Authors Interviewing Characters: Janet Stilson

What if your child has special powers and can get people to do almost anything? What happens if the child is abducted?

Izzie and Tristan were never mere humans. They are Charismites, with almost god-like powers of magnetism. And they couldn’t be more different. Izzie is a reckless, playful megastar whose popularity far exceeds that of any other celebrity. Tristan is a nature-loving recluse, almost completely unknown to anyone beyond a protective biodome.
Their worlds explode when they are abducted by The Fist, a power-hungry political group with a master plan to control the hearts and minds of all people on Earth and satellite colonies beyond. But the plan only works with the help of Charismites.

Their families don’t have much to go on until a feisty, street-wise teen, Cheeta, discovers clues about the Charismites within a strange metaverse filled with millions of missing messages. But will they actually find them? And can they destroy The Fist before they take over the planet?

Filled with an eclectic cast of characters, a slow-burn romance, humor, and wonderful descriptions of a sensual and sometimes violent world, Universe of Lost Messages is a stand-alone sequel to Janet Stilson’s beloved novel, The Juice. Fans of William Gibson, Margaret Atwood, dystopian novels and science fiction thriller books will devour this masterful adventure.

JANET STILSON INTERVIEWS HER CHARACTER IZZIE

Janet Stilson: Why don’t you start off by telling people why you’re the most famous celebrity  in the time you’re living in—which is a few decades into the future. Of course, you’re very talented, but there’s more to it, right?

Izzie: Yeah. I’m what’s known as a Charismite—I’ve got extraordinary powers of charisma. I magnetize people, even when I’m not trying to attract them. People can get really obsessed with me, a lot more than they do with celebrities like … what’s the name of that megastar from the time you’re living in? [Snaps fingers.] Oh yeah. Taylor Swift. Think Taylor Swift kind of charm, but on steroids. I can get people to do almost anything, even if I’m joking.

JS: Sounds dangerous.

Izzie: If things get out of control, absolutely. Charismites can convince people to vote for politicians that they normally think are despicable. We can get people to go crazy over certain merch, like clothes or tech—stuff they don’t need and can’t afford. 

It’s really easy for us to do things like that by just giving people a little suggestion. But that’s like the last thing I want to do.

JS: Have you always been that way?

Izzie: Yes. My mother figured out what was going on a month or two after I was born. When I was a kid, I’d persuade people to do crazy things. One day, when I was about five, she found the housecleaner standing on her head while eating a banana split. I was giggling like mad. 

Another time, I told the gardener it was totally cool if he drank all my mother’s liquor. He got so plastered!

JS: Sounds like your mother had a real problem on her hands.

Izzie: Yeah, and I wasn’t her biggest fan. She tried to keep me in isolation, which is pretty hard on a kid. After the situations with the gardener and the housecleaner, she laid off the humans that worked for us and wouldn’t let me talk with hardly anyone except some androids, because I can’t manipulate machines.

My mother gave me every toy and videogame that money could buy. I mean, she’s a really rich person, so there wasn’t any issue with that. And I have a big brother to hang around with—Shakespear. He’s my best friend. But he’s not a Charismite. He had a whole life outside the family home, and I couldn’t go anywhere. Mostly I was bored and really lonely. 

JS: So you never got out into the world when you were young?

Izzie: Not really. Although sometimes we’d visit family friends that knew what I was capable of, like the Ellingtons. They live in this biodome in the country, completely protected from the world, because two of them are Charismites, too.

JS: Tell me more about the Ellingtons.

Izzie: One of the Charismites is named Luscious. She’s like an aunt to me and a legendary celebrity. Her fan base is still off the hook, even though hardly anyone has seen her in decades. The other Charismite is her son, Tristan. We’re about the same age, but I never liked him when we were kids because we were so different. He was this wimpy nature boy who didn’t mind the isolation. We did not understand each other. At all.

Then there’s Jarat Ellington. He’s a tech whiz and a total rebel. Love that dude. He’s Tristan’s dad and Luscious’ husband.

JS: So how did you get to be such a megastar if your mother kept you isolated?

Izzie: I figured out ways to sneak out—went to clubs and started singing. People got so crazy about seeing me perform. 

My mother finally gave up trying to stop me. There was a lot of tension between us. We had so many fights before we finally called a truce. But we were on the same page about one thing when she agreed to let me go out into the world: I wasn’t going to appear in any promotions for politicians or for any commercial products—wasn’t going to say anything good or bad about any of them. I just wanted to hone my craft as a musician and actor. And have fun.

JS: Your romantic life must be really fun, given what you do to people.

Izzie: Not in some ways. I mean, sure I loved flirting and having sex. But when people get so crazy over you that they turn into awestruck idiots every time you touch them, it gets pretty annoying. And one of the guys led me straight into hell.

JS: What particular hell are you talking about?

Izzie: I was abducted and so was Tristan. We were thrown together in this private prison along with a couple of others. It really pissed me off to be snatched like that—and thrown into a room with Tristan—who like I said, wasn’t my favorite person. 

Parts of that prison were really terrifying.

JS: Were you tortured?

Izzie: Not in the way you might think.  Nobody hurt Tristan and me physically. But the people who snatched us messed with our heads with this special tech. 

There were times when we couldn’t control what we said. They forced us to make recordings that were filled with lies about certain politicians who already had a lot of power but wanted a whole lot more. We warped people’s minds, all over the world. It turned into a chaotic disaster.

JS: You mentioned that there were other prisoners. Who were they?

Izzie: One of them was Senator Miles Morelli. Before he was abducted, the Senator had been investigating the creeps that took us. Morelli had a lot of secret intelligence about them that was pretty damning. They wanted him to give it up.

Then there was this dude named Mercury Douglass. He was a metaverse designer that fell on hard times. One of the metaverses he created went haywire. It turned into this strange virtual universe filled with missing messages. If it wasn’t for that Universe … well, I don’t want to give anything away.

Guess that’s why you named the book Universe of Lost Messages.

JS: Exactly right. Thanks for the chat, Izzie. 

Izzie: Anytime. 

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Janet Stilson writes scripts, novels and short stories that largely fall in the sci-fi and fantasy genres and illuminate the human condition in provocative ways. Her work has been selected to be part of the Writers’ Lab for Women, which is funded by Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman. And it’s also been published by the esteemed sci-fi literary magazine Asimov’s. As a journalist, Janet got her “chops” at the storied showbiz bible Variety. She has traveled the world, chronicling the business of media. Learn more on janetstilson.com.

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: Contemporary Women Writers, On Writing