James Rollins

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AUTHOR TO AUTHOR From screen to page with Howard Gordon

Monday, February 20, 2012

I didn’t know Howard Gordon—though for decades I’ve unwittingly been a huge fan. He’s been the creative force behind some of my favorite shows: The X-Files, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, 24, and this past season, one of the most gripping dramas on TV—Homeland. Next up for Howard is a series debuting this month that had me hooked from the first trailer: Awake. With such an impressive body of work, it was difficult for me not to be star-struck.

Even his novels (which a friend turned me onto) are impossible to put down and awing critics across the country: Gideon’s War (2011) and Hard Target (January, 2012)

It seemed beyond hope that such a busy and distinguished person would be willing to take the time to share his experiences here. But to my surprise, not only did he enthusiastically agree—but I discovered how warm and genuine he is. I could not be more impressed—and you will be too!

MY INTERVIEW WITH Howard Gordon

About Howard Gordon:

James: You're a Golden Globe winner, you work on mega-successful television programs like Homeland, 24 and X-Files, and now you've written a novel Hard Target. Did you know this was the type of work you wanted to do early on? Or did some situation or event in your life spur you to do this type of work?

Howard: As far back as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be a writer. I wrote stories, and even wrote a hundred pages of a science fiction novel when I was in seventh grade. I also grew up loving television, even more than movies. I watched far too much television, but never enough – Twilight Zone, Star Trek, Room 222, and the Brady Bunch. And although writing for television wasn’t anything any serious person pursued, I always harbored some secret ambition that I would do what I’m now lucky enough to do every day.

James: Howard Gordon, the professional, has enjoyed many accomplishments. What does Howard Gordon, the person, consider his greatest accomplishment to date? Why that?

Howard: My greatest accomplishment has been my marriage (twenty years this week!) to my wife Cami – and the three children we’ve raised together.

James: Having great success in television with your series, what's motivated you to write a novel?

Howard: Before I pursued my television career, I aspired to become a novelist. In college, I wrote a short novel for my senior thesis (Joyce Carol Oates was my reader) and was planning to pursue an MFA in creative writing when I thought I’d try my luck in Hollywood. And I got lucky. It took the Writers’ Guild strike of 2008 to motivate me to pick up the long-deferred dream of writing a novel.

James: In your television work, you work with high-profile celebrities and writing a novel is such a solitary effort. Do you find the difference in the two pleasurable or difficult? Is it difficult to switch between the worlds of television series and novel writing?

Howard: I definitely appreciate what a privilege it is collaborating with so many talented people – actors, directors, and fellow writers. But it’s also a challenge always having to promote your point of view to an actor or an executive, so the more solitary process of novel writing is in many ways a great escape. Each medium has its own pleasures and difficulties, though.

James: Your work captures our attention and our imaginations. What do you see as the reason we're captivated? And what about a project makes you love it enough to invest your life in it?

Howard: It’s some confluence of character and dramatic situation that’s the tipping point that gives me the confidence to take the leap of fatih into a new project. I have to be interested in what I’m writing and who I’m writing about if I expect anyone else to be interested.

James: Who is your hero? Who do you most admire?

Howard: I most admire those men and women who risk their lives to serve our country. They’re my heroes.

James: You, the person, intrigues others. Would you share with us a typical day in the life of Howard Gordon?

Howard: I usually start writing at home at around 6 in the morning and go until 9, when I drive to my office on the Fox lot. I spend most of my day breaking stories or revising scripts with other writers, meeting with actors on set, watching casting tapes, or working with editors on a cut of whatever episode has just been filmed. I try to knock off by 7 or so, and get home by dinner. Since I tend to fall behind on my writing during the week, I need the weekend to catch up, but I try to get in as much family time and exercise as I can.

About Howard Gordon's Work:

James: What are the similarities between your award-winning television series and your novels, Gideon's War and Hard Target?

Howard: I was certainly fishing in the same pond as I’ve been fishing in for my television work; these are thrillers, after all. They’re about people whose actions have a profound effect on a lot of people.

James: Gideon, your novel hero, has fallen out of favor with the government in Hard Target. His circumstances are vastly different than your other heroes. Was that important? Why?

Howard: It’s actually a trope I use again and again; the hero who, for whatever reason, has been marginalized by the very government he works for and by the people he’s trying to save. Jack Bauer spent half of every season in the dog house, and so far, Carrie Matheson (in Homeland) has also been discharged from her duty as a CIA officer.

James: Of all the characters you've created, what common denominator makes them great characters? Would you describe your vision of the perfect hero and the perfect villain?

Howard: What makes characters interesting is making sure I clearly understand their point of view; have them say what THEY would say and do what THEY would do. The perfect hero is perfect because he’s imperfect; and the perfect villain is someone whose villainy is born out of some shred of relatable humanity (even Hannibal Lector had a story).

James: Why did you write this novel, Hard Target? Why now?

Howard: I wrote Hard Target as a sequel to my first book, Gideon’s War. And I wrote it now because that’s what my contract stipulated. I’d probably have taken longer if I didn’t have a deadline.

Howard Gordon Looking Ahead:

James: With your Golden Globe success on HOMELAND, will you focus on producing more content for television, write more novels, or both?

Howard: I’m going to see how Homeland and Awake (my new show for NBC) go before I take on another novel. It was fairly challenging writing a novel and keeping my day job going.

James: What's next for you?

Howard: I’m about to launch a new NBC midseason show called Awake, starring Jason Isaacs, which premiers on March 1. I’m also starting up with the writers room on Homeland, which starts shooting in May. So I’ve got my hands pretty full.

James: Standing where you are, with all the insight and wisdom you've gained, what do you consider the key to success?

Howard: There are two keys to success, one you can control, the other you can’t. The one you can control is hard work. There’s no replacement for hard work. The other key is luck, which you can’t control.

James: Looking five years ahead, what do you hope to accomplish?

Howard: I’d like to help be a part of making Homeland a show that fulfills its early promise. And I hope to get another chance to write a novel in that time.

James: Way down the road, looking back, when you look at your body of work and your life, what do you hope to see?

Howard: I hope I entertained people and made them think – and in some small way gave them a glimpse into what it means to be an American in the early part of the twenty-first century.

Howard Gordon's Last Word:

James: What is the thing you most want others to know--your last word?

Howard: I have a print I keep in my office that says, “Work Hard and Be Nice to People.” That’s the creed. I live by it, I expect my kids to live by it, and I think if more people lived by it the world would be a better place.

Explore the thriller and non-fiction world of Howard Gordon

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Posted by James Rollins at 09:06 PM

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