Interview with Larry Schwarz and Iva-Marie Palmer, Authors of THE JULES VERNE PROPHECY

 

Short and sweet: Give us the elevator pitch for The Jules Verne Prophecy:

Iva-Marie Palmer: Three kids find a book that leads them on a madcap and exciting hunt to find a treasure Jules Verne supposedly hid in the city of Paris. 

 

I’m always interested in writing partnerships. How did the two of you get together to write the book? Who initially came up with the idea for the Jules Verne Prophecy? Or did you brainstorm it together?

IMP: Larry’s agent, who I’d worked with before, introduced us because she thought we had similar sensibilities. We started out working on a different project of Larry’s, and our editor for that liked Larry’s idea for The Jules Verne Prophecy. I was much more of a Jules Verne novice when we began this book – the overarching idea was definitely Larry’s – but as we talked about it, we developed the story and adventure in Paris together.

 

Larry Schwarz: I was in an old bookstore in Paris and saw gold embossed set of Voyages Extraordinaire Jules Verne works and I was amazed by how many stories he wrote and then I thought, “wouldn’t it be cool if someone discovered yet another one that no one knew about before.” I told Iva-Marie, and we worked on the story from there.

 

The two of you have worked together before–this is obviously a pairing that works. How do you approach working together? What tools do the two of you rely on?

IMP: We try to develop an outline we both like before we start writing, which I think helps a lot – we may change things as we go along but it keeps things moving to plan ahead a bit. As far as tools we use, there’s nothing fancy in terms of the writing but I think what helps a lot is that neither of us is a person who freaks out to take an unplanned phone call. In general, I hate texting and emailing and waiting around when you have a great idea you want to run by someone, so it’s nice to just be able to call Larry and hash things out instead of getting stalled. 

 

LS: When we see each other in person, it’s really just to eat and we can’t let writing get in the way of that! 

 

You’re both storytellers, but the two of you have somewhat different backgrounds. Iva-Marie, you’ve written several MGs, and Larry, you’ve worked in animation. What do your backgrounds bring to your writing partnership?

IMP: Larry’s television background has helped me a lot in terms of thinking about set pieces in books and those big plot moments. I’ve always had an affinity for character and dialogue, but my stories can meander sometimes. Working with someone who’s done television reminds me that you can “cut to” new scenes without letting the previous scene drag on too long. Readers are smart, and they don’t need to see every decision or thought on the page.

 

LS: For whatever medium I’m writing for, it’s important for me to create great characters first that kids can really relate to, and I want the stories to keep moving at a pace that’ll make a reader want to turn the page and will make a viewer not want to turn the channel. And that pace doesn’t just mean action sequences, suspense and cliff hangers. It means a steady reveal and build of who the characters are and how they relate to one another.

 

As a child of the ‘80s, I love the fact that this is something of a modernization of The Goonies. How so? What will Goonies fans love about The Jules Verne Prophecy?

IMP: I’ve seen the movie countless times, as well as other ‘80s kids’ fare that is fast-paced and funny. I love that this book feels like a summer blockbuster for kids. I think we’ve gotten away from those at theaters – now summer blockbusters are mainly comic book movies or new entries in existing franchises – and you don’t get to see a totally fresh and original adventure where kids get to go on an adventure together and the adults in the story are there but not the central characters. I’m hoping this book satiates Goonies fans who long for more movies like it, and it would be great if there was a film version, too. Adult Goonies lovers can bring their kids! 

 

LS: I’m definitely very much a product of those 80’s movies, too. I think what made them so special was again unique characters that you still remember today and that felt like real kids who you would want to hang out with and be part of their adventure. And those adventures were also grounded in real world kid relatable experiences to start with and then became fantastical.

 

This is an action-packed book. I find action to be really challenging. How do you approach writing action? 

IMP: It is hard! At least for me it is. So much of writing is spending time alone and somewhat sedentary that there’s a danger of having characters who talk and think more than they do. That’s where planning ahead comes in handy, I think – deciding at the start where your characters might go and what might happen there, even loosely, is like having an itinerary. And then once you get them there, you become a choreographer or stunt coordinator – we’re in this space, and how are my characters going to move through this space, what’s something funny, terrifying, or exciting that can happen to them here, and so on? Then I write in layers … the first draft is just really sometimes awful and skeletal sketch of what can happen, the next is refining the details of the scene – who’s doing what and the action around the characters, and the final stage is making sure your characters are still acting like themselves in scene – that’s where it gets really fun because Owen, for example, is going to act different in an action sequence than Nas or Rose. 

 

LS: It’s in the action sequences that I really draw on my experiences I have as a visual storyteller in live action and animated TV series. I try to make sure the reader is really able to visualize the scene. I also think a bit of comedy and even a little vaudeville schtick is really important in action sequences even if they’re very serious ones.

 

Voice is also crucial to MG work. How do you tap into that MG voice? How do you keep voice consistent with a writing partnership?

IMP: Writing for this age group means never losing hold of what it’s like to be a kid. I don’t want to be the adult trying to make kids think I’m cool, I want to be myself at age 12 or 13 trying to make sense of the story my characters are in. I hope it comes across as authentic, and I do sometimes run things by my own kids, who are 12 and 8, to see if it seems off. As for consistency, Larry and I will be blunt with one another if we think something sounds way off base – I think for any partnership, you have to be able to say, “Okay, I hate this” as often as you’re able to say, “Okay, I love this.”

 

LS: The Jules Verne Prophecy is about a group of friends who go on an incredible adventure together following secret clues across Paris in the hopes of finding an awesome treasure, but It’s important that the characters relate to each other in a way that real kids do and sound like real kids do when they are just going to school or hanging out and going to the mall in the real world. Having a writing partner (especially Iva-Marie) really helps so much in this because when we’re writing together, we’re also hanging out on the phone and just talking like friends.

 

What do you hope young readers take away from The Jules Verne Prophecy?

IMP: That the Catacombs are incredibly creepy but also worth visiting for that exact reason. But seriously, I want young readers to feel alive to the possibilities of the real world. I think this book – though set in modern day – is a throwback to the exciting stories I grew up with, and even if the scenes are over-the-top, they’re set in places that really exist with the characters moving through those spaces. I know technology and screen lives aren’t going away but I’d love for a kid who reads our book to decide they’d like to see more of the world or find an adventure in their own neighborhood – just get out of their comfort zone and see what happens.

 

LS: Jules Verne wrote, “All that is impossible remains to be accomplished.” That was something that inspired me from reading Jules Verne stories as a kid and I hope that our readers will feel the same way from reading The Jules Verne Prophecy.

 

 

What’s next? Are the two of you going to work on another project together?

IMP: We’re working on the sequel as we speak!

 

Where can we find the two of you online?

IMP: Most of my book related presence is on Instagram (@ivamarie).

 

LSS: I’m on Instagram @zoomschwarz.