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Hi I'm James Rollins, the author
of Jake Ransom and the
Skull King's Shadow.
The story's about a brother and
sister who are orphaned when their
archaeologist parents vanish during
a dig in Mexico.
But the story opens three years
later when a mysterious package
arrives on their doorstep
with no return address
no idea where it came from.
But inside that package is the
logbooks from their parents
and this leads basically to a
search across strange lands and
across time as these kids try
to find out what happened to
their parents.
Well the book started basically
because I was assembling a
cabinet of curiosities from my
journeys around the world.
In there I have dinosaur eggs
I've got ammonite fossils
I've got even tyrannosaurus teeth
and there's ancient artifacts, there's
totems, things I've collected from
the four corners of the world.
And I knew I wanted to set the
adventure based upon that cabinet
of curiosities.
Most people may know me as James Rollins
the adult writer, you know, but there's
an old saying that basically says
you know whatever music you liked
when you were 13 is the music you like
the rest of your life, and I think this
applies to books too.
You know, what I was reading when I
was 13 I still love today.
You know I, of course, read Hardy Boys.
I also loved the Danny Dunn scientific
adventures, but I also read the old
serialized pulp novels; Doc Savage,
The Shadow, I just loved those old
adventures.
And basically, you know, it's what I
love to write today.
I always tell people I still think I'm a 13
year old boy at heart and you know
to write this novel which is basically
really letting that 13 year old boy out.
You know one of the joys of writing
this book also was writing Jake.
You know, basically Jake is who I was
as a kid. You know, he's ever curious,
slightly geeky, but he knows he's geeky
he just can't change it.
You know I also love the relationship
he has with his older sister.
I have three brothers and three sisters
so I can very well relate to what
Jake is going through; the arguments,
the resentments, but ultimately
the unshakeable bond of family.
You know when it comes to putting a hero
into a book, Jake is definitely a hero.
Is, you know, I of course love magic, I
love a bit of weird science and you're
going to see this in this novel
But you'll also love the every man hero.
And this is the hero who has no super hero
powers, he has no cool gadgets like
James Bond, basically he has to survive
by his wits alone against all odds,
against all challenges.
And that's basically Jake in a nutshell.
[Sound of ancient door opening]