Today we have the lovely Meaghan McIsaac, author of the supercool time travel book MOVERS, here to talk about a few of her favourite things (which do not include girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes).
1) Can you give us a brief description of what your book is about?
Movers is about a not too distant future where some people are born with the illegal ability to “Move” people from the future to the present. The future isn’t all that great, so there are plenty of people who want to come to the present, and it’s only Movers who can get them there. When a particularly violent Move opens up over Pat’s school, it’s up to him to save the class reject everyone thinks is responsible. Not just from BMAC (the Bureau of Movement Activity Control) but from the dangerous man who’s just arrived from the future who is bent on catching them both.
2) It’s such a cool concept – how did you get the idea?
Some of my favourite movies are time travel stories. Terminator, Looper, Back to the Future. I wanted to try to do my own. But I wanted my characters to travel through time in a different way. As much as I love time machines – and I do – I wanted to see if there was another way for my characters to move through time. That’s how the idea of being born with the ability to Move people came about. Once the world of the story had people born with this power, the rules and problems and politics that would surround that kind of gift started to take shape, which really ended up influencing the direction of the plot.
3) Fans of who/what will like this book?
That’s tough for me to say. I guess if you’re a time travel fan, then give Movers a go. Action/adventure fans will find plenty of action here too. If you enjoyed the Terminators, Looper, Back to the Future, then hopefully you’ll find some room in your heart for Movers too!
4) What are some of your favourite authors/books and why?
I have so many! And the list is changing all the time. If you ask me again tomorrow, it could be different, but hey, here’s today’s answers!
The Chaos Walking series by Patrick Ness. The writing is breakneck speed and the story is so different from anything I’ve read. The Old Kingdom Series by Garth Nix. Epic fantasy about necromancers so that’s awesome. And boy does it make me want to collect antique keys.
Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery. Classic. Is there a more alive, leaping-off-the-page character than Anne Shirley? I collect copies wherever I find them. That’s how much I love it.
Stephen King, I’ll read pretty much anything he writes. But especially Carrie. I read that in one sitting. Couldn’t put it down! The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater. Blood-thirsty water horses. Do I need to explain why this is awesome? Marie Lu’s Legend series. Dystopian sci/fi with two main characters from completely different worlds, told in chapters alternating between their points of view. I loved being able to be inside both these characters’ heads and experience the story from two completely different points of view.
5) Any interesting writing quirks?
I like to have music on, or nothing at all. I especially like to put on movie soundtracks, like the score to star wars or something. Nerd, I know. But you’d be surprised how much it helps!
Diet Pepsi is pretty crucial to the writing operation.
A window. I’ve only recently learned this about myself. I really like to write near a window. Why? I dunno. Feels less lonely that way, I guess.
6) Last question: If you could cast your book who are some of the actors you would choose to play your characters?
OH NO! How do I answer this? My characters are always made up people inside my head so it’s hard to put someone else’s face on the ones I made up. For Pat, Maggie and Gabby, they just have to be unknown actors. New faces! That’s how I feel about that. As for everyone else…. Danny Glover would make an awesome Leonard — that voice! Rosamund Pike for Agent Hartman, she can be scary as Gone Girl has shown us. And Roth, maybe someone like Dominic Purcell?
A special thank-you to Meaghan for hanging out with us today! If you’d like to learn more about her or her books, check out her website or on social media.