Interview with Rob Worley
First off, thanks so much for joining us for an up-close and personal interview for TeensReadToo.com!
My name is Jen, and I'll be your server toda...oh, wait, wrong job! Anyway, thanks so much for taking
time out of your writing schedule--which I'm sure is busy!--and answering a few questions for your
readers and fans.
Let's get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you
wanted to be a writer?
My first foray into horror writing was a poem I inked in the first grade. I was quite proud of it because it
was published in some sort of school Halloween newsletter. This was it:
Up and down
In your window
Jumps a little Goblin
He is hairy
And quite scary
It's you he'll try to frighten.
Uh, heh...maybe we shouldn't share that stellar bit of verse with the readers. Are we recording now?
The thing that troubles me about that poem is that I can recall it so readily all this time later. I wonder
what important pieces of information have been locked out of my psyche because of the space filled by
the Goblin poem?
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
I started self-publishing on the Internet in May of 1997 with my website Comics2Film.com. At first I was
writing about a half-dozen entertainment news articles a week, mostly cobbled together from other online
sources.
Gradually I grew my own set of contacts in the film and TV business and wrote more and more articles
that were completely original and exclusive to Comics2Film.com.
By 1999 I was collaborating with a few screenwriters on active projects in Hollywood, helping them
brainstorm pitches and contributing ideas and such. I loved the process of building stories and started
writing my own screenplays.
While I have yet to sell a movie script, putting in the work taught me so much about writing and did
wonders for my credibility as writer. Between the volume of articles on C2F and the various screenplays
I'd written, publishers could see that I was serious and competent about writing.
This lead to me getting work writing for Marvel Comics, and I've gotten steady work in the business every
since.
One of my constant contacts and good friends throughout the process was Shannon Denton, who
publishes with his partner Patrick Coyle at Komikwerks. When they launched Actionopolis I saw it as a
golden opportunity to branch out into a field that I was very intrigued by.
The Actionopolis books were to be targeted at young readers, which is an audience the comics
publishers have a hard time reaching these days, so I was very excited by the opportunity. I sat down
and wrote The Legend of Tigerfist for them, and then Heir to Fire, which actually leap-frogged over it in
the publication schedule.
Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one
thing about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?
Spiders. Heir to Fire has more spiders per page than any other book on the market.
Seriously, kids looking for a ripping yarn with superheroes, monsters and every day issues of
self-esteem should check out Heir to Fire.
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
I'd have to say Stan Lee, the father of modern comics. His writing style, which became the Marvel
formula, always had this great juxtaposition of the ordinary and the extraordinary.
He showed us that stories can be as outlandish (or amazing or incredible or uncanny) as you want as
long as the real parts feel real. As long as Peter Parker was one of us, we could completely buy into
everything else about Spider-Man.
I tried to capture that with Heir to Fire. I felt like if I could get the readers cheering for Ryan, Corrine and
Donut, then I could go as big with the story as I wanted to--and I went pretty big!
Let's hear about your family, who I'm sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
Well, I'm unmarried and have no kids, but my parents are quite excited about the book.
I think sales have doubled just by my mother hand-selling to her friends. She's really taken on, like a
mission, to put Heir to Fire on the best-seller list.
My Dad gets a lot of credit for putting me out on the writing limb to begin with. He's a guy with a strong
work ethic, always a big believer of putting in an honest day's work for an honest day's wages. But about
six years ago he could see I was frustrated with working nine-to-five as a computer programmer and
writing on the side.
So at one point he sat down with me and just helped me untangle the possibility of not working a
nine-to-five job, but instead finding a way to balance things with my writing. I think it went against all his
instincts to point this out to me, but in the end it was that conversation that made me realize the path was
there, if I was willing to walk it.
Now for some fun facts. What's your greatest comfort food?
My Achilles heel is Taco Bell.
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
Feed Itchy and Scratchy (my cats). Feed myself. Write.
