Brent Hartinger is the author of six books dealing with issues familiar to a lot of gay teens (like soul-sucking brain zombies, for example). Here he shares his thoughts on everything from life in Hollywood to the concept of a flip book.
Your newest book, Split Screen: Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies / Bride of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies is the follow up to Geography Club and The Order of the Poison Oak. The book is actually two stories in one. What made you want to write the book this way?
I actually pitched it to my publisher as two complete, separate books published simultaneously. Partly, I really, really liked the idea, but partly I was thinking I could fulfill two books off my contract and get paid twice! Alas, my editors quickly saw through my ploy and suggested instead publishing the two books bound together as one, back-to-back and upside-down. I reluctantly agreed, even as I admitted to myself that their suggestion actually made the idea stronger. Made it a good bargain for readers too.
The first book is called Attack of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies, and it's the story from Russel's POV; the second book is called Bride of the Soul-Sucking Brain Zombies, and it's the same period of time told from Min's POV.
But even though the books cover roughly the same events, they're completely different stories: in Russel's story, he finally comes out as gay to his parents (and they end up being not unlike the soul-sucking zombies in the movie he's working on!), and in Min's story, she starts a romance with a new girlfriend (whose status-conscious friends are soul-sucking zombies of a different sort). Kevin, Em, and Otto are all back too.
On your website, you explain that while you wrote your first gay teen novel in 1989, it didn't sell until 2001. What were you doing in between?
Um, good question. Rewriting that first book ten thousand times, for one thing. But also writing plays and screenplays and six other novels. I moved to Hollywood for a year and half, I spent time in New York for the premiere of one of my plays. Basically, I did whatever I could to finally break in. But I must have been a terrible person in a previous life, because no matter what I did, no matter how many "close calls" I had, something always seemed to screw it up. Seriously.
To this day, people excitedly tell me, "This editor is really interested in my book!" and I think, "Do you have a signed contract? Have they sent a check?" Because anything short of that is flattering, but basically worthless. I speak from experience, because I heard that about a hundred times before an editor actually made an offer. There is so much hot air and bull**** in Hollywood. Less so in publishing, but it's still awfully easy for an editor say, "I love your work!I'd love to publish you some day!" No skin off their nose.
What changed when you published your first book?
What changed? I think all that rejection made me a much better writer, ironically. I feel a little sad actually for people who find big success at an early age, because they usually don't understand that that success was probably mostly due to marketing and luck; naturally, they think it's all about their talent. I would too! But luck has a way of changing. The wheel is always turning in this business--you're up one year, then you're down, and there is absolutely NO predicting it.
I believe authors have control over whether their book is "good" or not. But they have almost no control in whether or not it will be a success. I didn't used to think that, but after publishing six books, I now know there is almost no correlation between reviews and sales.
Sometimes I think it's all about the cover. That's it: your entire success is based on whether or not you have a good cover. This is why so many authors drink, incidentally. And I'm completely serious about this! The randomness of this business slowly drives you insane.
You also include a classroom discussion guide and suggest some class projects. What kind of feedback have you gotten from schools?
People love the classroom guides. It's something that I'd recommend every author do. And I know a lot of people hire out as writers of classroom guides, but honestly? I don't think anyone knows a book as well as the author. This is one thing I like to do myself. Then again, I'm a control freak. I like to do jacket copy and press releases myself, too. I'd do the cover photo if they'd let me! This goes back to all those years when my fate was in the hands of others, and they tended to make really bad decisions (at least in MY opinion!).
A lot of gay teens feel isolated. Finding books like yours can help them feel less alone. How do you think most teens discover your books?
That's an excellent, interesting question. I know there are a lot of great, forward-thinking librarians and teachers who buy my books. But one of the stories I most like to hear (and that I hear very often) is that students will discover the books on their own and bring them into their schools and pass them around to their friends. Talk about flattering! (I confess I have a slight prejudice toward those "teen" books that I can't imagine any teen anywhere in the history of time actually ever reading.)
Anyway, this is where the teacher or librarian will come in and discover my books. Through the students. Cool, huh? That's a good teacher, by the way--the one who is paying attention to what actual teenagers are reading and working with that, not just assigning books that were relevant and important fifty years ago.
What kind of books did you read in high school?
I loved, and continue to love, fantasy of all kinds. (I published my first fantasy this year, Dreamquest, for middle schoolers, about a girl who wakes up inside her own brain in the "dream-studio" where they "film" her dreams. Let's just say it's loosely based on my experiences in Hollywood.)
But fantasy is so much better now than it was when I was in school. Actually, teen lit is too. The two kinds of books that I most like reading and writing are two genres that are in the middle of real renaissances right now. I wish I could say I'd planned that, but I didn't!
Find out more on Brent's website.
