YesWes Talks to Buffy/Angel Novelist Jeff Mariotte
Jeff talks about his upcoming novels 'Haunted', 'Stranger To The Sun' and 'Angel: The Casefiles'
"Beware the House!" Angel writer Jeff Mariotte inscribed on the fly page of my copy of Haunted (his most recently released literary foray into the world of the vampire with a soul and his trusty band of cohorts) when I handed it to him at the Dangerous Visions bookstore signing last February in Sherman Oaks, California. I hadn't read the book at the time (it was brand new), but once I did, I understood the reference. Using the current trend toward reality-based television as a set up, this adventure finds Cordelia pursuing her dreams of fame and fortune by spending time isolated from her friends in a haunted house with several other would-be "survivors." Piece of cake for a girl whose roomie is a ghost, right? But it soon becomes obvious survival is going to be harder than she bargained for. A great adventure, and the first strictly Angel novel to include Wesley and Gunn....
Read On For More!
When I learned that Jeff's next Angel book, Stranger to the Sun (due out in June), would involve our beloved Wesley in a central role, I was thrilled... and intrigued. I was even more excited when Jeff graciously agreed to talk with me about it, and I found out first hand what a thoughtful and friendly guy this talented author really is. And he had quite a bit to share about writing the Angel novels, about his take on Wesley and some tantalizing hints about the upcoming book!
"It's hard to say a lot about it without giving away the good stuff... Yes, it's very Wesley-centric, although Wesley is in a coma from the prologue to the epilogue. But notwithstanding the coma, there's a lot of Wesley in the book. Angel is, obviously, a 'stranger to the sun,' because as a vampire he can't go out in it. But the title comes from a song by a great singer-songwriter (and third base coach for the San Diego Padres), Tim Flannery, about coal miners. And ultimately it applies as much to Wesley as it does to Angel, in this book."
As Cordy would say, cryptic much?
Stranger to the Sun will be the fourth of the Angel novels penned by Jeff Mariotte, whose previous books for the series include Closer to the Ground, Hollywood Noir and the aforementioned Haunted. He's collaborated with Nancy Holder on the Unseen trilogy, a Buffy/Angel crossover series. Jeff also did the Buffy episode novelizations for The Xander Years. A graduate of San Jose State University with a degree in Radio/TV/Film, Jeff was born in Forest Park, Illinois and currently calls San Diego home.
Sometimes when you read a book that is a tie-in to a television series, you get the feeling the person writing it has never watched the show upon which the book is based. Happily, that is not the case with a Jeff Mariotte novel. Not only has he watched Angel from the beginning, he's a fan and has an excellent grasp of the characters we all know and love. He was on the Buffy set working on The Xander Years, Vol. 2 and Watcher's Guide, Vol.2 (co-written with Nancy Holder and Jeff's wife Maryelizabeth Hart) when Angel began shooting. "I was kind of predisposed to like it," he says, "because I liked what I heard about the direction it would take. Once it was on, though, I quickly came to like it more than Buffy, and I actually prefer writing Angel novels over Buffy ones for the same reasons. I like the noir aspects of it, the fact that it is set in the real L.A. and plays around with the archetypal Los Angeles private eye (which is what my book Hollywood Noir was all about)."
The smaller cast of Angel is also appealing.
"To me, the Buffy cast is a bit unwieldy--as a writer, you have to find something for each of the cast members to do, some contribution to the story, while keeping the main spotlight on Buffy. With the addition of Lorne and then Fred, Angel books might start to get more difficult in that sense, too. I like dealing with the main quartet of Angel-Cordy-Wesley-Gunn, but the books have to keep pace with the shows. And each new member brings something unique to the table, so the show stays interesting and I'm sure the books will as well."
The release of The Burning, Volume 1 of the Unseen trilogy, marked the first appearance of Wesley in the novelized version of the series. Due to the length of time involved between the original conception of a story and the point at which the book actually hits the market, we as readers are destined to remain at least a season behind the events of the television series itself. I asked Jeff about this time lapse problem and about any restrictions imposed on the licensed novelists that might limit what they are able to do in a story.
"We're not actually too limited by what might happen on the show in the future, except to the extent that it might negate some aspect of the novels. But not only is that not within our control, I think most fans understand that the novels aren't officially canon, and only the shows are. So where we might make something that looks like a 'mistake,' such as when I had Angel referred to as Angelus, instead of Liam, in an Irish flashback in my first Angel novel, Close to the Ground, the fact was that when it was written, the name Liam had never appeared on TV. That kind of thing you can't protect yourself against so you just can't worry about it. We write stories set at a specific point in time, so we have a good idea of what the relationships are at that moment, what the known history is, etc., and we just have to be true to that. If stuff comes up later that contradicts us, that's just part of working in licensed fiction.
"So really, the limitations are the ones you'd set for yourself as a writer anyway--is dialogue and action true to the character? Whether the character is an existing one from a TV show or one you made up yourself, you want the answer to that question to be correct. On the flip side, the benefit is that you get to write books about some of the most interesting characters ever created for popular consumption."
No argument from us there, Jeff!
With the novels being set earlier than where we are currently with the series, and with the dynamic character changes that tend to take place on Angel, one might think it would be difficult to try to backstep a character's development to fit that time period. However, Jeff disagrees.
"No. As I mentioned, knowing precisely where in continuity your story fits makes it easier, because you know who you're dealing with, you have a good idea of their mental and emotional state at that point in time, and all you have to do is respect the characters as they've been established. It's much easier than it would be to write a book that takes place in the 'now,' for instance, because every week new information would be revealed on TV that would completely change your story."
