Jonathan Maberry got intoThe X-Fileslike most people.

He brought it over and we watched it the next week.

From then on it was a crowd, The X Party.

Every week wasThe X-Filesweek.

HisX-Filesobsession took him into rare territory for a die-hard fan.

Jonathan Maberry:This kind of grew out of that.

Ive doneThe X-Filesanthologies for IDW, and I was talking to Ted Adams, the CEO.

We were talking about how Id like to do more with young Fox Mulder.

And so we hashed it out.

And it just moved from there.

It was like wildfire.

Once we all had this idea, it happened really fast.

You know, its less than a year from discussion to print, which is extraordinarily fast for publishing.

Is that one of the fastest novels youve ever written?

Jonathan: Yeah, I actually wroteDevils Advocatein five weeks.

I write between four and five novels a year in different genre.

And most often, it takes me two and half months to write a novel, just one.

And every day, I could not wait to get back to work.

I really loved the story that much.

And I banged it out in five weeks and had a blast doing it.

How did the idea for Danas story hit you?

Well, there are a couple different elements that coalesce to make that happen.

One, her story was set in 1979.

I graduated high school in 76, so I knew that world pretty well.

Danas character, as was alluded to in the show, used to believe and somehow stopped.

She even saw her dad on the sea when he died.

And the book started around that idea.

I think I came up with the entire plot outline in 24 hours.

I mean, from start to finish, I knew what I wanted to write.

In the later seasons, especially after Fox was gone for a while, Dana actually moves towards belief.

She actually starts believing.

And it fits with the trajectory as someone whove been struggling with skepticism and belief her whole life.

So everything fits the world.

The group that the Cigarette Man works for.

We know that organization was around for decades before Scully and Mulder met.

They didnt actually name him on the show.

Hes the one behind the scenes manipulating what goes on.

So again, keeping with theX-Filesmythology.

Was there a lot of oversight from FOX and Chris Carters team since these are the official prequels?

I Imagine they wanted you want to keep them in continuity.

Yeah, everything got vetted.

Everyone at every level of this were also longtimeX-Filesfan.

So its not just the information we can look up.

So the guys at Fox actually were very interested to confirm that we got it right.

Not only for the licenses sake, but to respect the fanbase that has become so knowledgable ofThe X-Filesworld.

And we did all of that.

It was fun, fun doing that, like playing a game.

What do you hope for in the fan response to these books?

Well, one of the things we hope for is the crossover of audiences.

The books are technically young adult.

But quick frankly, I wrote them for anyone who loves a good mystery and who also lovesThe X-Files.

We want them to watch the show and have as much fun as we did.

You wrote these books after season 10 aired, right?

Did the new episodes change anything for you?

Season 10 doesnt related as well to the earlier character growth.

Maybe in season 11. Who knows?

Well, lets hope.

I really want to see the cliffhanger get resolved.

Why do you thinkThe X-Fileshas endured whether its the revival or projects like this?

I mean, its been almost 25 years since the pilot aired.

What is it about this show that still has people excited to do all these kinds of continuations?

And those things arent just tied to 1990s or early 2000s, those things define us as as species.

Weve always had those kinds of thoughts.

They were exploration stories, they were war stories.

But withThe X-Files, you never know what the hell youre going to get each week.

Each week, it was It could be a UFO story.

It could be a story about serial killer.

It could be a story about a heartbreaking loss story.

It could be a funny story about vampires.

Every week, it was something else.

A mythology, a standalone.

That wasnt common beforeThe X-Files.

Thats as fresh now as it was then.

The X-Files Origins: Agent of ChaosandDevils Advocateare on bookshelves now.