction series.” Kadish, who set out to “create
an epic setting,” integrates humor, entertaining characters, heroes “who do the
right thing” with villains who make it difficult for them, and respect for the
readers’ intelligence. He believes that a writer of fiction is obligated to be
entertaining first and that messages should be “shown” not “delivered.” And although he writes his books for
the youth reader, he takes the “Pixar” approach—adults will enjoy them as well,
just like Pixar animated movies.
Kadish has a
lineup of “lots of stuff” he’s writing, including the third book in the
Earthman Jack series, and mysteries, romances, and SciFi stories. He currently
lives in Las Vegas and likes to go for walks on the beach (in Las Vegas???),
and watch videos of puppies on YouTube.
Don't miss the excerpt following his interview.
Don't miss the excerpt following his interview.
Q: Why did you
decide to write EARTHMAN JACK VS. THE SECRET ARMY, a book reviewers tout as the “perfect
pop SciFi adventure”? Are you a SciFi fan?
Matthew Kadish: Judging from the dating life I had in high school, I can
definitively say that yes, I am indeed a SciFi fan. I decided to write EARTHMAN JACK VS. THE SECRET ARMY because
there was still a lot more story left to tell from the first book, EARTHMAN JACK VS. THE GHOST PLANET. That,
and all the death threats I got from readers if I didn’t continue the
series. Ha ha.
Q: When building your “imaginative
and exciting universe” for a space adventure, did you create the world first
and then the characters? Or vice versa? How do you envision a whole new
universe? Are there rules or guidelines?
Matthew Kadish: With me, it always starts with characters. I come up with characters I find
entertaining, and then I try to figure out their backstories, and the
world-building stems from that.
Sometimes you take a macro-perspective to the world building, where you
create the environment/setting first and then pull characters and situations
from that, but mostly it stems from the individual characters and what would be
fun scenarios to put them in.
I
knew I wanted to create an epic setting for this story, and it’s a difficult
task because it’s not a “fantasy land” confined to a single continent on one
planet where you can place limits on what you’re creating. With my universe, I’m creating multiple
instances of entire planets, with many races on each planet, complete with long
histories, each with their own culture, technology, etc. It can get a bit overwhelming at
times. I’m always sure to keep an
encyclopedia of the world I’m creating handy, which I’ll add to and edit as
necessary, just so I can keep track of everything and keep it all straight.
As
far as I know, there are no rules to this sort of thing. I kinda wish there were. It would make my job much easier!
Q: Your protagonist is described as a
hero. What are the characteristics of a hero? And what makes an effective
villain?
Matthew Kadish: I really like heroes who want to do the right thing, but
always have to work really, really, really hard to do that. To me, a good hero is someone that
nothing comes easy for, and they fight tooth and nail to achieve what it is
they want, despite the odds being stacked against them. Whether that entails getting a date
with a pretty girl or saving an entire planet from an army of aliens, it doesn’t
matter. As long as they are
willing to kill themselves to overcome any obstacle and achieve what it is they
want, that’s what makes them worth following. I always dislike it when things come easy for heroes, so I
try and make life for mine as difficult as possible.
And
part of that is having a good villain.
I think effective villains are the ones that are smarter and more
capable than the hero, so that they are able to create obstacles to the hero’s
goals in a way that actually makes it extremely hard for the hero to
persevere. Not all villains have
to be evil, they just have to have goals counter to that of the hero and be
willing to work really hard to achieve their goals at the expense of the
protagonist.
I
always like to say that the measure of a hero is judged based off how good the
villain he faces is. The better
the villain, the better the hero must be to defeat him. So both aspects are important in
crafting a good story.
Q: Your book has been described as “one of best YA science
fiction series.” Did you target young adults? Or will “old” adults also enjoy
the series, ala Harry Potter?
Matthew Kadish: Yeah, I kinda take a “Pixar” position on YA literature, and
by that I mean that even though the story is geared toward a younger audience,
adults can also enjoy it, because the story is ageless. That’s something Pixar does really well
with its movies. Kids will love
them, but adults will also love them, because the stories and themes transcend
age.
Harry
Potter was definitely an influence on my story in the respect that I wanted to
tell a tale that parents and their kids could read and enjoy, and a young
reader could grow up reading these books and enjoy them just as much as an
adult as they could in their youth.
I have no idea if I accomplished that, but the emails I’ve gotten from
readers seem to point in that direction.
