Join us for a chat with Mike Booth, the Wattpad author of ‘HAWK.’ Learn more about HAWK and Mike’s creative journey! Wattpad WEBTOON Studios, the global entertainment and publishing arm for WEBTOON and Wattpad, just announced the animated sci-fi series HAWK is now in development. Mike Booth, is now working with Christopher Yost, the screenwriter for “Thor: Ragnarok” and “The Mandalorian.”

About Mike Booth:

Mike Booth is a writer and filmmaker with a passion for creating captivating stories on screen and on paper. His short films have screened at prestigious festivals around the world and amassed millions of views online, while his debut webnovel, HAWK, continues to attract a strong following. Mike plans to one day get a small dog and become the most famous writer in his hometown of Stratford-upon-Avon in England.

Now let’s get into the interview:

1. How did you come up with the title HAWK? What inspired this title?

I keep a scrapbook of ideas and inspiration, sometimes a concept for a story or a character, sometimes just a single word. When I started to write my untitled sci-fi bounty hunter book, I went to my notes and came across the word ‘Hawk’. I liked it as a title and updated the book, and it’s stayed there ever since.

2.What inspired you to write a story about a space bounty hunter like Kas?

I thought a bounty hunter would be a fun protagonist for a short film I wanted to make, way before I thought of writing a book. Bounty hunters are fun to write because they’re dangerous but they’re on the side of the law. When I decided to write a novel, I knew I wanted to write something big and fun, and I thought my bounty hunter character would work well for a long form story.

3.Tell us what it is like to be an author on Wattpad? What advice would you give to newer writers?

What I love about Wattpad is getting direct feedback from readers. You can publish a story and get comments straight away. Writing is a pretty lonely activity, so having that fast interaction with readers makes writing a bit more fun and motivates you to keep going so you have something to publish next week. It takes a little time to build up a following when you’re just starting out, but if you focus on writing an engaging story, readers will turn up.

4.How did you go about creating the rich and diverse solar system that serves as the backdrop for Kas’s adventures?

Creating a solar system takes time. Obviously you can’t go into detail about every little thing, each planet is going to have multiple continents, hundreds of countries, languages, politics, religions, histories… you can’t write about it all. Instead, just focus on a suburb of a small town and add a little detail to that. Make something small feel real, and the rest of the universe will feel real as well.

5.How did you come up with the idea for Calista, and does it have any special features that you’re particularly fond of?

Kas is a space-faring bounty hunter, so she needed a spaceship. She’s still young, so it made sense her ship be small, rugged, a little run down, perhaps not intended for transporting criminals, so she bought herself an old but reliable cargo transporter. It’s her first set of wings, but she’s very proud of it. She’s upgraded it with some pretty cool weaponry which comes in handy in one particular scene.

6. What are you looking forward to about the animated version of HAWK?

I’m very excited to see the character and location designs. That’s when it will start to feel a bit more real to me. It will be a lot of fun to hear actors bringing them to life as well, it’s all exciting.

7. Goals for 2024?

I am spinning a lot of plates at the moment, I have a couple of short films I’m trying to make while also chipping away at my second book, Elderland.

8. Where can folks support your work? 

Hawk can be read on Wattpad (author name Mike_I_Am) and there’s also a paperback which can be purchased online. My short films, including a live-action adaptation of the opening chapter of Hawk, can be found on YouTube. Just search for ‘Mike Booth Hawk’ and my channel should be the top result.

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