So Ian Thomas Healy is one of my most favorite people on earth.  No, seriously, I love this guy like I love beets.  And I love beets.  All I ate yesterday were beet greens and beet juice.  I read the first chapter of his novel, Just Cause, and immediately switched to hating him because the writing was as smooth as beet schnapps.  Here is the interview.

Aaron Michael Ritchey: Like a great invention, a novel starts with a moment of inspiration.  What was the moment of inspiration for Just Cause?

Ian Healy: In 2003, I knew nothing about the publishing industry and thought that a good way to break in would be to write a Star Wars novel (hint: it’s not). I wrote it and sent an email to an editor at Del Rey, which was publishing the Star Wars line. She didn’t have to reply at all, but she did. She said you have to be asked to write a Star Wars novel; we don’t accept unsolicited submissions. I didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to do this, so I emailed her back and asked “what do I have to do to get asked?” Again, she didn’t have to reply, but she did. You have to have written and sold something in a style that is conducive to the style of the Star Wars Universe, and developed a good fan following. Most writers might have packed it up right then and gone off to watch TV or something. I said to myself “fine, I’ll show her.” And over the next several months wrote an original, epic superhero novel called Just Cause. I completed it in 2004 and started researching how to submit to agents. Eventually, I sent it off to about 140 agents, and was rejected by every single one.

AMR: Why Super Heroes?  Why Mustang Sally?  Why, Spock, Why?

IH: I love superheroes and have since I was a wee, short-haired lad. I remember running around my neighborhood with a towel safety-pinned around my neck for a cape. I remember in pre-school, playing superheroes with my younger sister (I was Super Bow Wow, she was Wonder Meow Meow). I’ve been pretty well obsessed with them as long as I can remember.

Mustang Sally was a character I created for a superhero role-playing game. It bugged me to let her languish after the game ended, so I found some new stories to tell about her.

AMR: Is your book more X-Men, or is it more Justice League, or is it more Watchmen?  Please justify your answer with comic book knowledge that dazzles.

IH: I’m unabashedly a DC guy, so there are far more overtones of the Justice League in Just Cause than there are hints of the X-Men. Just Cause is, in this book, the operational arm of the Department of Homeland Security. Parahumans are not treated as criminals, as they are in the X-Men. In Just Cause, they’re more like celebrities and professional athletes. Many of them don’t wear masks or hide their identities. When they’re not on active duty, they spend time in community organizations and charities. On the other hand, I don’t have the characters with the truly cosmic power levels that are spread throughout the DC universe. Nobody in Just Cause is going to reignite a dying sun with their heat vision (which Superman has done). Sally’s ability to exceed the speed of sound (barely, recounted in my short story Graceful Blur /plug) makes her one of the most powerful characters in the JCU (did you see what I did there? I abbreviated it and made it sound cool and important!). Marvel characters tend to have abilities that are much more grounded (if such a thing can be said about superheroes).

AMR: Speaking of X-Men, Justice League, and the Watchmen, which do you prefer?  Why?  What would you change?  Favorite issue, character, scene?

IH: I have passing familiarity with the X-Men, so I can’t really comment with thorough knowledge. On the other hand, I have long-time familiarity with the Justice League and Watchmen. The Justice League has been disappointing to me since the Keith Giffen days. Anyone who read it back then will understand this: “One … punch!” The modern Justice League is a constantly rotating stable of 2nd, 3rd, and lower-tier characters that aren’t strong or popular enough to carry their own series. In the DC universe, the Justice League is supposed to be the best and brightest team of all, but in my opinion, they may as well rename themselves the Legion of Substitute Heroes. They’re the Fifth Quarter guys in high school basketball. At least when Giffen was working on it, they were funny. Now they’re just kind of boring.

Watchmen is as close to a perfect superhero story as has ever been told. Don’t judge it by the movie. The graphic novel is where it’s at. Here’s interesting trivia about Watchmen: Originally, Alan Moore was going to use the old Charlton Comics characters but DC made him change them at the last minute because they were going to release new comics featuring updated versions of the characters (to which they had acquired the rights). The original cast would have been:

Captain Atom = Dr. Manhattan
Blue Beetle = Nite Owl
The Question = Rorschach
The Peacemaker = The Comedian
Thunderbolt = Ozymandias
Nightshade (sort of) = Silk Spectre

Isn’t that interesting, comic book geeks?

