Interview with Julian Rosado-Machain, author of YA fantasy 'Guardians, Inc.: The Cypher'

Julian Rosado-Machain has enjoyed pizza in three continents, worked in graphic design, armored vehicles, built computers, handcrafted alebrijes and swears that he has seen at least one ghost.

He lives in San Diego, California. And enjoys the sun with his wife, three children and cat.

His latest book is the YA fantasy adventure, Guardians Inc.: The Cypher.

For More Information

• Visit Julian Rosado-Machain’s website.
• Connect with Julian on Facebook and Goodreads.
• More books by Julian Rosado-Machain.
• Contact the author here.

About the Book:

GUARDIANS INC.: THE CYPHER is two stories in one. A glimpse into a multinational company that is in reality the oldest of secret societies, one that spans close to seven thousand years of existence, weaving in and out of history, guiding and protecting humanity from creatures and forces that most of us believe are only mythology and fairy tales.

The other is the story of Thomas Byrne, a young man thrust into secrets he shouldn’t be aware of and dangers he shouldn’t face but, that he ultimately will, for he is a Cypher. The only one who can steer humanity’s future.

The ultimate conspiracy theory is that Magic is real. Kept in check by technology but, every five hundred years the balance can shift and, if it does, technology will fail and those creatures we’ve driven into myth will come back with a vengeance.

To protect the present, Guardians Incorporated needs to know the future, and to unlock the future they need a Cypher.

This is the first book of the Guardians Inc Series.

For More Information

• Guardians, Inc. is available at Amazon.
• Pick up your copy at Barnes & Noble.
• Discuss this book at PUYB Virtual Book Club at Goodreads.
• Watch the trailer at YouTube.
• Read Chapter One here.

Thank you for this interview!  I’d like to know more about you as a person first.  What do you do when you’re not writing?

I am with my family, reading, watching T.V and movies and reading some more.  I owned a restaurant for 10 years and it was hard, grueling and especially time consuming work, so now with a little freedom, I’m taking care of the family and living a little bit.

And reading…

When did you start writing?

Officially in the 2010. Unofficially all my life. In 2010 is when I decided to create the Guardians Inc outline and I sat to plan the series.   

As a published author, what would you say was the most pivotal point of your writing life?

The moment I realized that there was people out there that actually liked reading what I wrote. At that second I lost a little, (not all!) of the stage fright that had ruled my writing life and helped me decide to make a writing career possible.

If you could go anywhere in the world to start writing your next book, where would that be and why?

Florence, Italy…. I’ve been there, and it is basically the birthplace of the Renaissance. There is so much beauty to see and so much history that it has its own particular vibe. 

If you had 4 hours of extra time today, what would you do?

That depends mostly on my family’s decision. I am happily subject to them because I spent so much time apart when I had the restaurant that now they are the priority in my life. 

Where would you like to set a story that you haven’t done yet?

I am working on a story that will have the place we go when we dream as a setting…. Yes, it sounds weird, and that is why its taking me a little to develop it, but I’m getting there!

Back to your present book, Guardians Inc.: The Cypher how did you publish it?

I self published from the very beginning! It was a pet project, so I skipped the usual literary agent/publishing house search and went straight to self publishing with the help of my good friend Francisco Trueba.

While self publishing has been good for me, I think that the Guardians Series needs to go the published route to exploit its full potential. My middle grade audience doesn’t have that easy access to tablets and readers yet. 

In writing your book, did you travel anywhere for research?

Museums and Zoos mostly. I am a museum mouse and I can spend hours on end inside them. The Guardians storyline is infused with a lot of history and a lot of the Natural world, so the best place to get a sampling of history and biology are museums and Zoos.

Why was writing Guardians Inc. The Cypher so important to you?

The beginning is always a difficult time, and Cypher is the beginning of a series, that in itself was important, but it was more important to defeat the Stage fright I mentioned early and The Cypher accomplished that.

Where do you get your best ideas and why do you think that is?

I get them when I am almost sleep… at that moment between wakefulness and sleeping when the brain is not constrained by the laws with which we grew up. 

We can fly in dreams! 

That’s when the best ideas have arrived into my head.

Any final words?

Cypher has been downloaded a little over 150,000 times, so I guess that there is something to it that I hope will entice you enough to read it.

Thank you very much in advance!