Interview with J.A. Douber, Author of Press 1 for Invasion

Welcome to Smack Dab, J.A.! Please tell us a bit about Press 1 for Invasion.

Thank you so much for having me here! It’s a real pleasure to get a chance to talk about Press 1, which is my middle-grade fiction debut; basically, it’s the story of a kid who really, really wants a phone, and so when he finds one on the street, he jumps at the chance to use it - but when he looks through the camera, he realizes that his crossing guard is actually a goggle-eyed alien monster that only he seems to be able to see. And then he finds out that the guard, along with his school’s lunch lady, who’s also an alien, are planning an invasion of Earth….but the lunch lady’s gotten cold feet (well, cold tentacles), and she dropped the phone for Matt to find. And, along with his friend Marcela, to help her save the planet. The author’s never the best judge of his own work, but people who’ve read it say that it’s fast-paced, and funny, and action-packed. So trust them!

Seriously–humor and aliens? That was all it took for me to know I was all in. What made you decide to combine such different ideas?

I’m not sure that “decide” is exactly the right word for what I did; the idea and the tone kind of came together all at once. But I was very glad that it worked that way - the central idea, that the fate of the world is on a kid’s shoulders, could be really a lot for a character to handle! So making it funny lightens that load a bit….

So much of sci-fi (time travel, different dimensions, etc.) relies on a portal. Here, you’ve got a found cell phone that allows the main character to connect with aliens. Where did that idea come from?

I have three children, currently ranging in age from 7 to 12; and though we haven’t had the phone conversation with any of them yet, we’ve certainly had a lot - a lot - of conversations on the subject with other school parents. So I definitely knew from that desire for a phone. After I wrote the book, I remembered that E.T. came out when I was about the age of many of Press 1’s reading audience - with that immortal line “E.T. phone home.” So maybe that was in there somewhere, too! (Although that’s not the way the phone works in the book….)

Matt discovers aliens are a lot closer than he would ever suspect–in fact, it’s serving him lunch! What do you think this says about how we perceive the people around us—especially the ones we tend to overlook?

I love this insight! I definitely think that, in general, we tend to see what we expect to see - not because we’re bad, or unthoughtful, but just because we’re human. Doctors have that saying, “When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras”; in other words, it’s probably not some rare mysterious illness when the common cold is a possibility. But in the world of fantasy and adventure, the tables are turned, and the least likely possibility, which is also the most fun, is probably what it’s going to be….but, of course, that’s exactly what the alien invaders are counting on! 

You’ve written academically. I have to imagine writing MG feels freeing and cathartic…but then again, it also could be a struggle to tap into that kind of MG voice. How did you nail it so perfectly? How do you tap into it?

This is such a nice compliment! It’s definitely a lot of fun to do; and incredibly useful to talk to my own children, who speak first to sixth grade quite fluently. (Plus I like talking to them anyway, and I only have to struggle occasionally not to itemize them as research expenses.)

The story includes a ton of fun scenes: a school cafeteria battle and encounters with alien pets. What was the most fun scene for you to write, and why?

That’s a great question, and I’m not sure I have a great answer, since lots of them were fun to write (and it sounds like that sense of fun came across, which is wonderful!). But one of my favorite scenes is the one in which Benedict Arnold makes a guest appearance. (If you want to know more about why and how, you’re going to have to read the book….)

In Press 1 for Invasion, the aliens Matt encounters seem to represent the unknown or the unfamiliar. Was this metaphor intentional, and what do you hope readers take away about dealing with things that seem 'alien' in their own lives?

Wow, what a great observation! I think the thing that was the most interesting to me about their alienness - and that became more and more important to me as the book developed - was their lack of individualism. (As you’ll find out when you read it, the aliens, generally, have a kind of collective or “hive” consciousness; something about the Earth’s atmosphere interferes with it, though, which is key to the lunch lady changing her mind about the invasion.) I think that the book - I hope, anyway - makes it clear that something to cherish about us, as human beings, all of us, is our individuality; all of us, every one, are a world entire. 

If you could give Matt one piece of advice, what would it be?

Never lose sight of how special Marcela is. 

Where can we find you?

If you have a phone, and that phone has social media apps on it, and you are of an age to use those apps responsibly, then I’m on Bluesky at @jeremydauber.bsky.social. 

What’s next?

I’m working now on a time-travel novel for the same middle grade audience that I think will be a lot of fun….and who knows? Maybe there’ll be some more adventure in store for Matt and Marcela! Thank you so much for this! 

Snag a copy of Press 1 for Invasion