Hello! Time for another post! You didn’t think I had forgotten about you, right?
Jon Lewis hard at work!
Near the end of March, I got to interview Jon Lewis, the co-author of the Grey Griffin series. The other co-author is Derek Benz, who, sadly, I did not get a chance to interview.
The books so far in the Grey Griffins series are:
Book one: The Revenge of the Shadow King
Book two: The Rise of the Black Wolf
Book three: The Fall of the Templar
My assistant with Jon.
You know about my assistant, right? You don’t? His name is Tony, and he is my best friend. We go to the same school. He is also single! You hear that, girls? He’s single!
Anyway, back on track, here are the main monsters in the book (We—Tony and I—also got to keep the drawings!!!):
The Gargoyle.
The “Gryphon”.
The Tundra Troll, which appears on the cover of the third book.
Jon was the coolest author I have ever visited, James was the nicest author I have ever visited, and Dean was the . . . funniest author I have ever visited.
Now for the dreaded Q & A!
Q: What is your favorite character in the series?
A: My favorite character is Logan, and he’s about 52 years-old and 115 lbs. He’s Scottish, and he’s also one of the toughest men in the world. He is also Max’s bodyguard, and Max’s dad hired Logan for Max in case anyone wanted to abduct him. He is also teaching Max martial arts in case he gets into any trouble, but he is also a [member of the] society of the Templar Knights.
Q: Are you planning on making a movie?
A: Right now, we are working with a producer in Hollywood, who’s trying to find a director, so yeah.
Q: So are there going to be thirteen movies like there are going to be thirteen books?
A: I don’t know exactly how they’re going to work that out, but one thing we won’t allow them to do is like five books in one movie.
Q: Is the movie going to be live-action or animated?
A: It’s going to be like Lord of the Rings, CGI characters and real live characters.
Q: Are you planning to do any solo books?
A: Yes, I am working on a bunch of them right now. I’ll probably do two Grey Griffins books with Derek, and I’ll spend some time working on some new series of my own.
Q: When did you first start writing?
A: Well, we first started writing when we were about eight or nine years-old, and that’s when we first started writing comic book characters. When we first started writing novels, we were about eighteen. Then we stopped. Then continued about six or seven years ago.
Q: In this millennium children do not read science-fiction anymore. What can you do to change that?
A: Well, Derek and I are huge Star Wars fans. So if I was writing a science-fiction book, I would write a Star Wars-like book, and I would do very little emphasis on the technology and tons more on the characters and the action. The more you do action, the more kids will like it. Maybe I should write an action book . . .
Q: Are you planning to make any toys or games?
A: We are making a trading card game with a company called WizKids and the trading card game will be called Round Table.
Q: What is the release date for the trading card game?
A: There’s no release date yet, but we’re starting to see the card art.
Q: Is there going to be an online version of the trading card game?
A: Yes, it’s going to be an online game too.
Q: What is the name of book four?
A: Book four is going to be named The Immortals.
Q: Will you be releasing one Grey Griffins book every year?
A: We think so. We might even do two a year. We’re thinking of doing a thing called The Secret Files of the Grey Griffins, which will be smaller, like the Spiderwick books with 40–50 drawings.
Q: If the series gets popular enough, will you write more than the planned thirteen books?
A: I don’t think so. But what I think we will do is that we will write prequels to it like Max’s grandfather.
Q: Do you (Jon) draw the covers?
A: We (Jon and Derek) don’t draw the covers.
Q: Are there any books that inspired you to write this?
A: The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit are the biggest books. Also the Narnia series.
Q: What books were you reading at the age of 9?
A: The Narnia series. I also liked the Choose Your Own Adventure books.
Q: What is the main character like?
A: Max is a twelve year-old, and he is one of the wealthiest kids in the world. His father has a bunch of real estate, but his parents just had a divorce, so he’s really upset about that. Other than that, he’s an average kid—average weight, average height—he is a really sweet kid, who enjoys spending time with his friends.
Q: Does anyone have a crush on Max?
A: Definitely. Brooke, who is a next door neighbor, has a crush, and when Max is near her, he feels weird. But her dad does not get along with Max’s dad. (Wow, a Romeo and Juliet story.)
Q: What’s your favorite superhero?
A: My favorite superhero is The Thing.
Q: What is your favorite book?
A: My favorite book is called The Two Towers, the second volume in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.
Q: Were there any people who inspired you?
A: Yes. One would be Tolkien . . . C.S. Lewis, Stan Lee, Walt Disney.
My next post will be about Kaza Kingsley, author of the Erec Rex series! Stick around!
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Tapenade with Parmesan Crackers
Tapenade:
10 oz. (weighed) pitted olives
1 clove of garlic
1 ½ tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 anchovy fillet
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Put olives in food processor. Pulse 9-10 times. Then add all of the ingredients, and mix for 20 seconds.
Parmesan crackers:
Parmigiano-reggiano cheese, grated (3 oz. per cracker)
Pepper (optional)
Other spices (optional)
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Then grate cheese. Sprinkle cheese in 3 oz portions onto a silicone mat to create crackers. Add spices on, if any. Then bake for 5-6 minutes.
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About Michael
Michael is a sixth grade student who loves to read and cook. That’s right, cook! He joined Kids Need to Read because he thought that it would be a great opportunity to help everyone open up to literacy. “When you read, you read. When you watch TV, you watch TV. When you create a story, you open your mind.” — Michael
