Deep Six

When criminals are convicted, they go to jail. When they have parahuman abilities, they go to Deep Six, the most secure prison facility in the world. Six thousand feet underground, nobody has ever escaped from the maximum security facility.

Until now.

A parahuman terrorist called Misrule engineers a mass breakout, and it falls to a pair of prison guards to stop the world's most dangerous criminals from reaching freedom, and Just Cause won't be able to help them. Despite being overmatched and underpowered, the two guards must find a way to prevent the escapees from their ultimate goal.

GOODREADS

Expected publication: November 29th 2013 by Local Hero Press

INTERVIEW

1. For people who haven’t heard of Deep Six , make a brief description.

Deep Six is the fourth book in the Just Cause Universe series. It broadens the storytelling universe by introducing the employees and residents of the most secure prison facility in the world, used to contain those convicted criminals for whom a normal prison will not suffice. Nobody has ever escaped from the underground prison, so naturally, that’s exactly what happens. The story deals with two underpowered guards who have to try to stop the inmates from reaching their freedom. They’re outmanned and outgunned and the ringleader, a vicious killer named Misrule, seems to outwit them at every turn. Think of it like Die Hard, but with superpowers.

2. When did you decide to become a writer?

I wrote my first story at age 7 or 8, using my thumb, my dad’s inkpad, and a pencil. It was called “The Happy Days Gang Goes to the Disco” and was about a group of little cartoon characters having a dance party. Not exactly high literature, but you can find it scanned on my Facebook page (www.facebook.com/authorianthomashealy). Ever since then, I’ve been finding ways to tell stories.

3. Which of your characters is your favorite and why?

Mustang Sally is my favorite for sure. I’ve written more words directly about her and those related to her than anyone else in all the years I’ve been writing. I feel like a proud father, watching her grow up from an uncertain teenager to a self-assured young woman has been a great source of joy for me. I’ll admit, I also like putting her through the wringer and seeing how she gets out of all that trouble. I have several more novels planned around her as she continues to grow and mature.

4. If you could have coffee with any character of any book, who would it be and why?

I think I’d like to hang out with Jackrabbit (his novel is coming out next spring). He’s the avatar of the Rabbit God, and weirdness just seems to follow him around. He’s a fun person and if I was ever going to accidentally develop superpowers, it would be because he was around.

5. If you could meet any person in the world who would it be and why?

I’d like to meet George R.R. Martin, the editor of the Wild Cards book series, which was a great source of inspiration to me, so I can pitch an idea for a character and story to incorporate into a future volume of the series.

6.Name a book you wish you had written.

Is it catty of me to say Harry Potter? Not that teenage wizards are my thing—at all—but the paychecks would be nice.

7. Would you like your book turned into a movie? Do you have any actors in mind?

Oh gosh, I think most authors would love to see their books turned into good movies—and we’re terrified of our work becoming attached to a bad movie. I’m really bad with picking actors and actresses, because I don’t even know who most of them are. Let’s go with Mickey Rourke (Iron Man 2) as Misrule, Stana Katic (Castle) as Katie Malone, Chris Pine (Star Trek Into Darkness) as Tim, Willem DaFoe (Spider-Man) as The Etched Man, and Eddie McClintock (Warehouse 13) as Crackerjack.

8.What do you do, besides writing?

I drive a pretty mean forklift at my day job as a warehouse manager. I also love to cook (and experiment in the kitchen!), and am raising three kids. I follow a couple of hockey teams—the Colorado Avalanche and the Denver Cutthroats—and attend games when I can afford to (which is rare—people need to buy more of my books!).

9.Name your favorite authors.

My favorite authors in no particular order are Alan Moore, Frank Miller, Karl Schroeder, Alan Dean Foster, Mike Resnick, Aaron Allston, Carrie Vaughn, Genevieve Valentine, and the collected authors of the Wild Cards series of novels edited by George R.R. Martin. I tend to jump around a lot in what I read. I was on a real steampunk kick for awhile. Now I’m reading more fantasy. Before then I was reading superheroes and space opera. I’m sure I’ll come back around to any of those at some point in the future.

10. Is there something you want the readers to know about you?

I have luscious curls that are all the way to the small of my back when straight, and am working on growing out the Full Wizard beard, because reasons.

11. How do you react to a bad review?

Badly. LOL.

No, really I just mark them as unhelpful and continue on with my day. If I’m feeling particularly vindictive, I will go through the other reviews that person has written and mark all them as unhelpful as well. Yes, it’s a little junior high school, but it keeps me from making the Big Author Mistake of replying to them.

Thank you Ian for this great and funny interview! I totally agree with you on question number 6! lol

About Ian:

He is a prolific writer who dabbles in many different speculative genres. His superhero novel Deep Six: A Just Cause Novel was a Top 100 Semi-finalist in the 2008 Amazon.com Breakthrough Novel Award. He’s a seven-time participant and winner of National Novel Writing Month where he’s tackled such diverse subjects as sentient alien farts, competitive forklift racing, a religion-powered rabbit-themed superhero, cyberpunk mercenaries, cowboy elves, and an unlikely combination of vampires with minor league hockey. He is also the creator of the Writing Better Action Through Cinematic Techniques workshop, which helps writers to improve their action scenes.

His goal is to become as integral to the genre of superhero fiction as William Gibson was to cyberpunk and Anne Rice was to urban fantasy.

Ian lives in Colorado with his wife, three children, and a plethora of housepets. When not writing, which is rare, he likes to take road trip, enjoys watching football and hockey, and listening to or playing music.

His ebooks can be found on Smashwords, Kindle, Nook, iBook Store, and other online retailers.

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