That’s the question that author Troy CLE initially tried to answer when he created his character, Louis Proof.
But it would be simplistic to paint Louis as simply a black version of the beloved Harry. Louis is a very different character. The brainchild of Troy, Louis loves listening to hip-hop, racing radio-controlled cars, and hanging out with his best friend, Brandon. If he sounds a little normal, maybe it’s because he is meant to be.
Of his character, Troy says, “I couldn’t find any action hero kids who looked like me in popular literature. That’s what sparked me to write this book.” And where is comes from is pretty amazing. The 29 year old New Jersey native grew up and still lives (according to his myspace page) in the urban, gang-infested city of East Orange, NJ. However, Troy didn’t fall victim to the stereotypes. He studied classical piano and acting, and went on to succeed at New York University, including earning degrees in American literature and English, and a masters in digital design.
Despite his successes, Troy couldn’t shake the desire to create something that reflected his roots. The Marvelous World series was inspired by his own vow to create a movie where kids looked and lived like he did. While a big fan of Spielberg’s “The Goonies”, Troy realized that the kids in that movie didn’t look like him. In the Marvelous World series, the 13 year-old kid from New Jersey sounds a little like Troy might have been like as a child.
But that’s where the similarities appear to end. While Louis’ fictional world takes off in a whirlwind of fantasy, science fiction, hip-hop, gaming, race cars and Anime. Troy’s real life world has taken off in a manner that’s a little more mainstream (no comas, no magic portals) but no less fantastic.
Troy’s continuing rise to fame isn’t completely a solo effort. He had a little help from some pretty impressive friends. For starters, the cover art for the first book of the series was created by Daryl Mandryk, formerly of EA Sports and now the lead artist for Disney’s video game company, Propaganda Games. And the book’s back cover was created by Joe DiVelario, who was the visual effects designer for the Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie now infamous’ flick, “Mr. And Mrs. Smith.”
But Troy still couldn’t find a publisher. He didn’t stop trying. David Finn, owner of the public relations firm Ruder Finn, saw potential in Troy’s book and offered a hand. David lent his resources to help Troy self-publish his book and become his own publicist. And the hype began, resulting in deals with Simon and Schuster and Random House.
Since then, the buzz around Troy’s book has exploded. It is, quite likely, the second most anticipated new release of the summer. And oh yeah, Harry Potter isn’t the only book that you can pre-order. Pre-order The Marvelous Effect
before its May 22 release date.
To hear a snippet as read by Malcolm Jamal-Warner, click here.
Troy CLE, The Marvelous Effect, Marvelous World, Harry Potter, sci-fi, gaming, Daryl Mandryk, Ruder Finn, Joe DiVelario
April 16, 2007, will be remembered as one of the darkest days in the history of the Virginia Tech community and the world beyond.
