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Author Interview: Jim Denney

5/7/2013

9 Comments

 
Meet Jim Denney, Author of the Timebenders Series
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BBB: What inspired you to become a writer?

JD: I've always been fascinated by storytelling. My dad is a natural storyteller, and ever since I was a boy, I loved hearing his stories about "the old days." When I was just four or five years old, I discovered a black-and-white TV show called Space Patrol, and I was instantly hooked on science fiction. When I started elementary school, I looked for time travel and space travel books in the school library. There wasn't much, but I did discover a book called A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle. When I read that book, I knew I wanted to write stories about adventures on other worlds. That's what really lit my fire to write.


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BBB: How did you come up with the idea for your book series, Timebenders?

JD: My son, who was in kindergarten at the time, deserves credit for the Timebenders series. He knew I wrote books for a living, and he asked me to help him write a book. I said, "What kind of book do you want to write?" He said, "A book about kids who build a time machine. I want to have dinosaurs in it." And that's the premise of the first book in the series, Battle Before Time. My son and I only worked on it for week or two before he lost interest, but a few years after he first suggested it, I pitched the concept to a major publisher, and they bought it. The series first came out in 2002, and I recently revised and updated the series for reissue by Greenbrier Books.


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BBB: Tell us about your main characters, Max, Allie, Grady and Toby?

JD: Someone once said that when you set out to write a children's book, you should not write for children, you should write from the child within. In some ways, Max McCrane is my inner child, my idealized self. He's the math whiz, science whiz, and inventor I wish I could be.

Allie is red-haired, wears braces, has her share of insecurities, yet dreams of becoming an actress. She has compassion for people who are bullied or who don't fit in, and she's fiercely loyal to her friends.

Grady is based on several people I knew growing up. He's tough on the outside, but deeply wounded on the inside. He's bold, athletic, and ready to take on any challenge. He undergoes a major transformation in the first book.

Toby is a bully, a troublemaker, and a major pain for the other three time travelers. When trouble happens, Toby is always at the bottom of it. Over the course of the series, we come to understand why Toby is the way he is. We feel empathy for him and root for him to overcome his dark side. He's based on a troubled boy I met at a science camp my son attended. Part of the reason I tell Toby's story is because I want the reader to discover that even someone as mean as Toby is redeemable and worth getting to know.


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BBB: How many books are available in the series?

JD: The four books currently available in the Timebenders series are Battle Before Time, Doorway to Doom, Invasion of the Time Troopers, and Lost in Cydonia. The target audience is middle graders.



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BBB: What do you think readers will enjoy most about the Timebenders books?

JD: The emails I get from young readers often mention the "thrill ride" feel of the books. My goal in writing the Timebenders series was to produce stories for young readers that read like a roller coaster ride. That's why I chose titles that have an exciting "pulp science fiction" sound. I send these four time travelers out to Mars, back to the beginning of the universe, out into the far future, and across the galaxy. They get thrown into a dungeon by a medieval wizard, shaken up in the jaws of a tyrannosaurus rex, and chased through time and space by marauding robots. This is the kind of straight-ahead adventure I loved to read when I was a boy. My readers seem to love it, too.

I've heard from parents who say their kids are captivated by these stories, and captured by a love of reading. Parents also like it that the characters exemplify values of courage, loyalty, and standing up for the weak and defenseless. I remember how A Wrinkle in Time impacted my life as a boy, and I want to give my readers a similar experience.


BBB: Are you currently working on another book in the series?

JD: Yes, I have a new Timebenders book in the works. The working title is War of the Electronic Brain. I'm having a lot of fun writing it.


To find out more about Jim Denney and his books visit Timebenders blogsite: http://jimdenney.wordpress.com/

9 Comments
Wendy L link
5/16/2013 03:32:50 pm

Your Timebenders series really does sound like you are 'paying it forward' from the author of that sci fi book you first loved, onto the readers of your books. I'm sure there will be plenty of young readers who will credit you with their love of reading. Thank you for being part of the KidLit Blog Hop.
Wendy -co-hostess.

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Stacie Theis
5/24/2013 12:32:09 am

I am very happy to be able to share Jim's story behind his books. This is one of my favorite interviews. Thanks for dropping by my blog.

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Julie Grasso link
5/16/2013 08:13:42 pm

Hi Stacie and Jim. I absolutely loved this post. I am a sci fi nerd and I have seen Jim on twitter and really like the premise of his books. The covers are fantastic, so congrats on getting them back into print. I will be putting this on the to read list. Thanks so much for linking in to the Kid Lit Blog Hop. Cheers Julie Grasso

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Stacie Theis
5/24/2013 12:26:41 am

I enjoyed this interview a great deal and agree that the book covers are wonderful. They certainly do a good job of grabbing a readers attention. Thanks for stopping by!

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Renee C. link
5/21/2013 02:40:44 pm

Love, love, love the concept behind these books. They are a bit advanced for my son still, but I can totally see him coming up with the time machine - dinosaur combo! Classic!

Thanks for sharing in the Kid Lit Blog Hop.

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Stacie Theis
5/24/2013 12:28:50 am

My boys are too old for this series, but would have enjoyed them immensely. They too, would have been captivated by the time machines and dinosaurs. Thank you for having me on the Kid Lit Blog Hop.

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Robert Yunus
2/20/2014 04:38:27 am

I hope you can create a "secularized" version of the books, for atheists are the fastest-growing "religious" group in the US, according to a Gallup poll. Visit skepticblog.org for related information.

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Robert Yunus
2/20/2014 04:41:03 am

Speaking of which, "A comprehensive controlled scientific study on the efficacy of prayer on healing, funded by the religiously-based Templeton Foundation and conducted at the prestigious Harvard Medical School, found no relationship between the two: subjects in the non-prayed for group did just as well (or poor) as those in the prayed for group. And why is it, scientists want to know, that prayer only seems effective for things that might have happened anyway, such as tumors going into remission. A more dramatic and unmistakably religious miracle that would shock even the most skeptical of scientists would be if prayers for amputees (especially our brave wounded Christian soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan) resulted in renewed whole limbs; i.e., a true miracle."--Michael Shermer, president of Skeptic magazine and a former evangelical Christian creationist.

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Robert Yunus
2/20/2014 04:45:07 am

One last thing--I believe that religions that are easily hijackable (Islam-Al Qaeda, Christianity-Inquisition) or that have no scientific proof of their deities (If God does not need a creator, then logic dictates that neither does the universe) should end up like the Ancient Greek and Ancient Egyptian religions--unbelieved and obsolete. P.S. The Bible contains a death penalty for disobedient children and for pre-marital sex.

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