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| MIchael Darling (Before Interview) |
The Leprechauns however, weren’t having any of it.
Michael: Johnny are you going to let these guys tie me up like this?
Clover McSlurry: Sit yer arse down ya’ skittish pansy. We’ll show ya’ how to do an interview.
Johnny: Put down the club.
Greenie O’Wabbles: It’s a shillelagh!
Johnny: <ooommph> You’re on your own Michael.
Clover: Okay, now that we know who’s boss. We can start with Mr. Darling.
Michael: No. Not at all.
Johnny: Don’t bleed on the carpet. Use the spittoon.
Michael: Okay. I’ll just hold it in my lap.
Johnny: Maybe hold it a little higher?
Michael: I kind of like what else it’s protecting besides the rug. Especially with that one holding the club – erm, shillelagh.
Johnny: Ah, right. I’d do the same.
Clover: Okay Mr. Darling, we know that’s not your real name. What is it?
Michael: I was born a poor Irish child. I remember the days, sitting on the porch with my family, singing and dancing down in Dublin...
Johnny: Hold on, Michael. I don’t think this is the time to be mangling Steve Martin.
Michael: You sure? All right, it’s true, my name is really Michael Christenson.
Clover: By lyin' and callin' yerself Darling, are you trying to associate yourself with Peter Pan? You some kind of weirdo?
Michael: You know that lawsuit was dropped, right? And they’ll give a restraining order for almost anything these days.
Johnny: What are you talking about?
Michael: Nothing. Nevermind. I shouldn’t kid about things with these two around. Anyway, it’s cute how I decided on the pen name. My middle name is actually Darwin, after my father. Early in our marriage, my wife started calling me Michael Darling instead of Michael Darwin so when I needed a pen name, I had one I liked all ready to go.
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| The Real Michael Darling (Before things went bad) |
Michael: Really?
Johnny: Yeah. I just threw up in my mouth a little.
Michael: Okay, well. It’s the truth.
Clover: Back to my questions. Do you know what happened to the Darling kids after Peter Pan?
Michael: Well, J. M. Barrie never wrote a sequel to Peter Pan, so…
Greenie: Shut yer gob! They was personal friends of mine.
Michael: Okay. I see we’re just going to pretend they were real people. So tell me what happened to them?
Clover; A string of heart-breaking incidents.
Greenie: Arrests and rehab.
Clover: The things they’d do for pixie dust—you don’t even want to know.
Michael: No I don’t. Really, really don’t.
Clover: That’s right you don’t. The Fae are not to be trifled with.
Michael: I’d never <crack>
Clover: I repeat! Not. To. Be. Trifled. With.
Greenie: “The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men—”
Clover: Later, Greenie.
Greenie: Okay.
Clover: You best tell us about your book, GOT LUCK now. Greenie is impatient.
Michael: Yes, thank you. Got Luck is the name of the main character who is a private detective in Miami, Florida. He’s hired to find out more information about a murdered man. He gets shot at by people he doesn’t know, attacked by a giant invisible liondog, discovers he possesses magical powers, and accidentally gets married. And that’s just Thursday.
Johnny: Sounds like an intriguing set up.
Greenie: It’s not that intriguing. The same thing happened to my cousin.
Michael: Really? Did your cousin also uncover a plot to restore the Fae to their former glory by killing thousands of mortals?
Greenie: Uncover? No. Instigate. Maybe.
Clover: Shut it Greenie before ya get us in trouble. Are there any other settings fer yer book, besides Miami?
Michael: Well, the realm of the Fae is called An Taobh Thiar Agus Níos Faide which translates as The Behindbeyond. A lot of the action takes place there.
Johnny: Is that correct guys?
Greenie: Yes. Lucky fer you, Michael. Ya great monkey.
Clover: And that’s where ya did yer research about the Fae?
Michael: Of course. I just called my travel agent and she arranged for me to spend a week at an inn there called Corrchnámhach. It’s always good to actually experience the things you write about.
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| shillelagh |
Clover: Who’s your intended audience for GOT LUCK?
Michael: My publisher is Future House and they are a YA publisher. The early drafts of GOT LUCK were fairly adult though, so we edited the manuscript to make it fit better for the younger market. It’s YA, but adults will like it as well since it was written for them first.
Clover: So ya cut down on the sex and violence?
Michael: Not really. The story is the same, we just toned down the details.
<thwack>
Michael: What was that for?
Greenie: I like sex and violence.
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| Forest Fae |
Michael: Obviously, the Fae are magical beings. Got, however, is a Halfling. Part Fae, part human. Their magical power is inside them but using it requires a focus, which is an object that can conduct magic, and a trigger, which is a word or phrase that sets off the spell. Put that together with a mystery and some humor and that’s my version of urban fantasy.
Clover: What exactly do you mean by urban fantasy?
Michael: Well, you have a modern-day detective in our human realm, but there’s magic and a race of powerful, immortal beings, called the Fae, mixed in.
Clover: That don’t make no sense. The Fae wouldn’t like that kind of publicity.
Greenie: Sounds like he didn’t get a writ of authorization
Michael: A what?
<thwack>
Clover: A writ of authorization. From the Fae council. Always a good thing to have before you go announcing Fae ways. They’re protective you see.
Johnny: Spittoon, Michael. Thanks.
Michael: Do you have one in a larger size?
Johnny: I’m not even going to respond to that.
Clover: Now, Michael, tell us true. Is this a one off, or are you starting a series with GOT LUCK?
Michael: I’ve already started working on the sequel. I’m about 20% into the first draft. So far, it’s been just as much fun to write as GOT LUCK.
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| Winter Fae |
Clover: Tell me, Michael, how did you get into this writing thing?
Michael: I’ve always enjoyed it. In one way or another, I’ve been telling stories since I was a kid. After a while, the characters in my head let me know they wanted their story told and I really wanted to tell them. So I started with short stories and had a few of those published. GOT LUCK was the next logical step. I didn’t choose writing. Writing chose me.
Clover: Nice. Johnny says it can be hard to find a publisher. How’d you find yours?
Michael: It is hard. I found Future House after a lot of networking. A lot. I submitted online and did Twitter events but attending conferences and pitching to every publisher on the list is the approach that finally worked out.
Michael: They are a very dynamic, fast-growing house and their main man Adam Sidwell has a really great business model. I initially worked with their editor Ami Johansen but you can always run to their website and fill out the submission form or hit up one of the conventions. They’re almost always taking pitches.
Clover: Nothing better than a little face-to-face, right?
Michael: <looking sideways at Greenie>: Exactly.
Greenie: “And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy My brothers.”
Clover: Where on the internet can people find out about you and send flowers and such.
WEBSITE
Johnny: I’m sorry Michael. Ever since the Lucky Charms cereal came out the Leprechauns have been a bit belligerent. They used to be fun and games, gold and rainbows. Now they’re enforcers.
Clover: Shut yer rotten mouth before I break up ya’ upside the head.
Greenie: “And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy My brothers.”
<crack>
Johnny: Hey, look at that.
Clover: The shillelagh broke.
Greenie: Weird. I was just holding it like this, all menacin'-like and snap there it went.
Clover: Well what you have there?
Michael: Looks like I GOT LUCK.
All: Groan
<thwack>
Michael: Ouch!
Greenie: Half a shillelagh — a "shille"— still hurts plenty. You want the half, there Michael? The -lelagh maybe?
Michael: No. <drool> I'm good.
Johnny: Spittoon dude.
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