Welcome to this Track of Words Author Interview, in which I chat to author Carrie Harris about her new book Liberty & Justice For All, which kicks off a new series of Xavier’s Academy novels from Aconyte Books. What’s not to love about prose novels exploring interesting characters from amongst Marvel’s X-Men? If, like me, you grew up watching X-Men: The Animated Series, this is a very exciting proposition! It’s due out in ebook and as a US paperback on the 3rd November, with the UK paperback due a little bit later on the 10th December.
Let’s get straight into the interview – over to Carrie!
Track of Words: How would you describe your new novel Liberty & Justice For All?
Carrie Harris: It’s an origin story for a pair of mutants that I’d argue haven’t gotten their much-deserved time in the spotlight. But it’s also full of the things that I personally love about the X-Men – some fan-favorite characters, plenty of Sentinel bashing, a few difficult moral dilemmas, and a bit of amusing snarky dialogue.
ToW: Without spoiling anything, who are the main characters and what do we need to know about them?
CH: Well, the two main characters are Triage and Tempus. In this book, they’re college-aged, and they’re relatively new to their powers and to the school, so they’re trying to figure out what the heck’s going on and how they feel about it all. Triage is a healer, and Tempus freezes time.
ToW: Where and when is this story set?
CH: The story is set at the New Xavier School in what I’d argue is a very interesting time in the X-Men timeline. The school has split into two pieces, with Cyclops running one part out of the old Weapon X facility (where Wolverine got adamantium-ed) and Wolverine running the other part out of the mansion. Anti-mutant sentiments are high, and the number of mutants in the world has been significantly reduced due to the events of M Day. Many of the remaining mutants aren’t as powerful as they used to be. So it’s a prime opportunity for some cool new mutants to take the stage. If you’re a comics fan, this story would fit right around issue 15 of Bendis’s run of Uncanny.
Also, “adamantium-ed” is too a word.
ToW: As an X-Men story that’s focused on less well-known characters than the big names, is there anything in particular about this world and these characters (or any previous stories) that you would recommend readers are familiar with before making a start on the book?
CH: I really wanted to write a book that would be accessible to new Marvel fans while still containing plenty of Easter eggs for die-hard X-fans to enjoy. So if you’ve only seen a Marvel movie once, you should be able to pick up this book and understand it. But if you’ve read all the comics, you’ll also have some inside information about why these characters don’t like each other and what happens next. So hopefully it’s an enjoyable experience regardless of your Marvel background. That’s the goal, anyway.
Still one of the best theme tunes of all time…
ToW: How much of a fan of Marvel’s mutant characters were you before you wrote this book?
CH: A huge fan. Like, Juggernaut huge. I got into the X-Men through the cartoons when I was a teenager. We didn’t have a comic shop in my little town, but I got individual issues whenever I could. If it had X-Men in it, I wanted it. The early 90’s run of X-Men will always have a special place in my heart, because that was my first introduction to the world. So getting to write this book was a dream come true to me as a fan. As soon as I heard that they were doing X-Men novels, I wanted it. I would have camped outside the offices in cosplay for a month if that’s what I had to do to get my foot in the door. Luckily, it didn’t come to that!
ToW: What appeals to you about the X-Men, and Triage and Tempus in particular, as characters to write about?
CH: The X-Men in general are so complicated, with tons of potential stories to tell. I also love the fact that they have such a variety of interesting mutant abilities. That’s a large part of what drew me to Triage and Tempus. I thought that the novel would give me an opportunity to really dig into characters with less flashy powers in comparison to comics or TV and film. Because those formats are so visual, a lot of the really great moments go to the characters who can bend metal with their mind or call down lightning. This felt like a good opportunity to pick some of those characters with quieter abilities and show how they can be just as cool.
I think you can argue that Tempus does have a somewhat flashy ability – her time bubbles really look terrific on the page. But I felt like there were a lot of fun things to do with those time bubbles that could really be explored in prose. As for Triage? Well, I almost always play the healer when I game, and I think healers are cooler than most people realize. So I wanted to write a story where the healer quite literally saves the day.
ToW: Of all the stories you might have told for an Xavier’s Institute novel, what made you want to write this in particular?
CH: I would love to tell a billion Xavier’s Institute stories, and they all appeal for a variety of reasons. With this one, I felt like I had a lot of space to work. Triage and Tempus have a lot of unexplored territory in their histories and personalities to play around with, and that gave me the opportunity to do some fun stuff.
ToW: Have you adapted comic book characters into prose stories before? Can you talk a bit about how you go about doing that, and what the challenges/opportunities are?
CH: This is my first comic book tie-in, but I’ve done a bunch of RPG tie-in work before. So I had a basic idea of how to write in a pre-existing world with already established characters. I think the most important thing about that is to have a deep understanding of the fandom and what people love about it. First and foremost, I tried to write a book that would thrill me as a fan of the X-Men.
I found that digging deep into the comics and figuring out exactly where the story fits helped a lot. There’s so much material there, and being able to say that X hasn’t happened yet, but Y has really made it easier for me to keep my facts straight. Also, the editorial team and the reviewers at Marvel were top notch and made the manuscript 1000 times better.
ToW: What do you hope readers will get out of this by the time they’ve finished it?
CH: I think the X-Men are such terrific characters, and I think novels give us a real chance to get to know them on a different level. Fans of the comics talk a lot about the mutant metaphor, and how anti-mutant prejudice is reflected in real life in a variety of ways. I think that novels give us a chance to explore what it’s like to be a mutant on a different level, without losing the cool fights and witty banter that you’d find in the comics. So I hope readers will come out feeling like this book fits in with the X-Men universe and builds on it in an interesting new way.
ToW: Do you have more stories planned for these characters in future?
CH: Each book in this series is stand-alone, so not at the moment, but I sure would jump at the opportunity to do one in the future.
ToW: Can you tell us anything about what you’re working on with Aconyte for future release, or anything else you’ve got in the pipeline?
CH: This has been such a great experience, and I’m still just as excited today as I was the day I got the offer. I don’t have anything to announce just yet, but please cross your fingers for me! I’m also working on a variety of fun non-Marvel projects, including Elder God Dance Squad, which is like Bring It On meets Stranger Things, and I’m super excited about that.
Thanks so much for having me and for helping to spread the word about Liberty and Justice for All!
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Huge thanks to Carrie for taking the time to answer these questions and give us the lowdown on this awesome-sounding book! Make sure you follow Carrie on Twitter for all the writing news!
Check out my review of Liberty & Justice For All.
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