City of Heroes Novel Interview

Warcry has published an interview with author Robert Weinberg about his new novel based in the City of Heroes universe. A little something to get you started:
Q: Can you give us some insight into the process? How did you get involved with City of Heroes and writing the book? Along those lines, did NCSoft/whoever approach you with a plot in hand and say "We'd like you to write this"? Or were you pretty free to come up with it on your own?

A: James Lowder approached me about writing The Web of Arachnos. I've worked before with Jim and he's familiar with my work. He wanted me to write the origin story of Statesman and the Freedom Phalanx pretty much in a fast-paced thriller style. It sounded like a lot of fun and I couldn't refuse.

I was given certain bits of information about the main characters of the story and about the history of Paragon City. That material had to be woven into the plot of my book, but otherwise I was given free reign to put together the plot and direction of the novel in the best way possible. I worked closely with Jim and the game developers so that I kept true to the basic facts of the game. Still, I was able to come up with some interesting twists on the main characters that no one had considered before and some of my ideas even made it into City of Villains. Except for a few minor points, the entire plot is mine.