Q&A with J. Gabriel Gates discussion

Hey guys! I'm going to kick off this Q & A by inviting some questions from you all. What would you like to know? It can be about writing process, the business of publishing, or any of my books. Fire away!

Dark Territory ~ Are there any characteristics or aspects similiar to your own in your characters? I see the TV pilot in my head~

Wendy Lovetiggi wrote: "Dark Territory ~ Are there any characteristics or aspects similiar to your own in your characters? I see the TV pilot in my head~"

That's a good question. My editor thought Raphael seemed like me (and even joked about using me for a cover photo-shoot). I think there's a part of me in every character I write, but ultimately each character has his or her own distinct essence. To me, they are themselves and no one else.

Thanks J. I really am looking forward to Sleepwalkers in trade as well. I love ur writing style, detailed character and world building.. I can only imagine how Awesome it is...... Thanks for replying so fast....

Wendy Lovetiggi wrote: "Thanks J. I really am looking forward to Sleepwalkers in trade as well. I love ur writing style, detailed character and world building.. I can only imagine how Awesome it is...... Thanks for replyi..."

It's my pleasure! Thanks for the questions.

I'm looking forward to The Sleepwalkers release, too.

hi!! wat did u xactly want 2 convey thru dese lines:

''Usually when Americans try 2 help people, all that seems to happen is a lot f people get blown up and some company makes a crapload of cash. thats hw we save the world around here.''

Priyanka wrote: "hi!! wat did u xactly want 2 convey thru dese lines:

''Usually when Americans try 2 help people, all that seems to happen is a lot f people get blown up and some company makes a crapload of cash. ..."

Hi Priyanka, thanks for the question. The passage above relates Bean's rather jaded view of America's involvement overseas, particularly in regard to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, where by all accounts thousands of civilians were killed and where U.S. companies, such as Halliburton, (a company led by former vice president Dick Cheney) received tens of billions of dollars of U.S. taxpayer money for their roles in supporting the war effort. Basically, Bean is saying that when people try to help the less fortunate, it's usually really for their own selfish purposes, whereas Caleb has a more idealistic world view.

Thx J. 4 d answr. m nt vry aware f political issues dats y i didnt undrstand...

Hi! I don't know if anyone still checks this post...but if you do, will you ever answer the unanswered questions in the sleepwalkers? It was a great book, but all the questions at the end ruined it for me...D: I was wondering, is the world seriously going to end? Seems sort of drastic....and also, if Christine got that 'filter' part of her brain cut out, does she still get possessed? There are a lot of other questions, too....

Hi Joshua,
Thanks for writing. I'm sorry to hear that you didn't enjoy the open-ended finish to The Sleepwalkers. You're not the first reader to be bothered by it. Some of it has to do with the reader's aesthetic and expectations, I think. I'm mostly interested in literary fiction, which is more designed to raise more questions in reader's minds rather than it answers. The expectations in genre fiction are different; in genre writing, loose ends tend to be tied up. In the case of The Sleepwalkers, I intended for readers to finish the book and feel a bit uneasy. After all, it's horror. And what's scarier, having all the answers, or living in uncertainty? I'd also argue that the lack of full closure is more realistic. When was the last time in your life that every question was answered and every concern was met? In life, our endings revolve toward new beginnings. Every revelation raises its own new questions. Every victory points toward a new challenge we'll have to face. That was the sort of sense I was trying to capture in the ending to The Sleepwalkers. Plenty of readers have asked if I plan to write a sequel. The answer is that I certainly could, but I have no plans to do so at this time. Always when it comes to literature, if you want to see a sequel, the best way to make a sequel happen is to tell about a million of your friends to go buy a book-- make it financially impossible for the author to NOT write a sequel. That's the way to get all your questions answered. Otherwise, I'm afraid you'll have to live with the uneasiness, or engage your imagination and construct the answers yourself.

Thanks again for writing, and for reading my books!

-J. Gabriel Gates

J. wrote: "Hi Joshua,
Thanks for writing. I'm sorry to hear that you didn't enjoy the open-ended finish to The Sleepwalkers. You're not the first reader to be bothered by it. Some of it has to do with the rea..."
Alright. Thanks for the quick response! This book was really great, other than the open ended ending, and I must say, you do have a point. Hope to see a sequel soon!