Interview with Marty Essen, Author of The Silver Squad: Rebels With Wrinkles

29 Jan 2025

What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write The Silver Squad: Rebels With Wrinkles?

For The Silver Squad: Rebels With Wrinkles, I was inspired by both personal events and books/movies I have read/watched. For this interview, I’ll stick with the latter. Inspiring me were a dollop of Harold and Maude, a pinch of Dexter, a sprinkle of Thelma & Louise, a dash of Bonnie and Clyde, a quiver of Robin Hood, and a curmudgeon of A Man Called Ove.

If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of The Silver Squad: Rebels With Wrinkles, what would they be?

At age 13, I started working at radio stations, and later I became a talent manager in the music industry. Because of that, I always work some sort of music element into my books. In this case, seventy-year-old Beth dresses in goth and reminisces about she and Barry sneaking into a bar to see Siouxsie and the Banshees when they were much younger. Later, she convinces seventy-year-old Barry to go out dancing again, wearing goth makeup—because Robert Smith of The Cure is old, and he still wears goth makeup. Now, as I listen to the new album from The Cure, “Endsong” feels like it would be a good theme—especially at the beginning of the book when Barry is feeling old.

What’s your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?

My favorite genre is humorous/quirky literary fiction. The Silver Squad is my eighth book, but it’s the first in my favorite genre to read.

What books are on your TBR pile right now?

I’m waiting for “My Friends” by Fredrik Backman. And when Bonnie Garmus and Gail Honeyman come out with their next books, I’m on ’em!

What scene in your book was your favorite to write?

A hilarious scene where Barry falls asleep in his recliner with Gertrude, his pet gecko, on his shoulder. When he wakes up, Gertrude is gone. Thinking Gertrude could be underneath among the springs and bars of the recliner mechanism, he doesn’t dare sit up, for fear that he will cut his beloved gecko in half. So somehow, I had to get a seventy-year-old man out of his recliner without raising the back or lowering the footrest. I had to do a lot of testing with a real recliner to come up with a way for Barry to do it. Oh, and do it quickly, as the iced tea he drank before falling asleep is pining for an exit!

Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)

I have the ultimate writing room, with majestic views of the Bitterroot Valley Mountains of Montana. At night, I light up the room with candles. Either way, I usually have my sixty-pound dog, Nellie, on my lap.

Do you have a motto, quote, or philosophy you live by?

Stamina and persistence.

If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?

That you’re never too old to make a difference.

 

Marty Essen is the author of the new book The Silver Squad: Rebels With Wrinkles

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