Alex and the Ironic Gentleman by Toothpaste/Adrienne Kress

Hey gang! Sorry I've been MIA, was in New York for the weekend (got to hang out with maddythemad!)!

I am as always thrilled to read all your opinions on my book, as ever thank you so much for the support! Now to answer questions:

Dolores - did you get any requests from your agent or editor to tone it down a bit? Or, as you were writing it, did you second guess yourself about the danger level?

I actually didn't. I had to cut the number of words (I am very long winded), but no one seemed to comment on the violence or darkness at all. And I didn't really think too much about it as I was writing it either. The thing is, most MG books are very dark. You read Peter Pan and there is this random description of Hook killing someone by slicing them open with his hook. A Series of Unfortunate Events is based upon the idea that horrible things happen to these kids. And I'm sorry but there is no way in heck any school on the planet would allow Quidditch to be played considering the liability.

I have always felt, and this goes back to when I was playing make believe when I was little, that there wasn't much point in an adventure if it wasn't a matter of life and death. People have to be hurt. Some must fall to the weyside. There must be tragedy in order for triumph to be that much sweeter.

Where you can find problems is the gore factor. I described Senseless as having no face in a very matter of fact way. So it is perfectly fine to read as a child. The man simply didn't have a face. Had I talked about let's say puss filled ears, and eyesockets seeping with blood . . . suddenly we get a much older age range.

Most importantly, aside from the fact that kids I think don't mind a good scare, they also don't read things in the same way as adults. The train sequence is really creepy for adults because it has a nightmare quality, a sense of being trapped in a loop, and the idea of having your soul sucked out is kind of unpleasant. But a kid would read it much more straightforward. They don't question the reality of the situation, but merely go, "Okay, cool, it's a train caught in a time loop" "okay cool, soul sucking machine". I'm not saying kids can't understand the levels, but many aren't looking at certain sections in the same, I suppose, philosophical way, as an adult does.

And you want to write something that has something that appeals in many different ways, to many different people. Or at least I want to.

Little Jane - One question I had was how did Senseless get like that? . . . Also... how did he hold a sword if his hands were made of wood? Are any of the secondary characters coming back in the second book? Is the octopus teaching drama at Mr. Underwood's new pirate ship school and the fridge teaching cooking? Hee, I'd love to see Jack teaching shop class!

To be honest, I have no idea how Sensless got like that. It's totally up to your imagination! Go for it!

In my mind he held the sword in his hands like normal hands. Somehow he had really cool prosthetic hands, a bit like those robot hands in Terminator or something, that could bend at the joints and grab things and stuff. Eh, it's fantasy.

I don't want to give too much away with the second book. But I can say that several characters in Act III (ie the going to sea section) make appearances. Some even have larger roles to play. What they are . . . you'll just have to wait to find out . ..

Yay! I'm so glad to see this thread!

I read the book about a month ago and have been ruthlessly recommending it since. I also always check it when I go to the bookstores to make sure it is prominently displayed--it always is!

So my question is: are you getting some nice juicy royalty checks yet, and what fun are you having with them? I'm kidding--you're probably putting it all safely away in Alex's college fund. That girl is smart--you'll need to save it all for Harvard.

Hmm, questions (real ones I mean). Did you come up with the capitalization of every Very Important Item yourself? It's so simple, yet quite ingenious--much more original than italics.

Also, are we going to get backstory on the ladies of the Preservation Society (did I get that right?)? Or do we just take them at face value--as crazy psychos who can be quite entertaining to watch?

I can't wait to see the next one!!!

What ages is it appropriate for? It sounds great, but my kids are kind of young.

"I have always felt, and this goes back to when I was playing make believe when I was little, that there wasn't much point in an adventure if it wasn't a matter of life and death. People have to be hurt. Some must fall to the weyside. There must be tragedy in order for triumph to be that much sweeter."

