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The Daily News--Book talk on paper.li

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Operation Mermaid Interview.

Some have been requesting interviews for their blogs. Here is an interview I did (with myself) for Pubslush. The first 4 questions are from Pubslush, the rest are my own. Feel free to use this in your blogs. If you have any other questions,... ask them here and I'll try to answer them. As for the publication date, that is yet TBD. My goal is sometime in 2015.

Interview with Joseph McGarry

What was your inspiration for the book?

I've always been fascinated by mermaids. It's just something about these creatures that live under the sea that has always fascinated me. I loved Disney's The Little Mermaid when it came out in 1989. Then I wondered, what if something happened and there were mermaids all over the world? How would the US Government handle it? That's where I came up with the idea.

Why did you write the book?

I just felt like I needed to get it down on paper, or computer as the case may be. During NaNoWriMo in November 2014, I finally made the decision to write it. I finished the first draft on November 30.

What do you plan to do with the funds you raise?

Some of it will be used yo pay for professional consulting services on the book. The rest would be used to publish copies for contributors and sales at bookstores and other shows, as well as t-shirts and other merchandise based on the book.

Why is the book written as a government report?

I wanted a sense of immediacy and intimacy with this story. Telling the story almost completely through dialogue helped me give that feeling. Also, it allowed me to more easily switch points of view.

Will there be other books in the series?

I'm planning on it. Future books would have a title, and then the tagline, "An Operation Mermaid novel." There might be sequels, and there might also be backstories, such as how Ted and Angela met, or the early days of Project Kraken. If the series were popular enough, I would be open to licensing the characters and situations to other writers, just like Star Trek and Star Wars do now. All that depends on this novel.

Do you have any more information about the book?

For more information, go to my Facebook page. (Copy the link into your browser's address page.
https://www.facebook.com/operationmermaidprojectkraken?ref=aymt_homepage_panel

Who would you like to see play the main characters in the movie or TV version of this book?

I have some ideas on that, but it's way too early to discuss this. If this does become a movie or TV series, and I hope it does eventually, whoever plays the mermaid parts will have to be able to swim underwater just like a mermaid (think Darryl Hannah in Splash). It's a nice dream, but first things first.

Why did you pick 2026 for the date, and why San Diego for the location?

I picked 2026 because I wanted a date in the future, to avoid any comments like, "That never happened." I didn't want it too far in the future, because I wanted current (in 2015) readers to feel some connection to the technology and situations in the novel. As for San Diego, I wanted a city on the ocean. San Diego has a large Navy yard, so I felt it would be appropriate for a Homeland Security office to be there. Also, San Diego has the big Convention Center not too far from the ocean that is used for Comic-Con every year, so that made it the perfect setting for a large group of mermaids.

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