Rueben's Ramblings

Since the novels of Harry Potter and the Twilight franchise have made young adult fiction the hot “it” brand in the world of the written word, countless books centered on teens and young adults have been published or, in some cases, been rediscovered by readers of every age.

J. Gabriel Gates

One such new series of novels that readers should be on the look-out for is The Tracks series of books by J. Gabriel Gates and Charlene Keel, the co-authors of the recently released book entitled “Dark Territory,” published by the Teen division of HCI Books – best known for the life-changing “Chicken Soup for the Soul” series of novels. “Dark Territory” was released nationwide on July 1 of this year.

“Dark Territory” has been described as ‘West Side Story meets Twilight’ and author Gates has been hailed as the ‘best new supernatural fiction writer on Earth’. It has also been said that his latest book ‘combines the perfect blend of star-crossed love, kung fu and magic in a story that has all the makings of becoming a box-office smash hit.‘

The story contained inside the cover of this exciting new book series is about a young man from the back streets of Los Angeles who never expected to find himself in the middle of a gang war when he moved to a small, quiet town. But these are no ordinary gangs nor is this an ordinary town. When an awesome power is discovered at work in the tunnels under the railroad tracks, the two gangs set out on a terrifying mystical quest to fight a force that not only threatens their town, but possibly the whole world.

Dark Territory

To delve more into “Dark Territory” let’s take a look at a more in-depth explanation about the story:

In the quaint town of Middleburg, an abandoned train yard and old railroad tracks form the dividing line between two rival gangs – the wealthy, preppy Toppers and the working-class Flatliners. When Raphael, the leader of the Flatliners, falls in love with Aimee, a Topper girl, the rival gangs prepare to do battle . . . but not with guns and knives. Their martial arts’ training dictates a strict code of honor, which all of the gang members adhere to. The only hope for peace between the rival gangs lies within the giant X formed where the railroad tracks cross. The awesome power contained in the X sends the Flatliners and the Toppers on a mystical quest to fight against malevolent forces that threaten the existence of Middleburg—and maybe the world.

I recently had the opportunity to interview the co-authors on what inspired them to create the unique world of The Tracks series among many other subjects. Here is what these talented writers had to share with me:

Question: What inspired you to write this story?

Gates: The initial inspiration came when I was taking a Wing Chun kung fu class and my girlfriend at the time and her friends were watching teen dramas and I thought: “wouldn’t it be cool to make a teen drama with kung fu?” The initial idea was for The Tracks to be a TV show, but Char had the idea to make a book series out of it. Aside from that, though, it has a lot of themes that are interesting and important to me: class relations, conflict resolution, spiritual growth and meditation.

Keel: For me, I guess the short answer is ambition, possible financial reward, and the creative urge to spin a great yarn.

Question: How long was the story in development and how long did it take you to write “Dark Territory”?

Gates: This one spent a long time in the hopper! I came up with the TV show idea and Char and I wrote a treatment for it back in 2005 or so. It was in about 2010 that she came to me and suggested that we pitch it to publishers as a teen series. But sometimes ideas are like fine wine – the longer they sit on the shelf, they more they mature. I think this story benefitted from its long gestation period.

Keel: Jacob came to me with a great premise…it grabbed me right away but I thought it needed something else. When I ran it by my best friend and spiritual brother, Christian Osborne, he listened quietly and said one thing: ‘Make it magic.’…Jake liked the idea, and we went to work on a treatment for a TV series, which took maybe two weeks to write. (Unfortunately), circumstances took me back to Florida and it (wasn’t until) six years later, thanks to my friend Herman Rush introducing me to Peter Vegso, that we pitched it to HCI Books. All we had at that point was the TV treatment, which we had turned into a book proposal. It took us about 5 months to write “Dark Territory”.

Question: How did you come together to work on this book?

Gates: Back in 2005, I was living in LA. I had just finished writing my second novel and was trying to figure out how to get a literary agent. Like all young writers, I was getting nothing but rejections from the loads of query letters I sent out, so I put an ad on Craigslist titled: “Young Author Seeks Mentor” (and) Char answered. It was her idea that we should come up with TV show ideas and pitch them to the studios together. (But then she) moved back to Florida before we ever got around to pitching any of our TV ideas. Years later, she called me up about pitching The Tracks as a book series that we would write together. I agreed, she pitched the idea to HCI, and here we are.

Keel: (Yes), we met through (the ad) on Craigslist. I already had many TV credits (under my belt, but) I’d reached that certain age where women start to become sort of invisible in Tinseltown. I had no problem getting pitch meetings…but more and more I was pitching to very young studio executives. I was getting really annoyed with the stunned looks on their faces when someone their mother’s age walked in…(ironically) I was about to place a notice on Craigslist…when I saw Jake’s ad, looking for a mentor. I got in touch, we met for lunch and hit it off—and I was delighted to find that his writing talent is awesome.

Question:  What was the most difficult scene to write?

Gates: I wouldn’t say that any of it was too difficult – when you have a story and characters this great, it really just flows. But Char was definitely the expert on writing the romantic sections, especially from the female point of view. It’s hard for a guy author to get excited about how alluring his hero’s cologne smells! I think the story really benefitted from having both our perspectives, the Yin and the Yang.

Keel: For me, the battle scenes, so Jake took those on and I did very little tweaking on them. I have absolutely no training in martial arts, so I happily bow to his expertise.

Question: Can you provide a general premise for the book beyond the (general) description?

Gates: It truly is something new: a modern literary soap opera. It has something for everyone. You have a gang war, forbidden love, magic, Eastern mysticism, humor, teen shenanigans, popularity anxiety, looming catastrophic evil, and lots and lots of action. I loved the idea all along, but the more great feedback I get from readers, the more excited I am about “Dark Territory”.

Keel: Jake pretty much nailed it with his answer. I also like the way one reviewer describes it: “When Ignacio Torrez moves from the rough streets of Los Angeles to a small town dead smack in the middle of nowhere, he never expects to find himself in the midst of a gang war.” I think that kind of grabs a reader.

(Part 2 of this article will be posted tomorrow at 12 Noon.)