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what's the one thing that would
surprise me the most?
That I would never let someone in my house if I knew they were going to be snooping around my
closet/attic/basement. How rude!
Everyone asks the question about "if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?" so I want to know: If
you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?
I'm a writer, so I guess I want to be RED. <* rim-shot *> (Am I the first one to answer this way?)
Who is your favorite cartoon character? Which cartoon character is most like you?
My favorite cartoon character is Mighty Mouse.
Probably the one most like me is Cat-Dog--he's got a lot of internal struggle.
If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world ("Beam me up, Scotty!"), during any time in history,
where and when would it be--and why?
Roswell, New Mexico. June, 1947.
I don't think we know what happened there and I want to find out. I might be disappointed though. Of
course, I'd probably already know the answer in a world that has temporal-spatial teleportation
technology.
So what's your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while
you're writing?
I'm sort of musically aloof. I mostly learn about new music from the movies I see or the TV shows I watch.
In my car I listen to Rob Zombie, Beastie Boys, Chemical Brothers, Green Day, the White Stripes, etc.
When I write I can only listen to instrumental music, so it's usually scores from movies that have the same
feel as what I'm writing.
Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again? What was the last movie
you saw at the theater?
I am usually an avid moviegoer, but time pressures this year have kept me away from the cinema. The
last movie I saw was The Prestige, which I enjoyed.
Movies I watch over and over again: Grand Canyon because I like the message, Robocop because it's
fun, Office Space because it makes me laugh.
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
Think about the possibilities. Hang on to the ones that empower you.
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
2007 should see the release of The Legend of Tigerfist and Heir to Fire: Zephyr Mesa!
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
Thank you!
My name is Jen, and I'll be your server toda...oh, wait, wrong job! Anyway, thanks so much for taking
time out of your writing schedule--which I'm sure is busy!--and answering a few questions for your
readers and fans.
Let's get some of the typical interview questions out of the way first. When did you first know that you
wanted to be a writer?
My first foray into horror writing was a poem I inked in the first grade. I was quite proud of it because it
was published in some sort of school Halloween newsletter. This was it:
Up and down
In your window
Jumps a little Goblin
He is hairy
And quite scary
It's you he'll try to frighten.
Uh, heh...maybe we shouldn't share that stellar bit of verse with the readers. Are we recording now?
The thing that troubles me about that poem is that I can recall it so readily all this time later. I wonder
what important pieces of information have been locked out of my psyche because of the space filled by
the Goblin poem?
Can you tell us a little bit about your road to publishing?
I started self-publishing on the Internet in May of 1997 with my website Comics2Film.com. At first I was
writing about a half-dozen entertainment news articles a week, mostly cobbled together from other online
sources.
Gradually I grew my own set of contacts in the film and TV business and wrote more and more articles
that were completely original and exclusive to Comics2Film.com.
By 1999 I was collaborating with a few screenwriters on active projects in Hollywood, helping them
brainstorm pitches and contributing ideas and such. I loved the process of building stories and started
writing my own screenplays.
While I have yet to sell a movie script, putting in the work taught me so much about writing and did
wonders for my credibility as writer. Between the volume of articles on C2F and the various screenplays
I'd written, publishers could see that I was serious and competent about writing.
This lead to me getting work writing for Marvel Comics, and I've gotten steady work in the business every
since.
One of my constant contacts and good friends throughout the process was Shannon Denton, who
publishes with his partner Patrick Coyle at Komikwerks. When they launched Actionopolis I saw it as a
golden opportunity to branch out into a field that I was very intrigued by.
The Actionopolis books were to be targeted at young readers, which is an audience the comics
publishers have a hard time reaching these days, so I was very excited by the opportunity. I sat down
and wrote The Legend of Tigerfist for them, and then Heir to Fire, which actually leap-frogged over it in
the publication schedule.
Tell us a little bit about either your latest or upcoming release. If you could only tell your readers one
thing about the story that had to convince us to buy the book, what would it be?