Hmmmm.... I would philosofically have to disagree here, Toothpaste. I'm going to play a little devil's advocate here, but I don't think life or death situations are neccesarily what give true adventure stories their "oomf." I know there are people who would disagree with me, but many of my favourite books don't feature character deaths or characters placed in life or death situations. Most young children's books don't in fact. So why do many people still love books like "The Cat in the Hat" by Dr. Suess or "Maurice" by EM Forster? I was never worried that anyone would die in the Cat in the Hat, although I did worry that the children would get in trouble with their mother for wrecking the house.
I think the death, unneccesary suffering or cruel treatment of one person in the world diminishes us all. Biologically, there is always more produced, (seeds, animals, bacteria, etc.) then there is ever resources for. So much is wasted. I feel that the best part of being human is that some of us try to resist this way the world we live in is structured and try to protect and help other humans and animals when we can. I don't think people have to fall by the wayside for us to love. I think the idea that you have to experience tragedy for triumph to be that much sweeter is wrong. Of the people I know, those who have experience a lot of tragedy in their lives, often don't experience positive experiences well, because they cannot trust them. It reminds me of my grandmother, who experienced so many bad things, when something good happens she can't focus on it, she is so busy looking over her shoulder, as if the good thing happening is just a trick, to be removed at an second, to make whatever bad thing comes next feel even worse. That's what tragedy really does to people in real life.
Watching children at school, I think those that have experienced the least amount of tragedy in their lives do seem happiest and children, who have mostly had fewer unhappy experiences than adults, just because they're younger, usually seem happier to me than adults.

It is true though that people do have to be hurt. In life and fiction. I think death is a hard concept for the human mind to grasp, though. We may be afraid of death but we don't actually have firsthand personal experience of it, (or otherwise we would not be alive I guess). We do understand pain though, and the different main types of human physical and emotional pain, we all have some experience with even when we're really young. I think even little children understand loneliness or being embarassed or feeling rejected, frustrated or misunderstand or hungry or aching. People instinctually move towards pleasure and away from pain. So the characters fear whatever seems like the greatest or most immediate pain at the moment and try to move avoid it.
I remember reading the book "Starter for 10," where the main character is so self-concious and is so afraid of appearing to be an idiot in front of this girl he really likes. I never thought he or any of the other characters were going to die, but his fear of shaming himself in front of someone he wanted to impress, and exactly what scary humiliating images the thought of that conjured up in his mind were so vividly portrayed by the author that I felt scared along with the character. I was really worried about what would happen with his relationship with Alice in the book and whether he would win the quiz show and impress her, so the suspense made me keep reading. (It was also pretty funny, too). Not that that was a perfect book or anything, but just as an example.
I could compare that to when Boromir dies in "Lord of the Rings." Like all the characters except for the hobbits and Gollum in those books, Boromir is not a "real" person. I remember being terrified for Frodo when he was in Mordor, but I didn't care that Gimli or Legolas or Boromir were in danger. It just didn't register with me, because I never got a sense of them as real personalities with feelings I could relate to. I mean, you could put a hundred Orcs against one of those characters, and they would be in mortal danger, but it just doesn't register because you're not locked into the mindset of those characters. You never get inside Boromir's head. Sure he tries to get the ring, but what exactly is going on in his head when he goes about doing it? What does he eat for breakfast? What's his favourite kind of beer? Are his woolen pants itchy? Not so much, because that's what you get when you create an archetypal, mytholigical character done in the style of Norse myths back when they didn't have much of a concept of characterization. You can put them in as much danger as you want, it won't neccesarily make people care about them.

That's why I think just putting a character in mortal peril or having people around them die isn't all creating adventure or suspense is about. It's more about getting the reader locked into the character, so they fear and anticipate what the character in the story does rather than actual physical danger. Ideally though, I find in the most suspenseful stories, there's both. However, I think if a character feared something enough, you could make, say, bringing a poor math grade home to a parent, into a very tense and vividly written situation.
I think character and plot really need to weave seamlessly together. It just kind of make sense-- you have one type of character personality, you'll probably have a certain type of conflict with the world at large, another type of personality will have a different sort of conflict. And of course, certain types of dangers bring out different emotions, depending on the person.
Wow, I had no intention of writing so much. Just got me to thinking. I think a lot about these issues in terms of writing, don't have many people to spout off to who'd understand, so thanks for reading.

Beaker said:

What ages is it appropriate for? It sounds great, but my kids are kind of young.

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I'd say 9 or 10 till 156 or so.

