Featured Interview With Roger E Pedersen
Tell us a little about yourself. Where were you raised? Where do you live now?
INTERVIEW QUESTIONS WITH ROGER E. PEDERSEN
As a video/ computer game designer whose life turned upside-down without a job, car, and residence forced into a homeless shelter.
Instead of wasting hours watching TV in the shelter, Roger used his laptop and research to write his first Sci-Fi Dystopian book SuperPower The Ability to Fly, or to Become Invisible ‘The Deal of the Art.’
QUESTION: Roger, could you tell us about your book, The Deal of the Art, which is the first book in the series of SuperPower book series? How does this book come about?
ANSWER: (as violins are playing in the background…LOL) I lost my job, my live-in girlfriend left me, my car caught on fire, I could not pay my expensive rent so I moved into a homeless shelter in NY City. I had a laptop and wanted to do something significant more than watching TV. I had heard that J.K. Rowlings was poor on welfare and wrote Harry Potter. Later, writing my third book I found out in Porto Portugal she was an English teacher, and seeing her documentary as a child, she pretended to be a witch with her redheaded male friend.
I researched and discovered that Comedian, and talk show host, John Hodges wrote in American Life Magazine about the most asked question “If you had one SuperPower would you want to fly or become invisible?”
I researched if anyone had ever written a book about this even when dozens of magazines had, even, the first Shazam film had the handicapped child asked the new foster child that question. In the NY City Democratic Candidates for Mayor Debate, the second to last question was that. So, I decided that in the first book, some people discover that they have the SuperPower to fly or to become invisible. Playing on Donald Trump’s book The Art of the Deal, my book humorously is The Deal of the Art as my SuperPower people steal $3.5 billion of masterpiece artwork from the world’s top art museums in NY City, London, and Paris.
I was one of the top video/computer game designers in the industry so every book has three games in them such as a name the reference to a film, a book or music. For example: In book #3, when the richest 20-year-old in the world is about to marry the world’s top SuperModel and she finds out her agreement with the Professor has turned sour and she and her maid of honor vacate the wedding, his twin brother states, “Your Pretty Woman has become The Runaway Bride. Two Julia Roberts and Richard Gere films.
In the first book, when Paul is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NY City and is sitting behind the Beatles drum set, (from Book #1)
“I will be your huckleberry, Ringo.” Paul chuckles, knowing that he is merging the two different adversaries Ringo’s, Johnny Ringo, and Ringo Starr.
Readers get game points here for listing a film and music references.
There are two adversarial groups DODGE the Department of Defense Genetically Engineered Initiative and the Golden Eagle Organization headed by Professor Steele.
Besides, SuperPowered people, all births are done in-vitro, LGBTQ marriage is not only legal but the majority and following death only a cremation is legal.
All my books have the same cover with s different subtitles and are numbered, with the names of my four daughters, friends, and tv/ film characters like Tom Handkerchief.
One day my best friend wined to me that he was not in my book. He is the only NY State Jewish Republican. At that time, Biden was running for President and people questioned could former President Obama legally be his Vice President, to satisfy my best friend Yarjovski, I put in a similar named character in the first book, Bob Yarjo is the first Jewish Republican President the following books his daughter is President Roberta Yarjo and Bob Yarjo is her VP.
In books #1 and #2, I wrote over six songs that the talented female singers sing in concert.
The first book, I have written a screenplay to and the film series may be optioned on StoryRocket.Com.
The five-book series is on Amazon as a paperback and eBook, Google Play as an eBook, and audiobook,
IngramSparks as a paperback and eBook, in catalogs of B&N Walmart and Target.
Question: Then you have the follow-up title in the name of The Next Generation, for readers who have not read it yet, and without giving much information away, could we have a sneak of what we would expect to pick up The Next Generation?
Answer: The second book takes place twenty years after the first book and being a Star Trek fan hence The Next Generation. The twins of Diego Martin and Carmen Marti from Spain in book #1 move to San Fransisco in book #2 and have twins Salvador and Pablo. The Professor has adopted after his brother’s death his twin sons, Apollo and Rocky.
In Book #3, when I mentioned the SuperModel marriage to a billionaire twin, when the Steele twins meet her, they both want to date her.
In round one, they try their best to win her over and when the Professor asks her which twin she wants, she states it is a tie (film Rocky, Apollo ties Rocky) and after further wooing by the twins, she selects Rocky (film Rocky 2, Rocky beats Apollo).
