Author Tom Julian, a former columnist for the Hamilton Post, has just released his first novel, a sci-fi thriller called Timberwolf.
Q. So you’ve written your first novel?
Tom Julian: Yes, I sat down and wrote a book, which was something on my bucket list. Timberwolf is a science-fiction adventure set on the frontiers of the galaxy. A battered Special Forces operator has to stop his former mentor from restarting an interstellar war. In an elevator pitch, I might describe it as Aliens + Apocalypse Now + Wizard of Oz.
Q. Those are movies, not books.
TJ: Timberwolf started as a screenplay! I was shopping it around to studios and came across the Zharmae Publishing Press. They loved it, and asked if I would turn the script in to a novel. I jumped on that.
Q. Say, your name seems familiar. Didn’t you used to write a column for the Hamilton Post?
A. Yes, I wrote a column called Neighborama during that time which was mostly about my family and reflecting on moving back to the old neighborhood from several years in New York City. The column that’s certainly apropos now was the one where I told my daughter that Jon Stewart was her uncle so she would let us watch The Daily Show in peace. The column was a lot of fun, thanks for bringing it up!
Q. Sure. Anyway, what’s it like to turn a movie script in to a novel?
TJ: It’s not an exercise of copy and paste! I got to tell a much richer story and I thoroughly fleshed out the world these characters live in. It’s a big universe. I think it should have always been a book. If the book is optioned for a movie, I wouldn’t hand the studio the original script. It’s really become a whole lot more. I would adapt the screenplay from the novel adapted from the original screenplay.
Q. What are the critics saying?
TJ: The initial reviews coming in are very positive: people are saying it’s a “blast to read” and “the action is simply amazing.” My favorite quote so far is, “If Dirty Harry and Ellen Ripley had a son.” Beyond that though, readers are catching on to the layers in it. There’s great sci-fi stuff—alien mind control, killer flowers, secret super-weapons, etc. but it also touches on what happens when society gets too comfortable with war. We fight the aliens we encounter because that’s just what we’re used to. It’s become a way of life and our politics and dogma have aligned to support that. Sound a little familiar?
Q. Sounds like Timberwolf is the anti-Star Trek.
TJ: We’re very bad at first contact. We’re not good neighbors. But finally there’s a movement to stop the wars. Timberwolf (the main character) works for the Department of Peace Enforcement, which is like the space CIA. They employ dirty tricks to keep us out of war, which puts them in to conflict with the powerful military establishment. Timberwolf’s former mentor is trying to capture a secret weapons factory to wipe out the Arnock, the only alien race we weren’t able to destroy.
Q. Will the book appeal primarily to fans of science fiction?
TJ: I tried to make Timberwolf an accessible story. It might seem like a big dose of space-opera, but I feel I’ve told the story in a way that’s both light on its feet and absorbing. I try to do that by telling the story through the characters’ senses. Not first person, but showing what they are experiencing and feeling as opposed to being observational.
It’s based off a movie script, so it’s very visual. I didn’t hold back any ideas for a sequel or plan out a trilogy. It’s all out there on the page. I think I’m good at writing dialogue, so that helps the characters pop. The energy offsets some of the heavy themes.
Q. What do you want a reader to take away from the book?
TJ: You know how like in Star Wars, the universe felt so complete and real that you imagined what was going on down every corridor? I’m hoping for a semblance of that. That people take the adventure away in their minds and expand on the universe that I created. And then buy three copies for their friends.
Q. What’s your next move as a published author?
TJ: I have actually talked sequel with my publisher. I have another idea called “Upgraders” that I think would be really great. Just Google that title and my name, and you’ll find something cool.
Tom Julian grew up in Hamilton and after a stint as a New Yorker, lives here now with wife Brenda and kids Liam and Izzy. Timberwolf is on sale now at amazon.com and barnesandnoble.com in print and digital formats. You can reach the author at facebook.com/timberwolf.
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