AMR: Not to give anything away, which section was the most fun to write of Just Cause?  Put another way, when you were revising, which section did you look forward to reading again?

IH: I think the entire third act is my favorite from beginning to end. There’s some tragedy, some death, some amazing heroics, and a great big battle. What’s not to love?

AMR: Which Batman do you prefer?  Christopher Nolan’s?  Tim Burton’s?  Adam West’s?  Which would you want to re-write?  Read Christopher Nolan’s Batman as Frank Miller’s, or do you think that’s a fair comparison?

IH: Frank Miller’s Batman from The Dark Knight Returns is my favorite, hands down. Christopher Nolan’s Batman is based upon Frank Miller’s younger Batman (from the Batman: Year One series), so I think his is a great version too. I don’t know if I’d want to try writing Batman. There’s so much history there, so much risk of telling a story that’s already been done to death. In my own JCU, every story I tell is new and fresh, and that’s the way I like it.

AMR: So Just Cause was 25% longer than it is now.  How was the cutting?  Was it bloody, fun, or bloody fun?  Do you long for the missing 25% like a lost limb?

IH: The parts which I cut have become seeds for subsequent novels in the series, four of which are already completed (besides Just Cause). Never throw anything away, kids!

AMR: Do you have other Just Cause novels in the works?  Are we talking Robert Jordan Wheel of Time length series on this one?

IH: The current plan is for 19 novels. I’ll probably round that off to a nice, even 20. And then I’ll think of some more stories to tell, and it’ll grow. Eventually, I’d like to be in a position to invite other authors to contribute stories, the way that the Star Wars universe has expanded.

AMR: Which character are you most like in Just Cause?  If it’s a female character, I need bra size.

IH: Sorry to disappoint, but I’m most like Crackerjack. Except, you know, I haven’t ever jumped out of a plane without a parachute because I’m invulnerable.

AMR: You are one of my heroes.  You have a full-time job, a full-time family, and yet you write all the time.  Tell us how you do it.  And talk about the thumbs.  It’s all about the thumbs.

IH: I’ve written probably four or five novels on my Blackberry (since retired and replaced with a Droid). With my thumbs. I’m a mean-ass thumb typer. How do I do it all? Simple. Can you write a thousand words in an hour? Most writers can. Can you write a page in 15 minutes? Half a page in ten? A paragraph in a minute or two? I’m always writing, whether or not I’m actually putting words on the page. Because I’m plotting ahead, when I get five or ten minutes to write, the story’s already there in my mind and all I have to do is transcribe it. That’s how I can write for five minutes, do something else for ten, and then come back and write some more without losing my place. Teach yourself to write like that and you’ll be astonished at how much work you can produce.

AMR: You got 140 rejections for Just Cause.  No, seriously.  And yet whenever I see you, you are smiling and happy.  Me too!  I am on ultra-heavy modern anti-psychotics.  How do you keep a positive attitude?

IH: Life’s too short to spend it pissed off or depressed, or being angry about being pissed off or miserable about being depressed. I just have another cup of coffee, read a funny tweet (my current faves are @FakeEditor, @GhettoHikes, and @God_Damn_Batman), and get back to it.

AMR: Gotta talk about the Lego Action Series.  How did that start?  Give me the link?  Give me the scoop.

IH: Well, I hate to disappoint you, but The Adventures of the S-Team is ending next month after almost six years. #1500 will be the final strip. You can read it in its entirety at www.ianthealy.com/comic. It started on a whim and six years later, that whim is finally played out.

AMR: For question 13, make up a question, and then answer it, but only answer it by not answering it.  You have 30 seconds.

IH: How do you keep your hair so awesome?
I use Jason brand Aloe Vera shampoo twice a week and alternate between a detangling conditioner or Nature’s Gate Jojoba conditioner daily. Work it through the hair. Squeeze it out but don’t rinse. Squeeze dry with an old t-shirt. Beautiful curls, and the chicks love ’em.