Yah, it's going doing very well. How are you doing today? I
am good. Thanks so much for having me. Absolutely, you have created
your own verse, your own world, and it starts with that book cover.
Please tell me that you had a lot to do with that cover,
because it excites the imagination. Oh, I wish I could take any credit
for it. It's just the amazing work of the artist, and she did
such a wonderful job. It's really it's it's hypnotic. Do you find yourself
getting the artwork done first, or is it after you've created a story and
brought it to life. I think in the case of this book, the
artwork was kind of happening as I was writing the book, so it was
really inspirational just to see it come together for the cover, and that fed
into the pros itself. So it was kind of really collaborative. So to
go from being a fan first to actually physically writing a story that you've now
released out to us who love Marvel books, I mean, it's like this
had to have been one hell of a journey for you. Yeah, it
was a thrill. I mean, I have vivid memories of picking up my
first Spider Man comic as a kid like maybe seven, six or seven years
old, and you know, now I'm watching my own six or seven to
my seven year old son read Spider Man comics. So it's really been you
know, yeah, coming full circle in many ways. But you know,
being able to add to the mythos is so exciting. Yeah, and the
continuity of it all. I mean, I bet you have to do a
ton of research because you know how those Marvel fans are, they want it
their way. Yeah. No, I mean it helped to be a fan,
but obviously I had to do I went back and reread some of my
favorite Spider Man twenty ninety nine books and some of a key appearances. But
I also wanted to just evoke the iconic version of these characters. So it
doesn't really cancel anything that came before or or negate anything, but it fits
in pretty seamlessly. I think as well. I love the way that you
you you've placed the book inside the year twenty ninety nine for you to envision
that and now sell it to us as the reader. How did you bring
that world to life? I think the key for me was to read,
you know, the past interpretations of twenty ninety nine and especially the Spider Man
adventures and see see what they got right in terms of what the future held,
but also added my own little predictions for what I thought where things are
going in, you know, under the umbrella of the Spider Man's story.
So that was that was neat, And you know, you always you always
want to present the compelling and interesting future. You know, when it comes
to to Marvel, we always think of the comic books. Your your book
is all words, so you to me, you step right into that world
where the imagination has got to get its own interpretation and follow that story along.
Thank you. Yeah. I think when you're writing comics, you you
get to collaborate with the artists who brings your words to visual life. And
with a novel, the responsibility is on the author to give the reader those
little cues for what they can create, you know, in their mind's eye.
So that was that was interesting, you know, being a comic fan
and having read a lot of Spider Man comics as a fan and also written
my own fair share. Um, it was interesting too to do that.
The subliminal message here is the arana A Brooklyn team realizes new strength, new
abilities, and I think that readers are going to go. I want to
know what my hidden strengths are, what can I discover about myself? Yeah,
the story Spider Man twenty one and nine Dark Tomorrow is about is a
coming of age story for radas she discovers these abilities and learns to balance,
you know, the bands of teenage and high school life and how do you
how do you do that when you have this other added responsibility? And I
think that's really relatable. Even you know, even though we live in a
world unfortunately where we don't have Spider abilities, we all have our own kind
of hidden responsibilities that we have to carry out. So I think that's really
something that readers can connect to, don't you think in a really cool way.
We all think we can fly like Spider Man. All all we have
to have is just a little bit of ability. Yeah. I mean,
I'll tell you it was really a huge moment for me as a kid to
pick up Spider Man twenty ninety nine and see another Latin X character as Spider
Man. And I think that's that's the core of Spider Man, that it's
very relatable and we can all connect to that character in different ways. And
I think that this book really shows that, Oh my god, you bring
up. But it's such a great point because we are we are in this
generation that has had so many different Spider Man's. And the thing is,
though, is that we're accepting the Spider Verse. We we want that,
we we it's almost like we're commanding it. Yeah. I mean the Spider
Verse reflects the world. It's it's diverse, it's welcoming, it's it's so
many different characters doing different things. And I think this book is really an
example of that. In terms of a novel. It's it showcases these characters
in fun ways and how they play off each other and how they're they're part
of this bigger tapestry of characters. So did you go through a split personality
change when you when you invited two Spider Verse heroes together in the same story.
I wouldn't say it with split personality. I think it was just an
opportunity to showcase these two characters in very different points in their quote unquote superhero
career, and but also showing you can you can learn from from other characters
no matter how old you are, no matter what point you are in your
life or your career. Ronney is starting out and in need of a mentor.
But she also brings a lot of experience and excitement, and that's what
re energizes Miguel Spider Man twenty ninety nine, who when you start the book
you realize he's quit, he's given up the role of Spidy twenty ninety nine,
and so he gets reactivated just by seeing this young character doing the things
that he has now kind of taken for granted. Well, see, I
totally understand that because in the everyday world, I mean, we see that
all the time. We're mentors, you know, are like that, we
feel like that, we're washed up. But then all of a sudden,
somebody finds interest in something that you know about. Boom, it's it's all
over again. Here we go. Yeah, You're like, oh wow,
this is why I love what I do, and this is why this is
important to me, and this is why I needed I mean, she basically
shows him you're Spider Man, people are counting on you. Yeah, did
you when you when you write a story like this, do you see real
people when you're writing or are they animated figures? Um? You know,
in the case of this, where it's a comic you know, comic book
character is in a different medium of prose, I visual as I experienced them
as a reader, whereas you know, with my own kind of crime novels,
I'll cast people in my mind. Yeah, yeah, all right.
