"David" Interviews David Lubar
Move over, hit TV show Heroes and X-Men, award-winning children's writer David Lubar brings a new gang of superheroes to town . . .
Dear Reader,
This letter seems like a great opportunity for me to answer some of your questions. Since you aren't here at the moment, I've taken the liberty of asking myself those questions on your behalf. I'll do my best to make you look brilliant.
Q: Why did you write a sequel to Hidden Talents?
A: Because they wouldn't let me write a sequel to Silence of the Lambs.
Q: Seriously, why did you write True Talents?
A: There was a lot of demand from readers to find out what happened to the characters. And a lot of demand from my family for food and shelter.
Q: Hidden Talents has become well established as a popular choice with teens and with teachers. It's often recommended both to reluctant and voracious readers. How did you manage to write a book with such broad appeal?
A: Quite by accident. I set out to write a rollicking adventure. Somehow, a fair amount of depth and substance snuck past my guard. By the time I realized what I'd done, it was too late to stop the presses. The next thing I knew, I was respectable.
Q: That book has been called such things as Holes meets X Men, and recently compared to the hit TV show Heroes. How and when did you come up with the idea?
A: Way back in the last century, I was brainstorming, trying to think up something that a group of kids could have in common. As I listed various ideas, I wrote "discipline problems" followed by "gifted." When I saw those two things side by side, I was hit with a whopping idea: what if there are kids who have amazing, undiagnosed gifts that everyone treats the kids as discipline problems? That's that sort of idea that screams to become into a novel.
Q: Can you tell us about some of these strangely gifted kids?
A: Sure. But if you haven't read the book, you might want to skip this part, since it could spoil some of the surprises. Martin, who narrates Hidden Talents, has the ability to instantly infuriate any adult. While this might seem to be a talent shared by all teens, he takes it to new heights. Cheater can read minds. This is how he earned his nickname, since his test answers often matched those of students seated around him. Trash is telekinetic. Torchie starts fires with his mind. Flinch sees just far enough into the future to make him seem twitchy. Lucky finds lost objects because he hears them. Naturally, everyone thinks he's a thief.
Q: Then what happens?
A: They all end up in an alternative school, where they discover their talents, triumph over assorted bad guys, create a minor explosion or two, and learn the disadvantages of rope ladders.
Q: Sounds like fun.
A: That was my plan.
Q: Can you tell us a bit about the sequel?
A: Twist me arm. True Talents takes place a year later. It opens when Trash wakes up from a drugged stupor to discover he's a captive in a research lab. Obviously, the vow of secrecy that the guys made has gone awry in some manner. Trash escapes, the bad guys go after him, and then a lot of things blow up. Not that I equate literary quality with explosions. But special effects are so much cheaper on paper than in film, so I like to use lots of them.
Q: Are the other characters from Hidden Talents in the sequel.
A: Absolutely. And I still feel bad about what I did to you, Cheater. And really bad about what I did to Lucky. But sometimes you have to take one for the team, or for the sake of the plot. Now that I mention it, I sort of feel bad for what I did to Martin, too.
Q: Your books sound pretty good. How come I've never heard of you?
A: That's purely my own fault. I've been trying to call everyone in the country and introduce myself, but I've been a bit of a laggard, and I'm only up to the Aardstines. If your name comes later in the alphabet, or if you pay attention to your caller ID, we probably haven't spoken yet.
Q: Any last words you'd like to leave us with?
A: Well, I hope I have a few years before my last words. But I will say True Talents offers everything a reader could want; a twisty plot, great characters, drama, humor, warped villains, and plenty of surprises. And explosions. Big explosions.
Contributor: Starscape/TOR
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Added 03/28/07
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