Witches
Protection Program
by
Michael Okon
Genre:
YA Urban Fantasy
Wes
Rockville, a disgraced law-enforcement agent, gets one last chance to
prove himself and save his career when he’s reassigned to a
232-year-old secret government organization.
The
Witches Protection Program.
His
first assignment: uncover a billion-dollar cosmetics company’s
diabolical plan to use witchcraft for global domination, while
protecting its heiress Morgan Pendragon from her aunt’s evil deeds.
Reluctantly paired with veteran witch protector, Alastair Verne, Wes
must learn to believe in witches...and believe in himself.
Filled
with adventure and suspense, Michael Okon creates a rousing,
tongue-in-cheek alternate reality where witches cast spells and wreak
havoc in modern-day New York City.
Michael
Okon is an award-winning and best-selling author of multiple genres
including paranormal, thriller, horror, action/adventure and
self-help. He graduated from Long Island University with a degree in
English, and then later received his MBA in business and finance.
Coming from a family of writers, he has storytelling in his DNA.
Michael has been writing from as far back as he can remember, his
inspiration being his love for films and their impact on his life.
From the time he saw The Goonies, he was hooked on the idea of
entertaining people through unforgettable characters.
Michael
is a lifelong movie buff, a music playlist aficionado, and a sucker
for self-help books. He lives on the North Shore of Long Island with
his wife and children.
GUEST POST
Love
the title Witches Protection Program- How did you come up with it?
The
idea of a secret government agency that protects witches was
born out of the one place I do all my thinking. The bathroom. I
was in my bathroom one lovely evening in the fall of 2014
and gazed at my wife’s pile of trashy magazines. Since I’m more
inclined to read a screenplay or novel while doing my duty, I figured
I could take a break and peek through some entertainment pop
culture. I flipped the pages and noticed a picture
called Wetless Protection Program in some script
font above Neil Patrick Harris’s head. I think it was NPH. But in
my eyes, I read it as Witches Protection Program and said,
what a great title. I then realized I goofed and it said Wetless,
not Witches. What a silly idea. A government agency that
protects witches. I turned the page to some story about
Brangelina or whatever, and my eyes popped open. I turned the page
back to Wetless. That’s it. I got my next book idea.
Witches Protection Program. I began creating the story
that night and within a week of that fortuitous encounter in my
master bathroom, I had a full beat sheet following the adventure
of Wes Rockville and Morgan Pendragon.
Wes,
the protagonist is dyslectic., why did you make that part of his
character?
Perfect
heroes are rarely heroes. Heroes must have flaws, tics, issues, that
they must overcome. That’s what life is all about. We are all
heroes and have to overcome the obstacles in life. I wanted people to
identify with Wes and his struggles because we all have them. It
really is that simple. If I would have made Wes into this beefy hunk
that could solve a riddle by snapping his fingers, the readers
wouldn’t identify with that. Wes has to have real human issues, and
not being able to read is one of them.
Does
Morgan Pendragon embrace her witch skills?
Well,
you’d have to read the book to find out, but the short answer is
YES.
Both
the frog and gummy bat scene were hysterical if not a little mocking
of magic. Why did you write them that way?
I
have a wicked sense of humor and I wanted to incorporate everyday
items that readers are familiar with (i.e. frogs, gummy
spiders…etc…). I wanted readers to see the gummy worms come to
life in their minds, to see Wes and Morgan shrink down to frogs to
break into the Pendragon labs in Jersey. I wanted the readers to feel
that if Wes and Morgan can go through this, they could as well. I
didn’t want the magic to feel cheesy or fake. So I used real things
to make it feel real to the readers.
If
it was made into a movie, who do you see playing the main roles?
Easy.
Channing Tatum as Wes. Christoph Waltz as Alastair. Zendaya as
Morgan. Charlize Theron, Cate Blanchett, or Halle Berry (whoever is
available) as Bernadette. Emma Stone as Scarlett. They can
reach out to my film agent with their availability.
