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Categories: Interview
Tags: defender, gauntlet, tim waggoner
Author Tim Waggoner was nice enough to answer some questions I had about his video game novel, Defender: Hyperswarm which I wrote about here.
Game Couch: Why was this book commissioned? Were they trying to boost the franchise or did it tie in with some event?
Tim Waggoner: I’m not sure why I-Books picked up the license to do a book based on the Defender game. They also did a Gauntlet book around the same time. There was no special event that prompted the licenses, so my assumption is that the publisher simply thought the two games were good properties to base tie-in novels on.
GC: Were you given specific guidelines for the book, or did you have a free hand?
TW: The only guideline I was given was to write a sequel to the most recent video game version of Defender. Since the game has a specific storyline and ending, I started from there. Otherwise, I could do what I wanted.
GC: Are you a big Defender fan or was it just a paying job?
TW: I played the original Defender in the arcade when I was high school, so when I got the gig, I was thrilled. I had never played the more recent version, and when I did start playing, it was with an eye toward adapting game elements for the novel. Nothing I write — whether original or tie-in fiction — is just a paying job to me. Any book I do is MY book, and I give my all to write the very best novel I can. I had a great time writing the Defender book, and my only regret is that I-Books folded before I got a chance to write a sequel.
On February 15th, 2008 at 12:28 pm, GauntletGuy wrote:
great interview. you should find the gauntlet guy.