May 31, 2012
Hydra publications author Travis McBee is on today for an interview. His book Bridgeworld is a great YA sci fi read, one to check out.
William Haynes was the type of guy that everyone either wanted, or wanted to be. He was an honor roll student and captain of his middle school football team. He was dating the most popular girl in the school and had dozens of friends. Yes, life was perfect for Will…that is until a strange man shows up and forces his parents to reveal a secret they have kept hidden since he was born. He is told that he has been given a scholarship to a prestigious private school that his parents attended, a private school that happens to be in space. Will must choose between a life many would die for and a life none could imagine. A life where he is no longer perfect, where he must make new friends, and where he must survive a school rivalry like no other.
Please tell me about yourself –
Well I’m twenty-two, live in the mountains, and I write books. Wait a second…does that sound cliché? Crap…
How long have you been writing? –
I’ve been writing seriously for about two and a half years now. Before that, it was nothing more than a hobby.
You have a YA book out, a children’s book out and soon an adult novel. Do you have a preference ? –
I can’t really chose which one I like more. They all have their appeal. Writing a children’s book is a lot of fun because it’s short, and innocently fun, but it’s very limiting in some respects. You have to be careful which words you use—both because of inappropriate words and words that are well above the audience. Young adult is fast paced and I can pretty much let loose my vocabulary, only worrying about cuss words. I still have to be careful what I show in young adult though: I have to limit the gore and sex. Writing for adults give me completely free range. I can show as much gore as I want, have my characters speaking like that actually would (i.e cussing up a storm on occasion), and show people doing the things that people do. Adult books can be tedious to write however, they aren’t nearly as fast paced and adult audiences demand much more attention to detail than younger ones. So a short story long, they are all fun in their own way.
What are you reading now? –
At the moment I’m reading “The Dead Zone” By Stephen King
Favorite books and authors –
My favorite authors are Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Garth Nix, JK Rowling, and Neal Shusterman.
Tell me about your writing influences –
My writer-idol would have to be Stephen King. His love for his job is evident in everything he does and I loved his book “On Writing” Other than him, I’m really influenced by everyone I read. I always take something away from a book—even if it’s something I don’t want to use because it was awful.
Tell me about Bridgeworld it sounds fascinating –
Bridgeworld is a book about a boy whose parents are from outerspace. What sets them apart from aliens in most fiction is that they’re human, just like me and you. The boy, Will, grows up on earth without a clue that his parents aren’t from Boston like they always told him. One day he notices a man following him around and is eventually confronted by the man. The man forces his parents to reveal the truth about their past and he is offered a scholarship to Bridgeworld, their old school which orbits the distant planet of Broglio. He accepts the offer and is taken to a school in space that is so different it’s amazing, and so familiar it’s terrifying.
And future works –
I finished the sequel to Bridgeworld a few weeks ago and it’s currently with my publisher. It’s supposed to come out in July. I’ve also secured a new contract on my Chronicles of a Second Grade Genius series and they will be republished and added onto this summer as well. Also coming out in June is the sequel to my novel for adults, “Triton: Rise of the Fallen” which was just released a few weeks ago. It is called “Triton: The Call of War”. I’ve been very busy and have a lot of books coming out. It’s very exciting.
Thank you for having me!
Posted by Jessica ( frellathon ) in Books, Interview Tags: Bridgeworld, Interview, Sci Fi, Travis McBee, YA