Do you find yourself going to some comicons? I do. Yeah, I
go to I usually go to San Diego Comic Con, your comic con.
I'm doing a show called Horrifficon in Connecticut in July, so yeah, I
try to get out there and really meet up with the fans, and the
excitement is kind of what keeps you going as a creator. It's a universe
all its own, isn't it? It really is. It's fantastic. Just
the pure fandom enjoy that these these readers bring to the experience is wonderful.
Well, now that you're part of that circle and you continue to grow with
this circle as as as a writer, how does that change you in the
way of so that you you know, it's like when when Fleetwood Mac release
Rumors, you know, their biggest challenge was to make sure that they didn't
make another rumors. How do you go and keep growing with with that possibility
of of you know, the changing of the story. I think you you
balance the wonder, like it's a huge wonder of adding to this great universe
and being a part of this, but also the responsibility you're you're you're taking
these characters that are beloved and have been around for so long, and you're
adding to it. And I think you want to do that fairly and also
do it in a way that respects everything that came before, but also brings
your voice into it. And I think that's that's the challenge. But that's
so that's the fun of it too. So what happened in your writing space
when when you knew in your heart, okay, that's it, I've now
I've now finished the story. I need to send it to my editor.
Was was it a grand moment? It just felt really important. It felt
like, you know, I've gotten this great opportunity to write these characters that
I love as a reader, that you know, you you know, And
it's the same thing when I wrote a Star Wars novel that you get to
add this little note to kind of this orchestral movement of story. And so
it's it's really, it's really amazing and it's something I'll really cherish as a
as a writer. See that's what I love about what you're doing with these
stories with Star Wars as well as Spider Man is that you know, being
out here when you first receive it, and then to become a part of
it. There are so many young adults that are sitting in their rooms that
that have stories and ideas for books like this, but they don't set them
free. They just hide them underneath their bad Yeah. I think for me
as a reader, it was really important to read stories with characters that I
could relate to, and so I keep that in mind as a writer that
somewhere out there there are kids or younger readers at that age who are experiencing
these stories, and I would just suggest, you know, tell those stories,
you know, being engaged and open your mind to you adding to these
kind of legendary stories. In putting this book together, did you write it
out long form or were you right there on that computer? Oh my handwriting
is too terrible. I had to type it up. I'm a leftie.
Oh my god. Oh yeah, no, I typed it up. I'm
an outliner. So I crafted the outline and kind of built from there,
and yeah, that's how it came to be. Well, do you agree
with the term that lefties are usually more creative than writes. Oh, I
don't know. I think that's just kind of like a generalization. I think
there's so many creative people out there. I don't think you can just put
them into kids like that. How about a story that puts you inside of
a Spider Man adventure, me personally and the actual Spider Oh yeah, I
mean that that's like that'd be like a like one of these little murder mystery
books. I want to put the author up on that on that stand and
ask them questions about the crime, just like, well, you know what's
funny. I think that's what really makes the Spider characters so compelling is that
they're relatable to readers. I know, as a kid reading Peter Parker's stories
in high school, I was like, oh, yeah, he's he's like
this bookish kid like me, and I could really connect with him. And
then to think he puts on this Spider Man costume and swings around and saves
the day. That's really that's a huge, huge idea for kids to embrace,
and I think that's what keeps them connected to these characters. So what's
next or can you talk about that? Yeah? Next, for me in
terms of books is Alter Ego, which is a sequel to Secret Identity,
which was my comic book Murder Mystery that came out last year and won the
La Times Book Prize, and that comes out Alter Ego comes out summer next
year. To become a writer, people have to grow into that pair of
shoes. When did you know that you were a story teller? I think
at a really young age. You know, when I was reading comics,
reading stuff like Sherlock Holmes and client fiction, I would start kind of coming
up with my own ideas. I think it's a kid, You're like,
Okay, this is a story, but what if this happened. I didn't
realize until much later that that's what writing is. You know, you're creating
your own stories. But at a very young age, I was thinking about
the idea of adding to these kind of mythologies. Yeah. Yeah, yeah,
it's just amazing that you've got this book just in time as we get
closer and closer to the summer months, because kids need something to read.
Yeah, and I hope they enjoy it. I think I think it's written
with the young reader in mind, but I think it's also you know,
any age if you're a fan of these characters, you'll find a bunch of
fun easter eggs. You'll fund little nods to the mythos. But I think
at the end of the day, I wanted to write something welcoming that could
bring in new readers and show them why these characters are so compelling and fascinating.
I'll tell you one of the things that I love about the book,
and I took note of it right away. I love the size of the
font. Some times that funt gets way too tiny and too many words are
placed on a page. You did really well with that funt. Yeah,
I wish I could take credit for the typography. But yeah, the readability
is super important. So yeah, because that's part of the storytelling, because
it's got to create a conversation so people go on and buy their own version
of the book. Yeah. Yeah, whatever brings people in to read and
engage with the story is great. So where can people go to find out
more about you? Your books, your journeys, your tours, everything.
Sure, you can find all my info at my website Alex Sigura dot com
and I'm very active on Twitter at Alex underscores Segura and Instagram Alex Sigura Junior,
Man, I can't wait to talk to you again. Dude. You
got to come back to this show anytime, anytime you want me. I'll
be here all right. Man, you'd be brilliant today. Okay, thank
you, take care,