From Book #2 onwards, all SuperPower people can fly or become invisible plus they have another unique SuperPower ability.
Books #2 through #5 are sequential in time and the series has won prestigious awards.
Question: I have always been fascinated by how authors, especially novelists craft long sentences and bring words together in a way that it eventually makes a great novel. This always leaves me thinking about how exactly they got their ideas and inspiration. Now, as far as writing is concerned, how do you get your inspiration and ideas?
Answer: I am blessed because I come up with an idea and months later that is exactly what I need. I also borrow from every source that I put a ‘citation section’ stating free usage law as a secondary protection.
I have written two computer game design books and this five-book series but I do not type even as a programmer I only use my two index fingers. On my cell phone, I have a ‘Speech-to-Text’ app and I chat all day having the app write for me. There are plenty of funny items like when I say ‘which is, and the app writes ‘witches.’
I email my lengthy speech to myself and store everything in Word where I review the grammar and spelling. I listen having Word read each chapter back to me and make fixes where needed.
As a long-time developer, I use Calibre but need to spend hours writing my own HTML code and stylesheet code.
Jokingly, I state I wrote seven 400-page books without typing.
I begin each book with an outline and spend hundreds of hours researching everything. Then, I write the first and last chapter so I know how I begin and where I going. I keep lists of names and for what country, people’s name is from. All the books have lots of humor as I think smiling and laughing makes reading fun.
Question: I am curious to know if you experienced any challenges while writing your book, if there is any, could you share with us what challenge it is, and how you ultimately overcame it? Also, how do you handle criticism as a writer?
Answer: I tell other authors that progress is moving forward so even if you have writer’s block, write a few sentences to advance the story.
A reviewer stated ‘I had the most amazing book but the grammar was edited badly. I complained on Facebook to other editors who stated that even Harry Potter originally had grammar problems but readers bought the book.; Critics are like rears everyone has one, right?
Question: Apart from SuperPower: The Ability to Fly or to Become Invisible book series, do you have any other works you have authored, or currently working on?
answer: I imagine the series can go on forever even 100 years from now after I am gone since there is so much as a book series and a film series.
Hollywood realizes that sci-fi, dystopian books make great movies like the Harry Potter series, Twilight, Hunger Games, and Divergent.
Why stop there when I have the SuperPower Series with flying like Harry Potter broomsticks, Twilight’s vampires, and invisibility like the Hobbit and Harry’s cloak?
And besides, I wrote as the author, the first book’s script is ready to start today and producers can get on free to StoryRocket.com and read about the five-book film series.
Tagline: The Thomas Crown Affair art heist on steroids
Logline: What would you do if you had the SuperPower of flight or invisibility? Professor Steele and FA-King get a team with the newly acquired SuperPowers of flight or invisibility to rob the world’s renowned art museums in NY City, London, Spain, and Paris of $3.5 billion in one well-planned night.
Question: Could you tell us what publishing is like for a published author like yourself? Are there any challenges you have encountered ever since you got published?
ANSWER: The challenge is time and strategy of what is the most important item right now.
In 2010, when I wrote the two-game design books, publishers paid me money to write a book and had ten thousand copies stored in a warehouse. Today, it is almost impossible to get a publisher and why should the author share the money from their hard work? Do not get me wrong, as an author and publisher, I work 16/7 on this series but I am homeless right now so I have lots of time.
The industry is now print on demand, you buy SuperPower on Amazon and Amazon prints your copy of SuperPower. SuperPower is also available as an eBook and audiobook.
No warehouse and I as the author can make changes if needed anytime.
I write or chat, edit, and market my series on 500 Facebook groups, Instagram, LinkedIn, X or Twitter, YouTube, and Reddit, answer messages from other authors and marketers on Facebook, create my book covers for eBook and paperback, write, and edit the paperback and eBooks, matching them making sure the eBook matches the paperback, lots of little items that must be done like podcasts like this excellent one.
QUESTION: Is there anything that you will love to share with the viewers about your books that we did not mention in this interview and you would love the viewers to know?
ANSWER: The Google audiobooks are $14.95; eBooks are $9.99 to $13.99 and the paperbacks are $24.95 to $34.95 US in English.
Question: As a published author, what sort of advice do you have for writers who are still struggling with publishing a book?
