MUR LAFFERTY TALKS PLAYING FOR KEEPS

[Blake Petit]

Writer and podcaster Mur Lafferty has achieved great popularity with her I Should Be Writing podcast – a chronicle of her efforts to become a published author – as well as her Heaven series of podcast novels, including Heaven, Hell, Earth and Wasteland. Last year she released a new podcast novel, Playing For Keeps, about a group of low-powered “third wave” superhumans who didn’t get any respect from the superheroes in town… until one of them got her hands on something they wanted. Playing For Keeps will be making its debut in print on Monday, August 25, from Swarm Press. In preparation for the release, Mur chatted with Comixtreme’s Blake Petit about the book, her upcoming projects, and how the internet audience made Playing For Keeps a podcast hit.

CX: Playing For Keeps is being released this coming Monday, August 25. What's it about and why should people order it?

Mur Lafferty: Anyone who loves - or hates - superheroes should enjoy this book. PFK features heroes and villains, but our protagonists are people who have powers that are superhuman, but not good for crime fighting, so they're like the third string JV basketball players - they're on the team but they never get to play.
They are bullied by heroes and charmed by villains, and when they have they chance to use their powers, they have to decide which to support.

CX: Some of these characters were really unique -- what inspires things like a man who can summon elevators or someone who can cook perfectly for each customer's palette?

ML: The elevator power is something we joke that my friend Jason had one year at a con. Our heroine, Keepsie, who can't be stolen from, was inspired by 'play for keepsies' in marbles. Everyone else was a product of random brainstorming

CX: Did you read any superhero comics before working on PFK? Was there ever an intent to pay tribute to -- or, on the flipside -- satirize any known characters?

ML: Yes, read a lot of non-mainstream stories. Powers, Astro City, It’s a Bird, etc. I wanted to satirize heroes in general, not any specific one. I tend to see the heroes as having the potential to get to act like superstar athletes, get big heads, get to be jerks, and still be loved by most people.

CX: Did the typical superhero format influence you at all? Having listened to the podcast novel version of PFK, it seems like the book works very well as a rather unique "origin story" for several of the characters.

ML: I'm rather fond of origin stories, so that's what influences me, I love hero stories in general, despite my lampooning, so they definitely influenced the book in a good way.

CX: Let's talk about that podcast novel for a moment. When you launched the podcast last year, you had a really innovative marketing strategy for a project of that sort. Can you explain what you did and how it worked?

ML: Sure- I had my friend Chris Miller of Podiobooks.com head up a fancast with side content called Stories of the Third Wave. I wanted to release the pdf of the episodes as I released the chapters, and I had some very talented friends, Jared Axelrod, J.C. Hutchins, Natalie Metzger and Paul Fischer, help me put that together. I released a short episodic vidcast with Will ****acker playing the part of a young man in exile, hiding his power from the heroes. And I got some pretty awesome celebrity heroes to voice some story recaps - including stars of Who Wants to Be A Superhero? from Sci-Fi Channel.

CX: Do you think these projects helped to lead to the print edition of the book? How did the book make the leap from podcast to paper?

ML: Oh definitely. My publisher, Swarm Press, liked the book of course, but my ability to market myself and build an audience was a factor. If you go small press, you have to be prepared to bust your butt to market yourself.
As for how it transitioned, my editor, Jacob, contacted me with a request to publish the book this April. By May we'd signed a contract.

CX: The man works fast! Cool! Are you including any similar initiatives (or new ideas) to help publicize the print release of the book?

ML: I'm reawakening the stories of the third wave with original content by Matt Wallace, J.C. Hutchins, Christiana Ellis, Matthew Wayne Selznick, and more. The pdf of the book - complete with the original art from the episode covers - will be released on August 22 with an original short story at the end. I released a music video to the Beatnik Turtle [Playing For Keeps podcast theme] song, and on launch day I'll be doing video updates all day with the Amazon.com ranking.

CX: What is it you're hoping readers will do to help celebrate "launch day"?

ML: I'm hoping everyone will go to Amazon.com and buy the book. If they all do it, it will drive the book up the charts and expose it to people I can't reach through podcasting.

CX: You are a pretty prolific podcaster at that. What are the other podcasts -- besides the PFK novel -- that you're involved with at the moment?

ML: I Should Be Writing, my podcast that talks about writing, and The Takeover, an audiodrama about literal corporate zombies. This fall I will release my fifth season of my podcast episodic fiction, Heaven.

CX: Ah, Heaven, I love those books. Will the fifth season conclude the story?

ML: That is the plan.

CX: Have you announced the title of the last season yet?
ML: Yes, it's War.

CX: Are you working on any other books, at the moment, besides War?

ML: Yes, I have a book I'm calling codename Project Underground. It's meant for print, and if it sells, I will try to negotiate for audio rights.

CX: Because it's the requisite question: any chance of a follow-up to PFK, either following Keepsie or any other denizens of her universe?

ML: That is the hope. We'll see how sales are and if my editor is interested in a book 2

CX: Where can people go for more information about PFK or any of your other projects?

ML: Murverse.com for all my stuff, playingforkeepsnovel.com for just the book.

CX: Excellent. Is there anything else you want people to know?

ML: I think we've covered it! I will just beat the drum again and say August 25, Amazon.com!

[Blake Petit]

Just a reminder, friends, today is launch day for Playing For Keeps! If you want to order a copy, do it now!