Tammy's Two Cents

Interview and Review time!
The School of The Ages
Book 1: The Ghost in The Crystal

Author: Matt Posner

America's greatest magic school is New York City's School of the Ages. Simon is a teen from Queens, New York. When he answers an advertisement in a magazine, the South Wind shows up at his door to introduce him to a world of adventure, power, and tragedy that feels both strange and right: ghosts, elementals, time travel, magic duels, teen romance, sacrifice, and ultimate loss. The evil spirit of a bitter and scheming heretic from ancient Alexandria attacks him and forces him to risk everything in order to save his soul. Kids and adults won't stop reading -- The Ghost in the Crystal.

Editorial Reviews:
"There is a strong Jewish and biblical current, but it's about magic rather than religion, and the magic is impressive. I got the feeling I was attending the school by correspondence, and that the magic was authentic. A seemingly dull curriculum turns out to be otherwise. Simon has friends and enemies and aspires to romance as he struggles to make his way. This is good reading." -- Piers Anthony, world-famous fantasy author. source amazon.com

I cannot say enough good things about this book! Leicester (pronounced lester) or Simon spots an advertisement in a local mag that changes his life, literally. He is thrown into this world of magic but, the way the author weaves this wonderful world is unlike any you could imagine. There is love, loss, battles, magic, enemies (or are they), friends (again, are they) and time travel. I really like the way Matt presented his theory, the magic isn't really done with wands and spells... your defensives are your mind... very mind/body/soul... and the religous aspect is a welcome surprise; how Matt incorporates it into the story not using it or viewing it as a negative as some author's have. It is difficult for me to delve to deep into explaining this book to everyone without giving too much away. And, the author has specifically asked me NOT to give certain things away.

As an added bonus, Matt has answered some questions for us..... So, without further adieu, her is my interview with Matt Posner. Author of The School of The Ages............

*Tell me a bit about yourself.

A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away..

(Cough, cough. Oops. Let me start again.)

Papa was a rolling stone. Wherever he laid his hat was his home…

(Cough, cough. Sorry, still wrong.)

All around the mulberry bush, the monkey chased the weasel…

(Harrumph!)

Okay, here we go. My name is Matt Posner. I'm a writer and a high school teacher. I work primarily in special education English right now. I decided to be a writer when I was twelve, but I was already writing for fun before I made that decision. I'm married to Julie since 1999 and we live in Queens, NY.

*Where were you born and where do you call home?

I was born in upstate New York, at Glens Falls. Presently I live in Queens, as I said, and work in Brooklyn. My hometown is really Miami, Florida, but I've been in NYC for over ten years, and I doubt I will ever live in Miami again.

*What was your inspiration for The School of The Ages?

I was working in a mesivta -- a Jewish boys-only high school, and I was fascinated by the subculture I was learning there. I felt it was a little-known setting that had potential for fiction. Thus, I expanded an early plan to write about one magician and just a few teen apprentices into a whole school which would be half Jewish and half non-Jewish.

*Was there a particular person that was the inspiration for Simon?

I would say that every character in School of the Ages begins from an aspect of my own personality and is then fleshed out with additional traits that make the character more exciting. Simon is inspired by me in that he has no one ethnic identity, just as I have none. Simon has four heritages -- Asian Indian, Jewish, Italian, and British. I have only two, with a Jewish father and a protestant mother, but I have always been multicultural and non-ethnic the way that Simon is.

*What was it like when you got the call that TSOTA had been accepted and would be published?

I'm a self-published author. The last time I worked with an agent was in 1993. The overwhelming majority of my readers read my books on Kindle. My print publisher is CreateSpace, which is Amazon's print-on-demand entity.

I'm not going to say I would never work with a publisher, but I would be very very protective of my rights and prerogatives.

*Thus far we have Book 1, The Ghost in The Crystal.. Book 2, Level Three's Dream and the Christmas Novella. Are there plans for a 3rd book?

I plan to publish one novel in the series per year. This summer you should have Book 3, The War against Love. This is an epic-length novel, over 500 manuscript pages in the present draft, certainly the best novel I've written to date. It features a magical war between School of the Ages and a cabal of Nazi magicians from Europe -- as announced at the end of Level Three's Dream -- and also a love story. I will also publish two to three other books this year. The next -- code named Project X -- is set for the spring. I can't say anything about it yet. I hope to get out a School of the Ages short story book this year also. Perhaps "Tales of Summer Magic." A book of zombie stories is also under way.

*Whom in your life would you say has influenced you the most?

As a writer, I think J.R.R. Tolkien has been most motivational to me. In my personal life, that's too complex a question for the haste with which I am writing this. Like most people, I am a composite of my upbringing and my schooling.

*What has been the most interesting comment (or review) about your book?

I was recently reviewed by Piers Anthony on his blog. His unedited remarks are in my FAQ at this link: http://schooloftheages.webs.com/faq.htm. Being able to add to my Amazon profile good words from one of the world's greatest living fantasists has been some help to sales of The Ghost in the Crystal, I must say, and I am very grateful to him. Please, readers, go buy some of his books. He publishes for Kindle too!

*Tell us your latest news.

I have a week off and I will be doing a lot of writing and editing. This is good news for a lot of projects that I haven't been able to touch (see above) because of the need to focus on my high school job.

*Please, do tell why we should read your novel.

Strong characters and dialogue, intense conflict, real friendship and innocent love. Magic, ghosts, elementals, time-travel, tragedy. New York City. Multicultural values. Many surprises.