Spiders. Heir to Fire has more spiders per page than any other book on the market.
Seriously, kids looking for a ripping yarn with superheroes, monsters and every day issues of
self-esteem should check out Heir to Fire.
What, or who, has been the greatest inspiration for your stories?
I'd have to say Stan Lee, the father of modern comics. His writing style, which became the Marvel
formula, always had this great juxtaposition of the ordinary and the extraordinary.
He showed us that stories can be as outlandish (or amazing or incredible or uncanny) as you want as
long as the real parts feel real. As long as Peter Parker was one of us, we could completely buy into
everything else about Spider-Man.
I tried to capture that with Heir to Fire. I felt like if I could get the readers cheering for Ryan, Corrine and
Donut, then I could go as big with the story as I wanted to--and I went pretty big!
Let's hear about your family, who I'm sure are thrilled to have a published author among them!
Well, I'm unmarried and have no kids, but my parents are quite excited about the book.
I think sales have doubled just by my mother hand-selling to her friends. She's really taken on, like a
mission, to put Heir to Fire on the best-seller list.
My Dad gets a lot of credit for putting me out on the writing limb to begin with. He's a guy with a strong
work ethic, always a big believer of putting in an honest day's work for an honest day's wages. But about
six years ago he could see I was frustrated with working nine-to-five as a computer programmer and
writing on the side.
So at one point he sat down with me and just helped me untangle the possibility of not working a
nine-to-five job, but instead finding a way to balance things with my writing. I think it went against all his
instincts to point this out to me, but in the end it was that conversation that made me realize the path was
there, if I was willing to walk it.
Now for some fun facts. What's your greatest comfort food?
My Achilles heel is Taco Bell.
What are the first three things you do when you wake up in the morning?
Feed Itchy and Scratchy (my cats). Feed myself. Write.
If I came to your house and looked in your closet/attic/basement, what's the one thing that would
surprise me the most?
That I would never let someone in my house if I knew they were going to be snooping around my
closet/attic/basement. How rude!
Everyone asks the question about "if you could be a tree, which tree would you be?" so I want to know: If
you could be a color, which color would it be, and why?
I'm a writer, so I guess I want to be RED. <* rim-shot *> (Am I the first one to answer this way?)
Who is your favorite cartoon character? Which cartoon character is most like you?
My favorite cartoon character is Mighty Mouse.
Probably the one most like me is Cat-Dog--he's got a lot of internal struggle.
If you could beam yourself to anywhere in the world ("Beam me up, Scotty!"), during any time in history,
where and when would it be--and why?
Roswell, New Mexico. June, 1947.
I don't think we know what happened there and I want to find out. I might be disappointed though. Of
course, I'd probably already know the answer in a world that has temporal-spatial teleportation
technology.
So what's your favorite type of music to listen to? Favorite musical artists? Do you listen to music while
you're writing?
I'm sort of musically aloof. I mostly learn about new music from the movies I see or the TV shows I watch.
In my car I listen to Rob Zombie, Beastie Boys, Chemical Brothers, Green Day, the White Stripes, etc.
When I write I can only listen to instrumental music, so it's usually scores from movies that have the same
feel as what I'm writing.
Do you have any favorite T.V. shows? Movies you watch over and over again? What was the last movie
you saw at the theater?
I am usually an avid moviegoer, but time pressures this year have kept me away from the cinema. The
last movie I saw was The Prestige, which I enjoyed.
Movies I watch over and over again: Grand Canyon because I like the message, Robocop because it's
fun, Office Space because it makes me laugh.
You have the chance to give one piece of advice to your teen readers. What would it be?
Think about the possibilities. Hang on to the ones that empower you.
One last question. What stories can we look forward to from you in the future?
2007 should see the release of The Legend of Tigerfist and Heir to Fire: Zephyr Mesa!
Again, thanks so much for joining us at TeensReadToo.com!
Thank you!