Up Up In A Way: A Psychodrama With Superheroes (World of the Resident Book 1) by Blair McLean
Have you ever wished for someone to save the world from its politicians? In 1993, New York City, Nigel Nakagawa, Japanese cult follower and reluctant superhero, and Karissa Lacey, INS Agent and former child vigilante could be the heroes for you. Just maybe…
When universes collide, and Nigel and Karissa find themselves on the same beach during the Golden Venture disaster, an illegal human smuggling operation gone awry, the unlikely duo find they must work together to bring justice to the person responsible.
Tangling with inner demons, organized crime and the xenophobic New York mayor, whom they believe is behind the smuggling, Nigel and Karissa discover that apathy, exploitation and anti-immigrant sentiments do not respond to heroic intervention in the ways they hoped. Faced with these implacable forces, they must ask themselves: do they truly want to live the lives of heroes?
Interview with the Author:
Q – So, what makes Up Up In A Way stand apart from other superhero books?
A – I think there are a few things that make this book special. I wanted to create something that could help me better understand superheroes in the context of our modern times. I was curious about how a superhero might fare when confronted with the likes of Donald Trump or Rob Ford and some of the crime in our world, such as human smuggling. Things that would be really hard for a superhero to fix.
Q – This doesn’t sound like a straightforward genre piece. Care to comment?
A – You’re right, in fact it’s in the title. Only ‘in a way’ is it a superhero story. As a kid, I was fascinated with superheroes and had a collection of several thousand Daredevil, Wolverine and Spider-man comics. But as I grew up, I realized I wanted to better understand what it would really be like to be a superhero. That’s where my flawed characters come in – real people who have reluctant and/or extreme reactions at the prospect of becoming vigilantes.
Q – Your hope is that the book will help readers understand modern issues, but the story is set in 1993. What’s up with that?
A – I think the past has a lot to teach us about the present, which is why I used a historical event as the inciting incident. The landing of the Golden Venture ship, containing 286 illegal Chinese immigrants off Queens would have given Trump apoplexy, and certainly throws my protagonists into crisis. This event is expertly detailed in a wonderful book called “The Snakehead” by Patrick Radden Keefe, which I used as inspiration. Also Pre-9/11 New York City seemed the perfect time and setting for me to start to trouble the Superhero genre.
Q – What can readers expect from you going forward?
A – I’m working hard on a sequel to Up Up In A Way, set in Madrid in 2003. Along with a returning Karissa and Nigel, it will feature a new female superheroine, fresh off her military tour in Afghanistan. And she just might topple the Spanish government.
If you’re itching to read more from me, you can find Residents, a free eBook of short stories at blairmclean.com. The stories are set in the same universe as Up Up In A Way. They imagine what it would have been like if Mayan warriors had superpowers in the 1500s, and conceive of a dystopian future in which repulsive, humanoid creatures continually climb the skyscrapers to which humans are now confined.
Thanks for reading!