A Conversation with Julian Rosado-Machain, author of 'Guardians Inc: The Cypher'

Julian Rosado-Machain has enjoyed pizza in three continents, worked in graphic design, armored vehicles, built computers, handcrafted alebrijes and swears that he has seen at least one ghost. 

He lives in San Diego, California. And enjoys the sun with his wife, three children and cat.

His latest book is the YA fantasy adventure, Guardians Inc.: The Cypher.

Visit his website at www.guardiansinc.com.

Q: Welcome to The Writer's Life!  Now that your book has been published, we’d love to find out more about the process.  Can we begin by having you take us at the

beginning?  Where did you come up with the idea to write your book?

Thank you! I began working on the Guardians Inc. Series a long time ago… I always thought that the world has curtains upon curtains protecting us from what’s “real”… Where do myth, monster, and fairy tales come from? Our ancestors believed in magical creatures and forces that were tied to nature and had power over their lives and the world.

Then we invented technology and Technology and Magic don’t mix; they repel each other. We are in a technological world, so magic is laying low for the moment, but supernatural can become natural again…and then, well.

Children have that sense of wonder and “feel” for what we call supernatural forces, but that are in reality very real. They are just beyond a door and Guardians Inc are gatekeepers, police, and even traders between them and us.

Q: How hard was it to write a book like this and do you have any tips that you could pass on which would make the journey easier for other writers?

It was really hard to write Guardians Inc. The story has a lot of research behind it. The story mixes fantasy and sci-fi, Magic and Technology, but I didn’t want to just come up with technology that was un-relatable or so farfetched that nobody could understand. Every tech in the book is grounded in reality, that is one thing a writer should always do, research and keep track of his story and characters and try to make them as human as possible, even the robots!

Q: Who is your publisher and how did you find them or did you self-publish?

I self-published with the help from a good friend of mine, Francisco J. Trueba. He read the first draft and created the website! 

I actually skipped the whole process of looking for a traditional publisher. It seemed too daunting at the time, but now I’m starting to look in that direction.   

Q: Is there anything that surprised you about getting your first book published?

The market is enormous! And it took me a long time to find the audience for Guardians Inc! I’m actually in that transition right now, I don’t thinks there are too many middle graders with kindles and those that do have them don’t have their own buying accounts.

My first year the Cypher sold a little over 100 copies and all my reviews were from adults.

It was scary, but then I placed The Cypher for free at the time of publishing the second and reached out to those middle grader’s moms where I could. Now Guardians Inc. has a little over 150,000 downloads with sales for books two and three increasing every week.

The best part is that I’m now seeing kids reviewing the books and that tells me that I’m finally reaching my audience!   

Thank you moms!

Q: What other books (if any) are you working on and when will they be published?

Guardians Inc. books two and three, Thundersword and The Four Legged Prophet, are already published.The Book of Beasts, an illustrated companion to the series I recently published with Francisco J. Trueba.

I’m writing the fourth book: Guardians Inc.: The Lost Columns and the next books in the series along with other projects.   

Q: What’s your favorite place to hang out online?

Goodreads is one, also Facebook, but I spend a huge chunk of my time on Wikipedia for light research and then in real-life bookstores and libraries for hard research.  

Q: Finally, what message (if any) are you trying to get across with your book?

There’s two: All life is connected, and you can accomplish anything if you put your mind into it.

  

Q: Thank you again for this interview!  Do you have any final words?

Same ones my dad told me:  Writer’s write! So get to it!