Below is my interview with superhero fantasy graphic novelist Michael “Max Ham” Gatti. Gatti has written a two part story about four superhero kids, a storyline that resonates with me as it’s the premise of my current work in progress. Find out why Gatti wrote this particular story, the hidden references that you might not pick up on right away, and the actors he’d want to play his characters if his series, Earth’s Best Friends, is ever made into a movie.
About the author
Name/Pen Name: Michael “Max Ham” Gatti
Book Titles
Earth’s Best Friends Part One: Anubis Attacks and Part Two: Grognak’s Wrath
Genres: Superhero, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Links to buy:
Physical Copy (both links for a preview called Chapter 1) for a physical copy
Book Series Summary: Four elementary school students must stop a bank robbery and learn what being a superhero really means.
Book Excerpt
Want to play a game?
One week later…
As Alex the Scalper was doing his time a shadowy figure appeared before him.
“Want to get revenge “
“Yes more than anything!”
“Good come with me. “ They disappeared into the darkness. The Scalper was now a part of Anubis’ group.
Author Link
Talking Shop
What is the central theme or message of your story? What do you want readers to take away from it?
The main message of this book and the entire series, really, is the human condition and what heroics really are. That good and evil are not black and white but more of a gray area. Anyone can be a hero or a villain. You’ll see this happening over and over again throughout the book and its sequels. What I want the audience to get out of it is to understand that even in real life the same rules apply.
How have you promoted your books? What has worked best? What has failed?
Yes I’ve been promoting what I call Chapter one of Earth’s Best Friends (the preview I linked above) with no real luck.
I’ve tried Facebook: nothing.
I’ve tried Twitter: at least folks retweet me but still no purchases made.
I even tried using a sense of urgency that, according to kickstarter, makes people more willing to spend money.
Did you use any professional services before publishing your book? Are there any you recommend to indie authors?
The only official service I use is Lulu for printing everything else I do myself. I definitely recommend lulu they are great to work with and very user friendly. I’ve used other printers like Amazon KDP and kablam and neither of them are as great.
Name a fact or detail about your story that can’t be found within the pages of your book.
This is the culmination of the last 20 years of various characters and stories I’ve written.
What’s the best review/compliment that you’ve received about your book?
People tell me the cover looks really cool.
How active are you in the online writing community? How has this community helped you as a writer?
I am on the Twitter writing community hourly. I am constantly retweeting, liking and commenting. It has helped me tremendously! In just a short month I went from 70 followers to 1700 followers!
What is a fun or strange source of inspiration that ended up in your book?
I make a reference to the Saw movies (it’s actually in the excerpt from the book I used above) it’s a subtitle I use “Want to play a game?”
How long did it take to write your book from the day you got the idea to write it to the day you published it?
I’m still working on part 2, but part 1 took me about six months to complete. Mind you I’ve had the ideas for nearly 20 years.
How long have you considered yourself a writer? Did you have any formal training, or is it something you learned as you went?
I’ve consider myself a writer since I was a kid. Even before I could read or write I was always making up special stories for my toys and roles for my friends to play in a world I created. I haven’t had any formal training besides maybe some English classes.
What is your day job? How, in any way, does it relate to your life as a writer?
I work for a defense contractor. Besides one of the antagonists being a president of a defense contractor it really has no relationship to my life as a writer.
“What If” Scenarios
If your book ever becomes a movie, and you get final say over the cast, which actors would you hire to play your characters?
Boy that’s a very tough one. I have so many characters, but I’ll choose my favorites to talk about.
Super Steak would have to be voiced by Ryan Reynolds (I’d imagine it’d have to be an animated movie)
Ramgam: Christopher Sabat
Sandra: Christine Cavanaugh
and Harlon: Neil Dennis
If you could have one person that you admire, living or dead, read your book, who would it be?
Weird Al Yankovic. He was a big part of my childhood and his goofiness was definitely a huge influence on my goofiness. So it’d be a dream to hear from him about my book.
A wealthy reader buys 100 copies of your book and tells you to hand them out to anyone you wish. Who do you give them to?
I’d send a copy to Weird Al of course. I’d put a few of them up in libraries and I’d make sure some powerful people like Tom Holland get a copy. That guy made Spider-man come back to the MCU so if he liked my book who knows what could happen!
You are transported into your book for one day. What role do you play? How do you alter the events of the story?
That would be awkward since Super Steak already pretty much is me. But I would lay low and just watch the events unfold secretly.
You’re given $10,000 to spend on marketing for your book. How do you spend it?
Promotional materials like banners, bookmarks, business cards, copies of my book, and car magnets for everyone I know! I’d be super prepared for the conventions with that kind of dough that’s for sure!
Your book becomes a best seller. What do you do next?
I honestly wouldn’t know what to do. It’s a dream come true I guess I’d have a celebration and be willing to read other authors books and help promote others. Use the popularity I have to help others.
Would you rather own your own book store or your own publishing house, and what would you sell or publish?
Well my own publishing house of course I’m actually working on making this a reality. Right now I just use Lulu to print but if I can catch on and start making money I could invest in my own printer.
Just For Fun
What legacy do you want to leave behind?
I want my legacy to be good books, a fun guy to know personally, and hopefully I make a difference in the lives I meet either online or in person. I hope to have a publishing company to pass down to my kids and so on.
One year of your life you’d like to do over.
Hmm I’m really not sure I would do over any years in my life. My immediate response is to say the year I met my ex wife and not marry her but who knows if I would have met my current wife if not for marrying her first.
One bucket list item you’ve completed and one that’s still on your list.
Become a father check! I now have two kids 6 and 3. One item that’s still on my List is go to Italy and try to further understand my family heritage.
A movie or piece of music that changed your life.
Sicko changed my life and really made me start to care about politics and current issues. It hit me deep this movie, shaped who I am today even.
Food you’d like to win a lifetime supply of.
Pizza of course! I love pizza I could eat sleep and breathe pizza!
The topic you can’t shut up about/the topic you wish everyone would shut up about.
I can’t stop talking about the MCU. I love it so much and I can talk about it for hours. The MCU is also a big influence on my book Earth’s Best Friends. The idea of multiple heroes in a connected universe has definitely become how I wanted to write my story.
Buy it!
Buy a copy of Earth’s Best Friends here, and help support local bookstores! This is an affiliate link, and I will earn a commission on any sales.
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This was an interesting interview. I love learning things about writers and what makes them who they are both as a writer and a person.
Thanks for reading!