The best screenwriting teacher I ever had (Ed DiLorenzo-- yay Ed!) told me this:

You know you've got a good character when you can walk around your world, and you find you're seeing everything through their eyes, the way they would see things, noticing things they would notice, walking the way they would walk and taking on their speech patterns. You can practice doing this intentionally too.

You should know way more about your character than anyone else knows.
The starter question for this would always be... if you went out for a drink on the town with your character what would they drink? If you went out for lunch, what would they order?
And if you don't know that you have to think some more about how you're writing your character.
Getting very specific like that, asking the "What would she drink?" question with characters I've found has helped me really get them.

Pastey, reading your book, I knew you knew what Alex would drink at a bar and what food she'd order and what brand of toothpaste she uses and the same with most of the other characters. That's why so many of them stand out so much and come alive so well.

I think some of that really comes from acting. Ed was actually originally an actor, and I have found that books written by people who have studied acting often have that extra something when it comes to character and pacing that books written by other people don't. If you've ever read James Leo Herlihy or Robert Shaw, they're some excellent examples I think.

brittanimae - Did you come up with the capitalization of every Very Important Item yourself? It's so simple, yet quite ingenious--much more original than italics. Also, are we going to get backstory on the ladies of the Preservation Society (did I get that right?)? Or do we just take them at face value--as crazy psychos who can be quite entertaining to watch?


The capitalisation thing . . . I know I didn't invent it, but I can't for the life of me remember where I last saw it. It has been used in the past though, in other books. I always quite liked the technique, but I have read some reviews who really don't like it. To each his own!

As for the backstory, I kind of enjoy it when there isn't backstory for certain characters. Where characters act in a certain way, and you have no idea why. To me that has always added another level of humour, a kind of, "What the heck?" element. So no, there is no backstory coming for the Daughters. Sorry! But feel free to come up with your own!


Beaker - the book is Middle Grade, making it good for 8 - 12 yearolds. Though older kids, teenagers (and adults), do seem to enjoy it as well!


Little Jane - you make some excellent points, and I agree with all of them. I think I was referring specifically to personal taste and to the genre of adventure stories (LOVE Starter For Ten btw) with what I wrote. When I played make believe as a child, it was most often some kind of fantastical adventure, and there were always issues of life and death at stake. If someone is going to kidnap you, throw you in prison, it was way more fun pretending your life was on the line. That's why I always love the Adventure series by Enid Blyton (despite the slightly . . .dated and racist writing). These kids get into serious trouble. They are facing off against very dangerous adults and if they get caught there would be serious consequences.

It does come down to taste, what one likes in an adventure story. Yes I agree the best of books is a beautiful symbiosis between character and plot. I would never sacrifice one for the other. But just as you have certain characteristics in character that matter a lot to you, so too do I have similar feelings about plots (and we will have to disagree on the LOTR thing, Boromir in the books did leave me a little cold [though in the movie Sean Bean rocked that role], but I always had strong feelings for Gimli and Legolas).

But I totally agree, without characters for the reader to love and relate too, it doesn't matter how many amazing things happen in the plot, it will still in all likelihood leave the reader cold.

Toothpaste, I just finished Alex today. What a joyride! I hope I can score the movie when it comes out, or at least produce Jack's fantastic song!

"Jack, Jack, Jack, Jack,
Jack, Jack, Jack . . ."

Seriously, I truly enjoyed it, it had all the things I look for in a book: Soul-sucking, animal friends, Time distortion, life aboard a frigate (I'm a crazy Patrick O'Brian fan), and Action, Action, Action. Keep up the fun!

-Ziljon

Aw thanks Ziljon! Feel free to produce the Jack song whenever you wish! (love that song - I know I wrote it . . . but you know it wasn't easy, all the subtle nuances, careful wordplay, keeping the metre strong . . . )

And glad that you enjoyed the sea stuff, considering you are a Patrick O'Brian fan, it makes me feel like I got some of the descriptions right. I've never actually been on a tall ship, so it was all research!

Ok, OK I'll go buy one tonight. I have to buy a fiction writing book tonight anyway. Might as well get something fun too.

Frankly I'm still bitter over my experience with Alex and the Ironic Gentleman, Adrienne.
My kid still wants an Extremely Ginormous Octopus for a pet. Gee thanks.

ooh ooh
I want one too.
Can you get a discount on two, do you think, Soccer Mom?

