Travis interviews science fiction author Mike Chen about his latest book from MIRA books, We Could Be Heroes. It’s a standalone story where a superhero and supervillain accidentally meet in the same support group and decide to become friends, and it’s every bit as lovely as that sounds.
Mike and Travis discuss how to make the most of the Save the Cat plotting method, tricks to writing compelling and natural dialogue, and the thrill of writing an official Star Wars story.
Listen to the audio trailer for Mike Chen’s Star Wars short story “Disturbance”.
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About Mike Chen
Mike Chen is the author of Here And Now And Then (a finalist for Goodreads Choice – Best Sci-Fi, CALIBA Golden Poppy, and the Compton Crook Award) and A Beginning At The End (“a brilliant, fragile path through the darkness” — Library Journal). His short fiction is featured in Star Wars: From A Certain Point Of View — The Empire Strikes Back, and he has covered geek culture for sites such as Tor.com, The Mary Sue, and StarTrek.com. In a previous life, he covered the NHL for Fox Sports, SB Nation, and other outlets. A member of SFWA, Mike lives in the Bay Area with his wife, daughter, and rescue animals.
Find Mike Chen on Twitter, Instagram, and at his website mikechenbooks.com.
We Could Be Heroes
An extraordinary and emotional adventure about unlikely friends and the power of choosing who you want to be.
Jamie woke up in an empty apartment with no memory and only a few clues to his identity, but with the ability to read and erase other people’s memories—a power he uses to hold up banks to buy coffee, cat food and books.
Zoe is also searching for her past, and using her abilities of speed and strength…to deliver fast food. And she’ll occasionally put on a cool suit and beat up bad guys, if she feels like it.
When the archrivals meet in a memory-loss support group, they realize the only way to reveal their hidden pasts might be through each other. As they uncover an ongoing threat, suddenly much more is at stake than their fragile friendship. With countless people at risk, Zoe and Jamie will have to recognize that sometimes being a hero starts with trusting someone else—and yourself.
Transcript:
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