Interview with W.C. Peever + Giveaway

W.C. Peever, author of The Jumper Chronicles: Quest for Merlin's Map, has been kind enough to stop by Reading with Tequila to answer some questions.

W. C. Peever studied creative writing at Bennington College in picturesque Vermont where he began writing about Charlie. He currently lives with his wife and two baby girls on the beautiful North Coast of Massachusetts, where he has just finished writing the second book in the Jumper Chronicles series. When he is not held up in his study, furiously writing, he is facilitating the exploration of this sometimes scary and always exciting new world that his young daughters are toddling around. W. C. Peever’s love of writing is apparent, but in his own words his “true love is and always will be [his] family.”

Reading with Tequila: Charlie is a world jumper, which is a rare ability. Can you explain what it means to be a world jumper?

Bill: Great Question, the answer to which has changed so much from when I actually began to think about the book to the final copy that you read. At first I saw Charlie’s ability as simply a means to travel to parallel dimensions, in other words worlds identical to ours with a few slight changes. For example in theory if your mother did not decide that it was too dangerous to drive on a snow covered street when you were a teenager and died in a car crash you would never be born. So the theory goes that there is a world out there where you and your mother do not exist but everything else is the same. In the book I have simplified the theory a great deal, but at first Charlie’s ability was just the ability to travel to these other dimensions. The ability changed to include traveling to the other nine kingdoms (Elves Dwarves, Fire Demons..etc) This ability that was hinted at but never used in the first book will become very important as the series progresses.

RWT: The history in Quest for Merlin's Map relies on Arthurian legend. Has that always been of interest to you?

Bill: God Yes! Arthurian Legend, and Tolkien are two important pillars that have always captivated me. But I felt that the stories were getting old, and retold in the same way, over and over again. Yes we have had a few books, movies, and television series, that try to (if you will allow the metaphor) to put new upholstery on an old couch, but it is still an old couch. I wanted to tell the legend from a completely different world view. What if Arthur was not an idealistic fool, bent on doing what is right, as is portrayed in the courtly love poems, and in the Malory-esk cover books to follow. In any case, I took this idea and ran with it.

RWT: You feature a werecat in Quest for Merlin's Map, that can change from a Siamese cat to a tiger - without human form. Is this a creation of your own?

Bill: Gosh, I think it may be. Joelle, as you will find out as the series continues, was once human, and is very old…very very old. When she was turned into a werecat, she tried everything to reverse the process, and the result of the experiment was that she could no longer turn back into her human form. It is why she was such an attitude, and the Siamese cat just seemed to fit perfectly.

RWT: Any hints for what's in store for Charlie and friends in the next Jumper Chronicles book?

Bill: Well, the book is finished, so I am in a good place to talk about what happens next. Path of the Templar Book Two, takes place the morning after book one ends, and follows Mick, Bailey, and Charlie back to their New England home (book two takes place outside of the castle). Tillie will follow soon after, having had her first vision that will send them on a race to find the only way to translate what Charlie found in the first book (see no spoilers for those of you who have not read book one). A new (semi-regular) male character is introduced, the friends struggle with discovering their real feelings for one and other, and Charlie wrestles with a great loss that places his destiny on the precipice of good and evil. After reading the latest draft of Path of the Templar I have to say it is a much more in-depth, and enthralling adventure than book one, you get to really see what Charlie’s world is really like, in a way that I could not capture in book one. I don’t want to give too many of the secrets away, but it you enjoyed the fun read that Quest for Merlin’s Map was, you will not be able to put down the second book in the series. Well at least that is my hope.

Thank you for inviting me into your world today, and if you will pass me a shot, we can drink to the new year.

About the Book

Charlie is an awkward twelve-year old living a normal life till he is abducted and thrust into a world of ever-looming danger, a world of Magic, of Angry Gods, and Creatures that are should only exist inside of fairytales. Charlie and his three friends must unravel the mysteries of their new found abilities, save the father Charlie has never known, and uncover a secret that will change their lives forever.

W.C. Peever on Twitter
The Jumper Chronicles website
Contact W.C. Peever at jumperchronicles@yahoo.com
Reading with Tequila's review of Quest for Merlin's Map

Giveaway

Bill has offered to giveaway one copy of Quest for Merlin's Map to one lucky reader!

To enter, leave a comment. Be sure to include your email address in case you win.

US/Canada only.

Entry deadline: Tuesday, January 25, 2010 at 11:59pm