Answer: Write anything. Do it to accomplish something, do it to see your name in print.
Today’s world is DIY Do It Yourself, learn to DIY.
Have fun with it, and improve the world by thinking, laughter and emotion.
I tell my daughters, this is a book, not an apple, in six months that red apple will not look or taste great. Tolkien’s Hobbit and LOTR films came 28 years after his death so books will survive forever.
QUESTION: Where can readers get a copy of your book?
ANSWER:
SuperPower: The Ability to Fly or to Become Invisible: – Books on Google Play
At what age did you realize your fascination with books? When did you start writing?
I lost my job, my live-in girlfriend left me, my car caught on fire, I could not pay my expensive rent so I moved into a homeless shelter in NY City. I had a laptop and wanted to do something significant more than watching TV. I had heard that J.K. Rowlings was poor on welfare and wrote Harry Potter. Later, writing my third book I found out in Porto Portugal she was an English teacher, and seeing her documentary as a child, she pretended to be a witch with her redheaded male friend.
I researched and discovered that Comedian, and talk show host, John Hodges wrote in American Life Magazine about the most asked question “If you had one SuperPower would you want to fly or become invisible?”
I researched if anyone had ever written a book about this even when dozens of magazines had, even, the first Shazam film had the handicapped child asked the new foster child that question. In the NY City Democratic Candidates for Mayor Debate, the second to last question was that. So, I decided that in the first book, some people discover that they have the SuperPower to fly or to become invisible. Playing on Donald Trump’s book The Art of the Deal, my book humorously is The Deal of the Art as my SuperPower people steal $3.5 billion of masterpiece artwork from the world’s top art museums in NY City, London, and Paris.
I was one of the top video/computer game designers in the industry so every book has three games in them such as a name the reference to a film, a book or music. For example: In book #3, when the richest 20-year-old in the world is about to marry the world’s top SuperModel and she finds out her agreement with the Professor has turned sour and she and her maid of honor vacate the wedding, his twin brother states, “Your Pretty Woman has become The Runaway Bride. Two Julia Roberts and Richard Gere films.
Who are your favorite authors to read? What is your favorite genre to read. Who Inspires you in your writings?
Norton JusterThe Phantom Tollbooth
Tell us a little about your latest book?
The SuperPower book series by Roger E. Pedersen revolves around individuals who possess extraordinary abilities.
Let me break it down for you:
SuperPower: The Ability to Fly or to Become Invisible: The Deal of the Art (Book #1):
In this thrilling setup, regular people discover that they have the SuperPower to either fly or become invisible.
They team up with Professor Steele and his associate, the FA-King, to pull off the world’s largest one-night $3.5B heist of major art museums in New York City, London, and Paris.
The story unfolds as the next generation realizes they now have received one of the two SuperPowers:
DODGE (The Department of Defense Genetically Engineered) Initiative vs. the Golden Eagle Organization.
The stakes are high as these SuperPower individuals aim to steal from prestigious art museums, and the tension builds as the two organizations clash.
SuperPower: The Ability to Fly or to Become Invisible: The Next Generation (Book #2):
Twenty years after Professor Steele’s heist, the twin sons of Diego and Carmen Martin take over the DODGE Initiative.
Elijah Moses Jr. and the Professor’s two nephews lead their respective organizations.
Both groups recruit SuperPower individuals for missions worldwide—some for riches, others for glory, and a few for humanitarian reasons.
Every SuperPower individual has acquired an additional SuperPower besides flying or becoming invisible.
The battle between SuperPower vs. SuperPower unfolds, with twists, turns, ending in a final air battle that depends on everyone’s abilities.
SuperPower: The Ability to Fly or to Become Invisible: Golden Eagle Has Yielded (Book #3):
-Delving deep into the clandestine and turbulent world beneath the facade of power, this book explores the aftermath of past events into the ongoing conflict between SuperPower factions.
-The Golden Eagle Organization faces its most critical challenges yet, and the stakes have never been higher.
-The Steele twins, Rocky and Apollo fall madly in love with the gorgeous SuperModel Myrena Gorgona who despises rejection and lies.
-Secrets, alliances, and SuperPower abilities collide in a thrilling conclusion to the series.
Roger E. Pedersen has created a compelling story series with unique characters, combining elements of science fiction, action, and intrigue. If you’re a fan of dystopian settings, SuperPower abilities, and high-stakes heists, this series is worth checking out!
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