Tom the Vam-Wolf-Zom is back–and so is the werewolf that bit him–in this monstrously funny series about a boy who’s dying to fit in. Created by an Emmy-nominated writer for SpongeBob, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron, and CatDog, this hilarious series is illustrated with clever, cartoon-style art on every spread. Perfect for fans of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and The Last Kids on Earth.
We chat with author Steven Banks about Middle School Bites: Out For Blood, along with writing, book recommendations, and more.
You can find Steven on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook.
Hi, Steven! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I was the head writer for SpongeBob Squarepants for six years and also wrote on Jimmy Neutron Boy Genius and CatDog and the new show Stan Lee’s Superhero Kindergarten starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. I wrote and performed a one-man show that’s on Amazon Prime called Home Entertainment Center. I’ve also been on the TV shows Mom, Penn & Teller Fool Us, My Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, and The Jimmy Kimmel Show. I am a graduate of the Ringling Brother’s & Barnum and Bailey’s Clown College (I am not kidding!)
When did you first discover your love for writing?
In elementary school when I started writing short stories and little plays. It was fun to make things up. I had horrible handwriting, so I used my mother’s typewriter which made everything look like a real book, except for all my typos.
Quick lightning round! Tell us the first book you ever remember reading, the one that made you want to become an author, and one that you can’t stop thinking about!
First book I remember: Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary. Book that made me want to be a writer: Cannery Row by John Steinbeck (My favorite book, I have a signed first edition and over 42 different copies from all over the world). Book I can’t stop thinking about: Catcher in The Rye by J.D. Salinger.
Your latest novel Middle School Bites: Out for Blood is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
A bloody good funny adventure! (I’m using “bloody” like me mates in England do.)
What can readers expect?
Tom Marks, who is part vampire, part werewolf and part zombie (he prefers the term Vam-Wolf-Zom) meets the werewolf who bit him, who is not what he expected, he uses his monster powers to solve the mysterious theft of his valuable action figure, he learns amazing things about the school bully when he turns into a bat and hides in his backpack in his bedroom, plays a snowman in a Holiday show and gets garlic in his costume (vampires do not like garlic!), has trouble getting just the right Christmas gift for a girl he likes, does a magic act at the school talent show with his best friend, using his newly learned power of turning into smoke, goes to a Comic-Con and meets the zombie who bit him!
Where did the inspiration for Middle School Bites series come from?
I love scary movies and monsters. I wondered what would happen if a kid, on the day before starting middle school, got bitten by the three “classic monster biters”; vampire, werewolf and zombie…but he still had to go to school.
Can you tell us about any challenges you faced while writing and how you were able to overcome them?
Keeping the middle school experience and story as real as possible, with a huge fantasy element at its core. It’s always a challenge being funny and coming up with surprises and twists and turns and original ideas in the story.
Were there any favourite moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I love to write Emma, Tom’s obnoxious sister, and his loyal, exuberant, free spirited best friend, Zeke. It was fun to write the missing action figure chapters. I wrote it in the style of a Raymond Chandler and Dashielle Hammet detective novel, but from a kid’s POV. I also watched a lot of great noir films for inspiration, besides the classics like The Maltese Falcon, check out Gun Crazy and Detour.
What’s the best and the worst writing advice you have received?
Best Advice: “A child doesn’t have the concentration of an adult, and unless you hold them from the first page, they’re going to wander, and watch the telly, or do something, else. They only read for fun; you’ve got to hold them.” Roald Dahl
The Worst Advice: Write what you know.
You can do that, if you wish, and I have done so myself…but…it’s fascinating doing research and you learn empathy for other people, sexes or cultures when you write outside of your world or experience. It just has to be good, which is the hardest part. JK Rowling wasn’t a boy wizard, Kazuo Ishigurio wasn’t an English butler in WWII England, S.E. Hinton wasn’t a teenage boy in a gang, Stephen Crane was never in a war, Stan Lee and Jack Kirby weren’t superheroes in Wakanda, Frank Yerby wasn’t a Spartan youth in ancient Greece, Franz Kafka wasn’t a cockroach. What a loss if we didn’t have Harry Potter, Remains of The Day, The Outsiders, The Red Badge of Courage, Black Panther, Goat Song, Metamorphosis…not to mention a certain chap from England named Shakespeare who wrote about everybody and everything! They used their imagination and skill.
“Literature is an imaginative art. To suggest that a writer cannot depict characters unlike themself is patently absurd. Books would have to be peopled with characters exactly like the author.” Aminatta Forna
What’s next for you?
I’m writing the script for a Broadway musical, Save The Last Dance For Me, about Doc Pomus, a songwriter (Save The Last Dance For Me, This Magic Moment, Viva Las Vegas, Teenager in Love) who faced many challenges as a physically challenged polio victim. I’m also starting a new animated series about a very, very, very tall basketball player and his car collection…that comes alive. I just started a Horror Rock & Roll Band, with one of my best friends, my two sons and another fellow. We do songs about monsters or songs that were used in famous horror movies. There might be another Middle School Bites book down the road, because Tom meets the zombie who bit him on the last page of Out For Blood and who knows what could happen next?
Lastly, do you have any book recommendations for our readers?
Yes! I feel very sorry for adults who do not read YA, middle-grade or picture books because they are for kids! I highly recommended: “The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place” a seven-book series by Maryrose Wood, about a Victorian governess who teaches three children who were literally raised by wolves. It’s PG Wodehouse funny and beautifully written. “The Dead Father’s Society” by Matt Haig and “Where Is My Hat?” by Jon Klassen.
For adults I would recommend three of the best books I have read in the last 15 years: “The Light We Cannot See” by Anthony Doerr and “A Gentlemen in Moscow” by Amor Towles and “Company K” by William March. And two plays: “Circle Mirror Transformation” by Annie Baker and “The Piano Lesson” by August Wilson.