That's something fanfiction writers understand all too well. We refer to it as being "Jossed" or "Josswalted" in homage to series creators Joss Whedon and David Greenwalt. But what about the reverse? Is there a temptation to use the knowledge gained from having seen later episodes to foreshadow events?
"That hasn't really been a temptation for me. I can't speak to other writers, but I'm very conscious of what information has been revealed at the time my book takes place, and don't think it would be fair or emotionally accurate to foreshadow things that haven't yet happened. It's more fun, to me, to explore the characters as accurately as I can, and then see if the arcs that the writers and producers of the show come up with mirror those in any way--which can prove that my interpretations were on the right track (or not)."
So, maybe we fanfiction writers have something in common with the professional writers. Except, of course, fanfic writers don't get paid!
"The inimitable Dr. [Samuel] Johnson once said, 'Sir, no one but a blockhead ever wrote except for money.' I don't hold myself to quite that standard, as I have from time to time written for free, but it's a good goal to have in mind, I think."
Okay, so... we're blockheads! Poor, but happy! Don't worry, Jeff, we know we're a little strange!
Jeff finds working within a preset framework and doing it successfully has its own rewards. As to the similarities between fanfic and pro novels...
"I think that the writer of licensed fiction faces the same restrictions as any other writer, whether of original works or fanfiction, which is that the characters have to be true to themselves. I would imagine that fanfiction that breaks that rule--that portrays the existing characters as acting in a way that they just wouldn't act--would not be popular fanfiction because the beloved characters you came to read about were wrong."
And speaking of beloved characters, just what does Jeff think of our Wesley?
"Wesley is a smart guy. His tendency is to think things through before he acts (though he doesn't always have time to do so, that's his ideal). He's also an emotional guy, although he's been played--interestingly, I think--as keeping the emotions beneath the surface, kind of hiding his own passions a bit beneath that stiff upper lip British persona. But they are there, roiling furiously, and when he lets them show a little it's fascinating.
"The little moments we've seen with his father are an area that begs to be explored. I'm not sure if it will be, or if Joss and Co. will just let that be a sub-surface complication. But it certainly adds a different dimension to the character, and could help to explain his willingness to keep his emotions in check. We don't know what happened between them, but we do know that Wes has never been able to earn his father's respect. Nothing he has ever done has been good enough for the one man whose respect he so desperately wants. That would be enough to make anyone a little tentative in what they revealed to the rest of the world."
Regarding Wesley's relationship with his father, a topic first alluded to in the Season One episode "I've Got You Under My Skin," I asked if Jeff thought this would ever be explored in the novels, and if it was something he'd wish to tackle.
"No, I wouldn't touch it in the books except as deep background, to inform Wesley's character as I understand it. I believe that Joss has a plan, and that's something that would be too jarring, I think, if I went one way with it in the books and it turned out to be something completely different in the show. I'm content to leave it alone and see what Joss has in mind."
We all would like to see what Joss has in mind! But will it ever happen? Or is it more effective to the character to keep this kind of information an ambiguous "sub-surface complication?"
"The way Joss and David [Greenwalt] work, I suspect it's something that will arise at the least-expected possible moment, and will spin Wesley's character arc into some completely new direction. Used correctly, it could be a very powerful, defining moment. A lot of lesser writers would have already thrown it out there, limiting its impact. I think it'll come out someday, and have every faith that those guys will do it right, and it'll enhance everybody's understanding of Wes."
As for Wesley's alter ego, Alexis Denisof, Jeff has never met him, but his co-writers (Nancy Holder and Maryelizabeth Hart) on Angel: The Casefiles did interview Alexis extensively.
"They had only the nicest things to say about him," Jeff reports. "I transcribed the tapes, so I can say that he has thought long and hard about his character and his craft and his approach to the character is extremely considered and respectful. Alexis is a consummate actor who brings a lot of wisdom and experience to the set with him. He can give whatever the script calls for, and then some."
Speaking of the upcoming guide to Angel, Wesley fans should have plenty to enjoy when the book comes out in June.
"The aforementioned long interview with Alexis is excerpted throughout the book. The format we settled on, the 'casefiles' aspect of it, has each episode as a self-contained unit--so for instance, Alexis' comments on "The Thin Dead Line" will be in with that episode's material, instead of there being one long Alexis interview by itself elsewhere in the book. But we tried to get a lot of what he had to say in there--in addition, of course, to interviews with the rest of the cast members, crew, writers, producers, directors, etc. Like the Watcher's Guide we did, this is going to be a big book that goes into a lot of detail about the first two seasons of Angel. The show is a complex one, and the book mirrors that complexity while, we hope, entertaining and enlightening the fans."
And what can we look forward to from Jeff Mariotte in the realm of future Angel adventures?
"Nancy Holder and I have recently turned in the first Angel hardcover novel, Endangered Species. It's an epic story, with locations ranging from L.A. to Hawaii to California's Channel Islands to the Mojave desert. I don't want to say much about it, though, except that it's exciting. And Wesley's in it!"
Does this man know his audience or what?
Okay. Hawaii... California... Mojave.... Sounds awful sunny for a vampire, but I have the sneaking suspicion that whatever dangers our heroes get into on this adventure, we can trust Jeff and Nancy to give us a read we can't put down!
My thanks to Jeff for taking the time to talk with us, not to mention thanks for helping us satisfy our Wes-obsession through his books. My copy of Stranger to the Sun and Angel: The Casefiles are already on order!
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