Q: How do you create credibility in
your make-believe worlds? How relevant is back-story? What kind of
inconsistency or “blooper” will cause readers to stop reading?
Matthew Kadish: I think credibility for a “made up” world really comes from
respecting the intelligence of the people you’re writing for. You need to establish rules and laws
for your make-believe universe and stick to them. They can be crazy rules and laws, but as long as you don’t
break them for the sake of convenience, the reader will go along with it.
For
instance, you can’t establish that your fantasy land is as big as Asia, and
then have your hero travel across it on horseback over the course of a
day. Unless it’s a super-fast
magic horse. Then it’s okay! But barring that, once you’ve
established how something works, you have to stick to it. It’s when there are no established
rules and laws, and anything goes, that readers will get upset and stop
reading, because they feel like they’re being disrespected.
Readers
hate it when it seems like the author is making things up as they go, so
consistency is also key. Once the
writer establishes something, they can’t go back and change it for convenience
sake. They have to stick to
it. I see this a lot with
magic. Most authors will just make
it up as they go, and as a reader, I’ll be like “Wait, if they can do something
this powerful now, why didn’t they just do it at the beginning and save them
all some trouble?” But if the
author establishes clear rules as to how magic works, then the author must
figure out how magic is properly used in their narrative, and it prevents
readers from getting distracted by inconsistencies because the author is forced
to tailor the narrative to the rules they have established.
I
think backstory is important to the author, because sometimes it’s necessary for
authors to know more about their fictional worlds than the readers. It just helps the writer add more
detail and realism to their writing.
However, that being said, there is a fine-line between establishing
backstory and boring the reader. I
once read a novel where the writer would point out small details in scenes and
then launch into paragraphs of backstory about those details – like when a
character sees her mother drinking coffee from a mug, and we flash back to her
vacation at Disneyland with her father when she was a child and they bought
that mug. This flashback lasts for
three excruciating paragraphs.
This backstory had nothing to do with the main storyline, they were just
asides that were important to the author because she had written out this
backstory. But as a reader, it was
just boring and distracting, and didn’t need to be there.
I
often find myself removing backstory from my novels, because sometimes I put in
more than the reader needs to know.
Backstory only really needs to be established if it’s important for a
character arc or the main narrative.
Other than that, it should be used like seasoning while cooking –
sprinkled in to give just enough flavor, but not overwhelm. If a writer really feels the full
backstory should be made available to the reader, they can put it in an
appendix. That’s what those things
are for.
Q: Reviewers enjoy the humor with the
adventure and describe reading your book as having “a rollicking good time.”
How helpful is humor to create your characters and tell your story?
Humor
is always important, because if you can make someone laugh, they will be
entertained and associate positive feelings toward your work. Humor is also a device which helps to
endear characters. One of the big “tricks”
to making a character likable is to make him funny. This is why you’ll often see sidekicks or “comic relief”
characters become so popular, because audiences enjoy them more than the main
characters, who often are relegated to more serious roles.
Humor
can also be used as a tool to help carry the reader along through the
narrative. A story that is all
dour and serious can become tedious to read. But if you sprinkle in moments of humor and levity, there is
some relief from the serious nature of the story, and that can compel the
reader to continue on. Humor can
also highlight the severity of a situation. This is why you see “one liners” in action movies all the
time. When something intense
happens, adding humor to give the audience a release can really heighten the
excitement and enjoyment of the moment.
But
at the end of the day, I think it’s important to remember that fiction is a
form of entertainment, and entertainment should be fun. So when I’m writing, I try not to take
things too seriously and have fun while writing my story, in the hopes that the
reader will have just as much fun reading the finished product. If a book becomes boring or hard to
read, something is wrong. But if a
book is fun, it flies by and readers are surprised when it’s over, because they
just couldn’t put it down.
Lots
of authors find humor can be hard to write, but I think humor isn’t really
about jokes, it’s more about how interesting and unexpected something is. I spend the bulk of my time re-writing
a scene by saying “Okay, how can I make this something I haven’t seen before?” And eventually, I’ll come up with
something so unexpected, it feels fresh, new, and fun to me, so I’ll put it
in. I think readers appreciate
that type of thing, because it makes the story more enjoyable when they
experience something different from what they are used to or expecting.
Q: Do you believe that science
fiction is a superior genre to reach young adults? Why?
