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HOOVERVILLE INTERVIEW
18th August, 2007

Today we were given the opportunity to chat with Rory (Stormbreaker) about his upcoming
iBook, the curiously titled "Hooverville."

MAD Studios: Hi Rory and thanks for talking today.

Rory: My pleasure.

MAD Studios: Your latest project, "Hooverville" has been the subject of much discussion on the MAD Studios forums. Tell us a little bit about it.

Rory: Hooverville is quite possibly my most creative story yet. I'm taking the time to iron out details.
I want to get this one right. I enjoy pleasing the members of MAD's Forum, and I can guarantee them they won't regret reading Hooverville.

MAD Studios: Why "Hooverville"?

Rory: Interesting question. I've always kinda been fasinated by the name, it's sounds pretty cool.
When combined with the style of writing I've adopted for this story, I hope to achieve an ominous impression with the title.

MAD Studios: What's the origin of the name?

Rory: From the Great Depression! [J. Edgar] Hoover's attempts to bring America out of the depression were seen as a failure by the public.
People who couldn't afford houses would gather what they could find (often cardboard boxes) and make that their house.
These people would create little towns simply constructed with tin foil and cardboard, nicknamed Hooverville to reference Hoover's failed attempts to bring our country out of the Depression.

MAD Studios: Can you give us a brief story outline?

Rory: The story is based around you, an ordinary kid. You're having strange dreams of a place called "Hooverville".
As the plot thickens, your dreams last longer and longer until... Well, read the story and find out.

MAD Studios: What's the user interface like? Is this very linear or is there interaction?

Rory: This is what we've nicknamed an iBook. It's basically an iStory without choices. I find I'm rather bad at making choices that work anyway,
and readers making stupid decisions will ruin the plot for them. The first read of Hooverville will be the only time you need to read it.

MAD Studios: How many characters feature in the story?

Rory: Well, there's you, the main character, and there's your parents.
You have several friends you occasionally interact with, but other than that, the majority of the story is solely you.

"The first thing you notice about the house is the layout of the corridor. After entering from the door, you must turn right or left. The next thing you notice is a black and white photo, hung on the wall. It's centered so you are looking right at it while walking inside. It depicts a small child and his father at the edge of a small lake, fishing. Something looks familiar about it.

The second thing you notice about the house is the blood.

It's everywhere. Smeared over the walls, dried in puddles, and splattered everywhere. Underneath the photo, written in dried blood, are the words, "God save us". The 's' trails off, sliding down the wall, then stops abruptly before reaching the ground." [Extract from Hooverville]

MAD Studios: How long have you been working on Hooverville?

Rory: Several months at least... Actually, on and off since November of last year. So I guess that's nine months,

MAD Studios: How long is Hooverville?

Rory: Hooverville is currently about 60 pages long. It's been going back and forth, seeing as it's constantly edited. The pages are often immensely dense, so don't think you're missing out!

MAD Studios: What sort of themes does Hooverville contain? Are there any morals to be found?

Rory: None that I can think of. Hooverville is more a collection of random ideas in my head. Its value is purely ment for entertainment.

MAD Studios: Have you enjoyed writing it?

Rory: Yes. It's a blessing, and a curse. It's always on my mind. It's difficult to keep paradoxes in order, and many a night have been spent restless because I can't get a part written nicely. I'm constantly worring I'm going to let everyone down, although I'm fairly confident I have a nice ending planned...

MAD Studios: You've mentioned previously that you plan to release Hooverville on MAD's 2nd Birthday.

Rory: Yes. Although with editing taking so long, I will be pushing it. It is my hope to release Hooverville by MAD's 2nd Birthday AND pass school while doing so.

MAD Studios: Well, thanks for speaking with us today. Good luck for August 29th!

Rory: Thank you. .. May the 29th go down in history!

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