Rucker Moses is the pen name for the combined creative talents of Harold Hayes, Jr. and Craig S. Phillips. Together, Harold and Craig have been nominated for three Emmys for writing in a children’s program and have written for TV shows based on books by R. L. Stine and Christopher Pike.
Their first book, Kingston and the Magician’s Lost and Found, which they wrote with acclaimed novelist Theo Gangi, launches a new contemporary fantasy series for young readers. We had the pleasure of chatting with Harold and Craig about their new release, writing, and much more!
Would you please give us a short intro to who you are and what you write?
HH: We are Harold Hayes, Jr. and Craig Phillips and we go by the pen name Rucker Moses. We write fiction for young readers. We started out as TV writers for shows from some of our heroes like R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike. Kingston and The Magician’s Lost and Found is our first published book.
Can you tell readers about the plot in Kingston and the Magician’s Lost and Found?
CP: It’s the story of a 12-year-old kid named Kingston James who’s dad vanished during a magic performance. That was four years ago and our book starts as Kingston and his mom return to their hometown of Echo City, Brooklyn to save the family magic shop. Kingston believes his dad is still out there. When Kingston along with friend Too Tall and cousin Veronica find a box called the Magician’s Lost and Found, they begin unraveling the secrets behinds his dad’s disappearance and unlock many mysteries in Echo City.
What is the inspiration behind writing Kingston? Was there a moment where you said, “I’ve got to write this book about a lost magician and his son!”?
HH: Yeah, we actually developed this as TV pilot with an old friend and the two pillars of the idea back then were these homeless magician’s battling in a NY park and the idea of a kid’s quest to find his lost father. We read a lot about the golden age of magic and really wanted to ground the story with some nods to magic’s history. We discovered a magician named Black Herman, who was really famous during the Harlem Renaissance and he actually became a big part of the deeper lore in the book. So it was really a fantastic journey finding Kingston’s story and so much rich history to weave into it.
What was the first piece of writing you ever had published?
CP: Well I wrote for my college newspaper in Athens, GA. If that counts! I’d say our first collaborative effort as writers were scripts we were doing for the R.L. Stine show called The Haunting Hour. It was an anthology horror show for kids and I think the first story the showrunners commissioned us to write was about a spooky, deranged school mascot that two kids are trying to petition to get replaced. Let’s just say it doesn’t go well for those kids.
When you were kids, what were your career goals?
HH: I wanted to be a pilot. I was an army brat and lived all over the world growing up. Then I started writing my own stories and making my own films and that’s what I’ve been doing ever since. I’d say I always loved being a storyteller, even as a kid. My family is full of great front porch style storytellers, so I guess it’s in my blood.
CP: We are both ’80s kids, so as a kid I wanted to be a Goonie more than anything. A close second, was a baseball player. I played baseball a lot as a kid and thought that’s what I would surely do someday.
If you weren’t a writer, what other job would you want to have and why?
HH: Astronaut. I want to go to space.
CP: Archeologist. Again, back to the ’80s I was obsessed with Indiana Jones. I’m not sure if the actual job is like the romanticized version of it in my head but it seems like a lot of fun. I’m fascinated with Egypt and have been to places like Tikal. It kinda blows my mind when you step into these lost civilizations.
You are a duo writing team – what does that look like when it comes to getting the words down? Do you share a writing space, or work virtually, switching off chapters to each other?
HH: There’s actually three of us! We co-wrote this with our good friend Theo Gangi. Our process was a lot of talking over the phone, visiting each other (Theo is in NY) and just really chopping up the story, the world, the lore…all of it. Then we get an outline and split up chapters. We go back to our holes, write and share. We always would work on material ahead of Theo and he catches up and cleans up so it all sounds like one voice.
There are historic magicians that make cameos in Kingston – can you tell us about one of your favorite real life magicians you included in the book and what he was famous for?
HH: Black Herman for sure. He was a legend and a lot of people have never heard of him. He was an activist and was selling out 4,000 seat auditoriums in NY during the Harlem Renaissance for a month straight. He was good friends with Marcus Garvey and also a really great businessman. His most famous trick was called Black Herman’s Private Graveyard. He would bury himself alive, even have his assistant let people take his pulse and then they would bury him in the ground. He’d appear three days later (sometimes in another city) and then put on a show. Legend. Famous jazz musician Sun Ra’s real name was Herman, his parents named him after the Great Black Herman.
Are either of you magicians? Or have you just always been fascinated by magic?
CP: We aren’t but definitely fascinated by magic and magic history.
What’s up next for the Rucker Moses team?
We are working on our next book series with Theo about a group of kids who live inside the eye of a storm. Much more to come on that!