I
don’t know if I’d call it a superior genre. Reading is such a subjective thing. I remember when I was a kid in school
and I used to hate reading because all I’d ever be assigned to read was boring
old books written long ago in a style I found hard to read when all I really wanted
to read was comic books. I’d
devour a graphic novel like The Dark Knight Returns, but struggle to make it
through two chapters of A Tale Of Two Cities. I do think it’s easier to tackle controversial themes in
science fiction, but I believe every reader has their own taste in fiction, so
the best way to reach across those boundaries are to just tell a good story,
and tell it in a way that’s accessible to as many readers as possible.
Even
people who don’t like science fiction will read it if the story is intriguing,
good, and well-written. And
anything that captures the imagination and gets readers excited will reach a
wider audience. At least, that’s my philosophy.
Q: Did you write EARTHMAN JACK VS THE SECRET ARMY to entertain readers, or did you hide a few messages in the story
to help educate them?
It’s
mostly to entertain, but yeah, I think stories are better when they can
entertain and yet communicate deeper themes and messages without preaching
about them. Some authors can be
really on-the-nose about what they’re trying to communicate, and that can really
turn some readers off. The biggest
example of this I can think of is Atlas Shrugged from Ayn Rand. Atlas Shrugged is a great story, and I
even agree with Rand’s politics, but at certain points in that novel I was just
like “Jeez Louise, lady. I get it! Move on already!”
Unless
you’re writing a textbook, I think authors have a responsibility to entertain
readers first, and educate them second, so the educational aspect should never
overwhelm the entertainment aspect.
And that’s not to take anything away from educating readers, because
people tend to learn better when they are indeed entertained!
My
Earthman Jack books are meant to be science fiction fantasy adventures, but I
also address a ton of serious topics in them. I talk about quantum physics, about fate and destiny, about
the importance of being self-reliant, about spirituality and the nature of the
universe, about relationships between men and women, about life lessons for
those who are still coming of age, and a bevy of other things. But I try to do them in a subtle way
that never distracts from the main narrative. I don’t stop in the middle of a scene and say “drugs are
bad, m’kayyy?” Instead, I’ll write
about a character trying a drug and show the negative effects that drug has on
him, and then explore his thoughts about having done the drug. That’s what’s called “showing, not
telling.”
I
also think the best books are the ones that leave room for readers to assign
their own interpretations to the themes being explored. A writer can certainly say “my book is
about X, Y, and Z.” But the books
people never get tired of are the ones where the author says instead: “What do you think my book is about?”
This
is important because as an author, I understand that once my book is published,
it’s no longer mine anymore. It
belongs to the readers. And if it
is to have a life of its own, that book must be able to withstand scrutiny and
offer up multiple options for readers to explore within it. As an author, I want my books to foster
debate and discussion, and have different people see different things within
it. To me, that’s the mark of
great literature – when a story becomes something unique and special to every
individual who reads it.
Q: What’s next?
On
the writing front? Lots of stuff. I’ve got a laundry list of stories I’m
working on right now. Got a couple
of mystery novels in the queue, a couple romance stories, and a ton of sci-fi
stuff I want to get cracking on. I’m
working on the outlines right now, because for me, once an outline is finished
the writing goes pretty quickly.
So the more outlines I can complete, the faster I can get a book out.
My
next big project will be the third book for the Earthman Jack series. The second book just came out and I’m
already getting emails from fans saying “When can I read book 3?” And I’m like “Give me a break! I literally just released the second
book!” Ha ha ha.
I’ve
also got a graphic novel in the works, and I’m interested in doing some video
stuff as well. My roots are in
filmmaking and technology has now made it so easy to make videos and get them
seen by other people, that I’d like to delve back into that arena. I also have plans to make audio
versions of my books, so that’s on my table as well.
In
short: Tons of stuff!
Q: Tell us about Matthew Kadish. What
do you like to do when you’re not writing?
When
I’m not writing, I like to go for long walks on the beach, watch videos of cute
puppies on Youtube, and go on adventures which usually involve saving the
President of the United States. If
anyone would like to know more about my writing, they can check out my website,
and get a free copy of my book Earthman Jack vs. The Ghost Planet at www.EarthmanJack.com.
About
Matthew Kadish
Matthew
Kadish is an independent author and world-recognized evil genius. When he isn't
writing or being evil, he enjoys relaxing at the beach and videos of puppies.
