5 Minutes With A.J. Menden

Comic book fangirl, closet Xanadu fan, and host of the weekly Writers Coffee Break, A.J. Menden is about to step into a new identity entirely, one as a breakout novelist with her debut, Phenomenal Girl 5

She's also about to embark on a career full of superpowered puns and phenomenal headlines, so I'm excited to get 5 minutes with the mastermind behind 5 before everyone else does!

Superheroes have been staples of both the comic industry and the film industry almost since the inception of both- but superheroes in fiction have been few and far between. What made you decide to take a literary swing at such a visual genre?

You know how some people say if they want something to read that isn't on the shelves, they write it? I was trying to sell a paranormal series and getting frustrated and my husband made a comment about, "Why don't you write superheroes?" I didn't see any superhero romance on the shelf, and figured there had to be other fangirls out there like me. If not, it'd be a fun story to write. Right in the middle of querying agents, I saw Jennifer Estep's first book come out and then Austin's Grossman's literary take. So I thought maybe there might be a market for it after all!

Now, I think that you and I agree that clowns are, in fact, completely evil. Who do you think is the most evil clown of all time, and will we ever see your superheroines kick some polka-dotted booty?

But they're all so EVIL! Steven King's Pennywise probably maxes out the evil scale, though, by also being a spider. If you made him a zombie too, it'd be the unholy trifecta. As to whether or not my girls will ever fight one, I hadn't thought about it until now. Hmmm...

Okay, this is a lot like asking to start a holy war, but I have to know. DC or Marvel, and why? Oh heck, and while we're at it- Disney or Miyazaki?

I am such a Marvel Girl! My husband says the correct term is "Marvel Zombie" but there's no chance I'm using that phrase. I've always felt that the characters in Marvel are more relatable - Spider-Man has to worry about paying the rent. The X-Men are hated for being different. The Runaways are still a group of teenagers and have fights and love triangles accordingly. I just don't "click" as much with the characters from DC. Except Lobo. I'll always love Lobo. And Disney for sure. Miyazaki is interesting, but he doesn't have Beauty and the Beast or Mulan.

In general, writing is seen as a solitary profession, but you founded the Friday Writers' Coffee Break, and you co-blog with Sharon Ashwood at Capes and Coffins. Is community important for writers after all?

I think so because we live inside our heads so much, it's to get out and have contact with other people. Sharon and I are also part of Kelley Armstrong's Online Writers Group, where we started. It's just nice to have a community of other writers who can understand how frustrating writers' block is or are willing to commisserate when a plot doesn't work. You also sharing experience with those that are behind or ahead of you in the writing journey.

And finally, the most important question- you're a mild-mannered newspaper columnist during the day- sounds like a secret identity to me! But if you weren't a newspaper reporter or superhero novelist, would you be fighting crime?

If I had superpowers. Because with great power...