Steven Long Mitchell and Craig W Van Sickle joins SciFiChick.com today for a Q&A! They are Emmy Nominated writers, producers and/or directors of over two hundred hours of TV programing, including cult classic The Pretender and the Syfy mini series Tin Man – the reimagining of the Wizard of Oz that remains the highest rated program in the history of the network. Huge Sci Fi fans, they got their start in TV writing on staff for Alien Nation and The Flash.
They are the authors of The Pretender: Rebirth and the upcoming sequel The Pretender: Saving Luke (available April 2014).
Q: For those who are not familiar with the Pretender novels can you give us a brief description of the series?
A: Sure. Rebirth and Saving Luke are edge-of-your-seat mystery thrillers about Jarod, a child prodigy, stolen as a four-year-old and raised by a Halliburton-like organization that exploited his gift for their disreputable activities. After his escape, this ‘ingenious Jason Bourne’ – a human chameleon that can literally become anyone he wants to be – rejoins the world that has been denied him for 30 years. While attempting to find his family, he uses his brilliance to protect the weak and abused, those who can’t protect themselves.
He does this while staying just one step ahead of his nemesis, Miss Parker, the sexiest woman on the planet who is hell bent on tracking him down and returning him to her masters. Their multifaceted, love-hate relationship, driven by the emotional secrets they share, continues to fuel a heated chase, pitting a cunning predator against a brilliant prey.
The Pretender was and remains the most passionate expression of our life’s work. We hope our feelings have been reflected in the stories so far — and the ones yet to come.
Q: The books are based upon the international, cult hit television show, that your two created and produced. Do you need to have been a fan of the TV series The Pretender to enjoy the novels?
A: Not at all. In fact, former fans and new fans seem to like the novels equally if not more. We designed the story telling of the books in a way that there is nothing to ‘catch up’ to. The novels start at the beginning – but it is a new beginning – so the new fans are there from the start, and the old fans get additional information that fills in the blanks from their interpretation of the past.
Overall we think the stories have been so successful and entertaining because of the timelessness of the very compelling characters at the center of the mythology and their human connections to each other and to the readers.
Q: Who are the novels written for?
