[Alora Bailey]

Hello! I've been a big fan of your Masterminds series for a while, and I had a couple of questions about some just minor things that aren't touched in the book a lot. 

1. What inspired Felix to start Project Osiris? I know it's somewhat touched on the book that it was due to his issues with the criminal justice systems, but is there a particular reason? Did he have a bad brush with the law like Tamara did with her brother? 

2. How did Felix and Tamara even meet and start Osiris? 

3. I've always been curious about what 'weeding' meant in Masterminds. I assume it alludes to them liquidating the weeded clone, but I wasn't sure. Do they get sent/killed off and the clones are given those memory-erasing pills so they don't remember them?

4. Whatever happened to CJ Rackoff after Payback?

5. Why did Felix die like he did? Is it because it was more of a middle-grade book and having him killed in a different way wouldn't have been age-appropriate? 

6. If the clones were hypothetically recaptured by Osiris, would they be forced to take the pills and then just be kept on constant supervision. And what would happen to Hector? Would he become a sort of inside-agent for Osiris in case they regain their memories?

7. What are the Surety? Are they ex-military members Felix hired? Family members of Osiris researchers? 

8. What happened to Randy? 

Sorry if this is a lot, and thank you!

-Alora Bailey

Hi,Alora,

Wow, you really got into the series! I'll try to answer everything, but I'm not sure I remember it as well as you do!

1. It's likely that Felix would come under the heading of "mad scientist." Who can tell what starts them on their quest to understand something?  2. People meet. Tamara was a wealthy woman, and probably thought she was contributing to the progress of science.  3. I don't even remember "weeding," but you're probably right. e.g. Randy had to be weeded out before his knowledge contaminated the whole of Serenity.  4. I honestly don't remember CJ Rackoff or what became of him. Sorry.   5. Felix died the most spectacular way I could think of. You'd be surprised how grisly middle-grade can be.  6.  Recapture might have meant something worse. They were older, and more likely to want to investigate their circumstances. They might have had to "deactivate" them, to put it politely. Hector would meet the same fate. He really knew too much.  7. The Purples were a paramilitary group, strictly hired to keep Serenity pure and keep the clones in the town and ignorant of their circumstances.  8. Randy would have been out of Serenity for good. He would grow up normally after a very abnormal begining.

Sorry I can't be more specific. I wrote the series back in 2014. There are a lot of books that come after it! It's hard to keep everything straight.

                                             Best regards,                                                    -----Gordon Korman-----

[Sophie]

Dear Mr Korman, 

I love your trilogy of Masterminds and just had a couple of questions that I wanted to ask you. 

1. What inspired you to write Masterminds?

2. Which book and character was your Favorite to write about?

3. If there ever was a fourth book what would it be about? 

4.  Did Tori really like Eli or were they just close friends and if so did Eli like her back?

5. Were Malik and Amber supposed to have a thing or was it just hate to close friends?

6. What do you think would have happened if they nerve escaped serenity?

 

Sorry I know that is A lot and you don’t have to answer all of that. You are My FAVORITE author and I love all your books especially this one.

From Sophie.

Hi, Sophie,

Thanks for posting. I'll try to get to all your questions.

1) Inspiration isn't what gets most writers going, Sophie. I was interested in the subject of cloning, so it was natural for me to write abut it. Authors write because they have something they want to say. That's all it takes.  2) My favorite was the first book, because that was the one I had to do all the plotting for. The second and third were easier for me because the people and their situation was already established.  3) If there were to be a 4th book,it would be about the clones' development as regular citizens -- about their future.  4) Tori and Eli were meant to be a couple  5) Amber and Malik were definitely a couple.  6) If they had never escaped, they probably would have had to have been killed to protect the project. They knew too much of the truth about themselves and the experiment.

OK? I hope that covers what you wanted to know. Thanks again for your support for MASTERMINDS.

                                                Best regards,                                                 -----Gordon Korman-----