[Charlie]

Hey hi hello you are about to receive a sort of maybe outlandish question/rant

I adore the Masterminds series. I've read all three books many many times and there's a lot of things I love about them. The characters are interesting and surprisingly realistic for the adventures they're put in.

One thing I love about this series is Hector and Malik. They're so wonderfully complicated together and their friendship goes through some intense changes throughout all three books. I'll say it-- I'm not too fond of Malik's treatment of Hector in the beginning. In his own, aggressive way he clearly cares about Hector, but I don't think that excuses how Malik treated him.

Oh well. Malik's just like that. And Hector just takes it! It's actually fascinating how he sees Malik. He seems to be constantly looking for Malik's approval, trying to make him happy. And then, in the first book while they're sneaking into the plastics factory, Hector believes he's about to die and his last thought is not his cold parents, it's his so-called friend Malik.

Now with Malik, this kid cares about Hector, however cruel he may be to him. It stuck with me the way this tough guy was SOBBING over Hector, who he always used and made fun of. Malik doesn't know how to love and it's insane. He's nuts I love this tough little dude.

I love what their friendship goes through in the books, it's the kind of thing I would see in dramatic Netflix shows about a couple going through an UNHOLY amount of bumps in the road but in the end they reconcile and it's crazy. There I said it Hector and Malik are basically a couple. To me, anyway. As a teenager in the LGBTQ+ community, I'm always looking for any sort of representation, and though I may be projecting just a bit, these two seem like the perfect angsty couple that fans would make a ton of fanart about and write fanfics on. Hector and I are quite similar, and I love his character, so I like to see a little bit of myself in him. I've construed it as him being hopelessly in love with Malik, who has no idea, no idea that he himself has an interest in Hector. He's a whole analysis on his own (and I have written one!), but it's too long to put here.

I'm just saying, they seem gay to me. Of course, I do also like it when a good male friendship is shown. It seems like society today has deemed it "unmanly" or "effeminate" for a dude to cry, or to even hug his friend. Malik and Hector are a breath of fresh air, but then, they've never been any average kind of friendship.

I only wished to ask, do you believe readers are free to interpret this relationship however they like? And is them ever being involved romantically a plausible thought? I can definitely read the books and see it goes both ways-- either they like each other and are terrible at expressing it, or they're simply close friends that go through a LOT of trouble to get to where I assume they are today. But of course I'd like to see your thoughts on it since I love this series a lot and will talk about my obsession with these two to anyone :) thanks!

[Gordon Korman]

Hi, Charlie. Thanks for your message. I'm thrilled that MASTERMINDS has been such a hit with you!

I'm especially happy that you enjoyed the characters so much. That was a big part of writing the series for me. I knew the premise would stretch readers' willing suspension of disbelief. From the very beginning, I understood that I needed a cast of complex, relatable, believable, characters to counteract that.

My answer to your main question is an enthusiastic YES! Readers are absolutely free to interpret the relationships between characters however they like. In fact, I'd go even further to say I encourage that. It means the characters I created are alive - and that they continue to live and develop in the mind of every reader. There is no more gratifying feeling for a writer. 

Thanks again for your message. It affected not just as a writer, but as a reader as well. Where would I be without the hundreds of other writers' characters that continue to live in my own imagination, as real as any person I've ever met?

-----Gordon Korman-----

 

[Charlie]

You're welcome-- and thank YOU!