Much like Scottish cuisine, most of his literary works have been based on
dares. He currently lives in Las Vegas and always bets on black, because
Westley Snipes has yet to steer him wrong in life. He is the most talented
author ever. His mother tells him so every day.
After
his heroic battle against the Deathlords on the Ghost Planet, Jack Finnegan is
looking forward to arriving at Omnicron Prime, the capitol planet of the
Galactic Regalus Empire - the largest and most advanced civilization in the
universe.
Things
are looking bright for Jack. He
has his unconventional group of friends, his mystical spaceship, and the girl
of his dreams - Princess Anna. Not
to mention a secret mission that could save Earth and everyone he cares about.
But
things get complicated when he arrives at Omnicron. Not only is Jack uncomfortable being thrust into the
spotlight for his courageous actions to save the universe, but he soon finds
life in the Empire isn't everything he'd dreamed it would be.
His
friends abandon him to pursue their own interests. Greedy and cunning politicians conspire to steal his
spaceship. Even his relationship
with Anna is strained now that she's gone from being "the girl next
door" to the most powerful woman in the universe.
But
beneath all that lies a new and terrifying threat from the Deathlords. A threat that grows in secret, slowly
spreading throughout the Regalus Empire like a plague, and it threatens to
destroy from within the only thing powerful enough to stop the Deathlords and
their malicious rampage throughout the galaxy - the Empire itself.
Worst
of all - Jack is the only one who knows about this new threat, and no one will
believe his warnings.
Suddenly,
the Empire is no longer safe for Jack and his friends. Even the people they've come to rely on
the most can no longer be trusted.
As those he's sworn to protect turn against him, how can Jack hope to
save the day?
Fighting
the Deathlords was one thing.
Fighting the "good guys" is quite another. Will Jack be able to find the strength
to be the hero the universe needs?
Or
will he finally be defeated by this Secret Army?
Excerpt: From
The Introduction
Jack is now travelling to the heart of the
Galactic Regalus Empire – the largest and most powerful Empire in the known
universe. And this alien boy from
a small town on a distant planet is in for quite the culture shock. As most children learn in their
remedial history classes, at the time of Jack’s adventure, the Regalus Empire
is a little over 10,000 years old and consists of roughly 100 member planets,
300 colonies, and 500 outposts and space stations, spanning close to 30,000
light-years of galactic territory.
Member worlds differ in population size, ranging from a few million to
roughly ten billion citizens. And,
of course, the citizenry is made up of a multitude of different species and
races, creating quite the melting pot of alien culture, all of which are
represented on the gang’s destination – the capitol planet of Omnicron Prime.
And though one would think Jack would be safe
now that he’s entering into Princess Glorianna’s realm, nothing could be
further from the truth. For new
threats are lurking, just waiting to strike, and some of the threats cannot be
fought as easily as a Deathlord Dark Soldier. (And let’s face it, those aren’t the easiest adversaries to
begin with.)
Jack will now have to deal with one of the
most frustrating and insurmountable villains in the universe: bureaucrats. Our hero will suddenly be thrust into the viper’s nest of
intergalactic politics, where power-players aggressively maneuver to take control
of the Ancient Earthship and the secrets it contains – with or without him.
As Jack struggles to come to terms with the
reality of his new life in the Empire, an even more terrifying threat lurks in
the shadows – one whose goal is to destroy the Empire from within, and to wipe
out any organized resistance to the Deathlords as they continue their quest to
eradicate all life in the universe.
It is a threat that has wormed its way into the very halls of power,
making it impossible to tell friend from foe, and leaving Jack with no one he
can trust to help him fight it – not even those closest to him.
After all, how does one defeat an enemy he
cannot see? Who can one depend on
when there’s no one left to trust?
And how can Jack hope to save the day when everyone he’s trying to save
turns against him?
This will be Earthman Jack’s greatest
challenge yet and it will set the stage for the epic adversity he will
eventually face. Our tale begins
on the Ancient Earthship as it is travelling at 99% the speed of light, headed
right for the capitol planet of Omnicron Prime, one month after the events of
the Ghost Planet. This is the
story of Jack’s first steps toward being the greatest hero the universe has
ever known. This is the story of
the corruption that nearly brings the most powerful Empire in history to its
knees.
Links
Twitter: @MatthewKadish
