Growing up, I used to think about this quite a lot. As a comic book fan, it kind of comes with the territory. When I was a kid, I thought Wolverine was really cool and wanted to have claws like his. Now that I'm an adult, I know better. I mean really... what am I going to do with claws? I don't want to cut anybody. I'm a lot more practical in my approach to this sort of thing now. As the father of a two-year old boy, with another baby on the way, I want the power to stop time... so my wife and I can sleep. Oh, how we miss sleep.
What do you admire most about Jack? Why?
I think my favorite thing about Jack is his courage and determination. People are constantly telling him that his life is going to end up a certain way, and there's nothing he can do about it. They say his future is what it is, and that is that. The standardized tests Jack takes at school even predict he will grow to be a "toilet brush cleaner" of all things. Jack doesn't buy into any of it. Even when he gets to the Imagine Nation, and people have very different concerns about his future, Jack doesn't back down. He has this courageous underdog quality about him that I love. Babe Ruth said, "you can't beat the guy who never gives up." That's Jack.
How would you describe Imagine Nation to someone who didn't believe?
You have a wonderful cast of characters in Jack Blank. Which character surprised you the most in terms of character growth from when you first starting writing the story to when you were finished writing it?
Jazen surprised me the most because he was originally two different people. In addition to Jazen, who brings Jack to the Imagine Nation, there was another character who took care of Jack once he got there. When I was done writing, it was clear that neither character was getting enough face-time in the story, and since they both served the same purpose plot-wise (and in their relationship to Jack), it made sense to combine them. Doing that created a far more robust and interesting character than either one of them was on his own. Truly a situation in which the whole was greater than the sum of its parts.
Your writing for Imagine Nation is brilliant. What or who inspired you to start writing?
I liked that Jack has a love for comic books, and his favorite characters all live in Imagine Nation. Did you share that same love for comics books when you were Jack's age? If so, who was your favorite character?
I was a huge comic book fan. I still am. For my favorite character, I have to go back to the one whose powers I wanted so badly back in the day— Wolverine (even if I don’t have any use for his claws as an adult).
Thanks so much for having me on the blog!
Thank you so much for joining us today Matt! If you do develop the power to stop time, please share your secret with us!!
More info at:
Thank you Matt and Simon & Schuster, we have a fabulous Jack Blank prize pack to giveaway. We have a finished copy of Jack Black and the Imagine Nation AND a very cool comic illustration of Jack Blank drawn by Matt!
I am so buying this for my 11 yo DS!! Thank you for the interview and the review last week!!
ReplyDeleteThis sounds great, and I love the cover! It portrays such a great sense of danger and adventure.
ReplyDeleteThis looks like an interesting book!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for hosting this interview! :)