DeRpY ReViEwS

Derpy: What is the hardest part of making a successful book series?

Gard: There are a lot of people behind them who have to work hard and also get a little lucky. For the author, getting an agent and then a publisher is really tough. For the editor, it’s dealing with idiots (like me for sure) who don’t have the first clue how the publishing business works. Covers are very important, so the art department and the artist have to find something that really stands out. And the publicity people have a huge task – there are so many great books out there, they need to find just the right way to get people to read their book.

Derpy: Where did the idea of Game Slaves come from?

Gard: I was playing a game and it was right before a boss battle that I couldn’t win. I lost over and over, but to get to the boss, outside the “castle”, I had to kill these three or four minions who always hid in the same spot and always died --- but the save point made it so I had to shoot through them every time to get to the boss (and lose again, it was a tough one.) I was thinking, “Man, I am so tired of killing these three idiots,” and I realized those guys were thinking, “Wow, we are so tired of getting killed by this bigger idiot who can’t beat our boss. If only we could change strategy or hide somewhere else or bring better guns.”

Derpy: Did you have a plan of what Game Slaves was going to be like, or did you have the main idea that just morphed into a book?

Gard: I had a good idea what I wanted to do, and then I got a great editor who showed me how it’s done in YA literature. Want to know something funny? Game Slaves was first pitched by my agent as an adult science fiction book. We very nearly sold it to a huge publisher – and to a renowned science fiction editor – and it would have come out in their adult list. But I think this was the right way to do it -- the right way for Phoenix and Dakota and the team’s story to be told.

Derpy: When you write a book do you do extensive brainstorming and outlining or do you wing it?

Gard: I think about it a lot, mostly while surfing. I know who the characters are, what their world is like, what they want, and where they end up. I’ll have little piles of notes scribbled on all kinds of stuff on my desk. Then I give them a little life, and they take me on a journey, and I forget about the piles. Sometimes they surprise me at the end.

I would just like to take this time to thank each and everyone of you for reading my posts and my reviews. For that I'm very very thankful for. Be sure to check in at the same time same place for the last part.

Thank you for reading, enjoy your day! : )