Adrienne, Alex's world is an interesting mishmash of twenty-first and nineteenth century technology, (cgi film crew, talking fridge, and chain saws on the one hand, frigates, pirates, and treasure on the other). How did you decide the world would be this way? Did you plan beforehand that these elements would coexist, or did they just sort of force their way into the story, or what?

Gee, it's four days since I finished it and I'm still thinking about it. That's a good sign!

Hey Ziljon! I am very flattered the book stayed with you for so long! And also thanks for the question!

The answer is yes, I did plan it beforehand. I wanted a world where everything would exist, and where no one within the world seemed to care. Think about something like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, where it's a bit of a heightened reality, very much our world, and then suddenly you are in this factory with Oompa Loompas etc.

It wasn't until after I had written the book that I discovered what I was actually doing was writing Magical Realism. Now Magical Realism is tricky to explain, and takes a while to, so if anyone is interested please feel free to check out the essay I wrote on the subject over at my blog (I hadn't written an essay in years!): http://ididntchoosethis.blogspot.com/2007/12/magical-realism.html

Needless to say, some people really don't like the amalgam of the different elements (especially, as one reviewer pointed out, because there is no magic portal or anything. The world is just weird from the get go). But that's just a matter of taste!

I have to say, that mish-mash world really got me thinking like a kid, Adrienne -- took me back to when talking refrigerators, actors, and pirates were all equally strange and wonderful.

But then, I like crazy-quilt worlds. I feel sad for people who don't

Well it is interesting, because the kids don't seem to notice at all. That's the joy of make believe, anything can exist and most often does. In fact one of the reasons I made my book episodic (aside from my homage to Alice in Wonderland) was that when I used to play make believe, the whole point was the journey, not getting to the end. I don't think I ever got to the end of any of my adventures. The idea was to get into trouble, solve the problem, move on, and then whoops! Yet more bad guys to contend with!

I really was writing this book kind of like if I was playing make believe in the school yard. I have very vivid memories of that experience. Heck . . . now I'm an actress, so obviously I haven't exactly given up the practice!

Yeah, when I used to play pretend games with my My Little Ponies and Playmobils they were these epic, several year long adventures with no end in sight...

Sorry Little Jane for not replying! I didn't realise you'd posted a comment, g'ah it's been like a month! Anyway, glad to see you agree, and yes that was exactly what I was talking about . . . there was no point in finishing the adventure, I mean what were you supposed to do then?

That's part of what I loved about Alex's ending -- the adventures clearly don't end

I have to admit that during my first reading of Alex I had to stop reading. Months ago, I began it and got quite a way through...only to be hit with a bunch of deadlines at once. My reading life took a big hit.

I finally got around to reading Alex over the past couple of weeks. Knowing the first part of the story, of course I knew I would love it. And my son, who usually reads at a higher age level than Alex, absolutely loved it. He really enjoyed all the segues the story took in getting to the ship. I have to agree with him. There were several laugh out loud parts and I loved the side trips Alex took. The hotel, the inn, the octopus. It made the whole thing so magical.

I really loved it, A. I felt bad not reading it earlier. I can't remember when I got my copy from you, but it was quite a while ago. Life got in the way. )-:

There was, for me, a decidedly English feeling to the book. I also enjoyed that. And I agree with Chumplet that Peter O'Toole would make a great Octopus.

I can't wait to get my hands on Timothy and the Dragon's Gate!

KTC said:

I can't wait to get my hands on Timothy and the Dragon's Gate!

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Me too!

I'm going to order it online this week.

CaroGirl said:

Me too!

I'm going to order it online this week.

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I'm going brick and mortar...I'll just say, "I'm picking it up for my son". The blush will give it away though. (-;

I'm so glad you enjoyed it KTC! Makes me most thrilled. And yes it does have a decidedly English flavour to it for sure, that's one of the reasons I went for a UK agent (not just because I was living there at the time). In fact when I first met with Scholastic they were shocked to learn I was North American because, as they said, "the story is so quintessentially British."

I do hope you enjoy Timothy as much, I'll keep my fingers crossed!