Where did the idea for Broken Lines come from?
Broken Lines is a reaction against a lot of junk I see in movies, TV, and books that just drives me nuts - dialogue that makes me cringe, contrived plot twists, characters with no history or personality. So even though the story itself is a bit outlandish, I wanted Broken Lines to be grounded with characters that talked like real people and responded to weird situations like normal people would. I wanted everyday settings, and I wanted an extremely unromanticzed, uncool, un-"comic booky" take on a hero story. I mean, why *doesn't* Batman drive a 1999 Ford Econoline moving van? They're very spacious.
I have to ask you about The Firemen because I laughed so hard while reading about them. Why did you decide to make firemen evil?
Well, the pragmatic answer is that I needed an army of bad guys that all looked alike so I wouldn't have to sit down and design a new character every time I needed a new bad guy on-scene. So, you know, they're my lazy equivalent of storm troopers, I guess. Other than that, the choice was pretty random. Just a bunch of dumb dudes wearing full-face oxygen masks. I had a serious doubt about making them firemen after 9/11 because real firefighters were being so revered for awhile. But fortunately, America has a short memory and we've gone back to ignoring their important contributions to society. So thank God for that.
What do you think is most appealing about your work?
It's got moxie.
Do you have a favorite character from Broken Lines? Why?
Currently, it's me, the omniscient narrator. I hog a lot of the funny lines, because I want everyone to think I'm clever and witty. My second favorite character doesn't appear until Book Three, so hold your breath til like, 2010.
Would you mind sharing a little bit of what the future holds for your heroes?
Their future is everyone's future: Lots of sitting around, a few laughs, then death. Then maybe a few more laughs.
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