You
built a world where witches exist alongside everyday people. Do you
see this as even possible?
Absolutely!
I drive around NYC frequently and I’m always wondering if the woman
who just passed my car was a witch, or if that dude in a business
suit is a warlock (hint, hint at the WPP sequel). That happens more
times than you can imagine.
Everyone
loves the character, Junie. What made her so enjoyable?
Junie
is a mish-mash of my great-aunt Junie, and my aunt Marilyn. The real
Junie has since passed, but my aunt Marilyn is a character in real
life. She is gruff, cool, funny as hell, and will tell you exactly
how she feels. And if you go to her house, she’ll cook you
something right off the stove (just like Junie in WPP). I feel safe
with Marilyn, who is a Bronx native and she’ll tell ya about it.
Where
do you find the characters you write about? Are they pure invention?
Characters
speak to me. Most characters have a piece of me in them. But others
are actors/actresses in my head or people I’ve known my entire
life. For example, I’m no cop. I can’t shoot anything if I
tried, but Wes is. And he is based on this friend of mine who is an
NYC Police Officer. I incorporated Channing Tatum, and voila, Wes is
born. Alastair was an amalgamation of Christoph Waltz in Django
Unchained and my own father. A stern, yet sympathetic father figure
who will stop at nothing to protect his family, and what is right in
this world. All my characters are mishmashes.
The
book was originally published under the author Micheal Phillip Cash,
your pen name. Can you give us the back story.?
It’s
a pretty incredible story that I have a hard time believing. I
wrote Monsterland and self-published it in 2015. My
mom is my publicity manager and she blitzed the bloggers with my
book. That fall I was reading a book called Selling a
Screenplay by Syd Field. In the book, there was an
entertainment attorney named Susan Grode who seemed very
knowledgeable about the publishing and film industry. I
told myself, when I receive my first contract, I’m going to reach
out to her to see if she could help me. About two months later, I
received a post on Facebook from an agent in London who
asked to represent me. I said sure and asked him to send me a
contract. I emailed Susan and introduced myself and
mentioned that I had someone who wanted to rep me and I was hoping
she could read this contract. She told me before I sign with this
London agent, why don’t I meet her friend in Brooklyn,
an agent named Nick Mullendore with Vertical Ink Literary
Agency. I met Nick for lunch and he signed me that day as his client.
That evening, Susan brought me on as her client as well.
Nick began trying to sell my book Monsterland to the big publishers
and, it was rejected. Throughout his attempts of selling, he had a
call with a film agent and he was pitching her a
romance novel. She said she wasn’t really into romance and was
looking for something with monsters. He sent her my book Monsterland,
she read it over a weekend, and we had a call that Monday. She told
Nick and me if we get the book published, she will get it into a
producer’s hands to make into a film. Nick found a publisher
called WordFire Press owned by Kevin J. Anderson, who has written all
the Star Wars and Dune canon books. WordFire signed me to a two-book
deal for Monsterland 1 & 2. After the deal was
signed, my film agent did what she promised and got my
book into the hands of a billion-dollar grossing producer who is now
shopping my book to certain studios. In two years, I went from
a self-published author to a published author with a literary agent,
an entertainment attorney, a film agent, a two-book
publishing deal, a publicist, and a producer who is interested in
turning my book to a film. It’s been one wild ride, to say the
least.
Is
this version different?
A
few things have changed, but not much. However, there are some
changes. The script I submitted to my agent who is shopping it around
to the studios now is NOTHING like the book.
What
are you working on now?
LOTS
of projects! I have 5 manuscripts completed including Monsterland 3.
A few new screenplays I’m playing with. Exciting things on the
horizon, so stay tuned.
Follow
the tour HERE
for exclusive excerpts, guest posts and a giveaway!
Love the synopsis of this book. I could totally see this as a movie!!! I have added it to my TBR. Thank you for the chance :)
ReplyDeleteI would love to read your book.
ReplyDelete