Justin Cronin revisits post- apocalyptic world in ‘ The Twelve’

Justin Cronin is that writer with a game- changing book, a title that marks a before and after in his career.

Prior to 2010, the Houston author— a transplant from the Northeast— penned two literary novels, won a few serious writing awards and secured a tenure- track teaching position in the English department at Rice University. Not too shabby. But then came “The Passage,” the first book of Cronin’s post- apocalyptic trilogy— or triptych, as he prefers to call it. Some labeled it “vampire book” and that’s true, sort of. But it’s not a teeny- bopper vampire book. Rather, it’s a dark epic, hundreds of pages and scores of characters thick, about a virus that transformed 12 death row inmates into monsters, or “virals,” who live on blood.

“The Passage” became a best- seller and earned praise from Stephen King, who rang “GoodMorning America” while Cronin was being interviewed to congratulate him— on air.

On Tuesday, the second part of Cronin’s trilogy, “The Twelve,” will be released. The book’s elaborate plotting feeds new characters and events into the master narrative, which pushes major players from the first book a few years into the future. Action builds to a highpitched showdown in Iowa,

where humans and virals meet for an explosive reckoning at a stadium. It is no understatement when Cronin writes: “the scene possessed a whiff of hell.”

The Chronicle caught up with Cronin on the Sabine Street bridge over Buffalo Bayou, where he posed gamely for photos— some of which required him to sit on a rolling wooden chair placed atop a collapsible plastic banquet table pushed up against the bridge.

“I am 50 years old,” Cronin said, openly incredulous at the chair- table- bridge scenario.

Even so, he spoke to us about his writing and joked about how, in a roundabout way, his life is affected by the James Bond film schedule.

Q: In “The Passage” and “The Twelve,” virals are deadly pests — beings that keep humans fearful for their lives. Are there any virals in your real life, now that you’re a big- time author with a family and a career to feed?

A:

( Laughs.) No. No one really. Things are prettymuch the same. You still have to write books. I still have to show up to do that every day.

Q: You came to Houston to teach at Rice, but now your writing has upstaged your teaching. Are you still a Rice professor?

A:

I’mnow a fellow at Rice. I have a very informal relationship with the school. They neededmy teaching slot to hire someone, and high time, really. So now I’m

Q: The final book, “The City ofMirrors,” is slated for release in 2014. How far along are you?

A:

Not quite as far as I’d like to be. Typically, I spend six months planning and 18 months writing each book.

Q: In the end, how much time will you have devoted to the trilogy?

A:

When the dust settles, I will have spent eight years on these books.

Q: Are you at all tired of the story?

A:

No. I’mstill in love with the story. I have always understood the story to be a triptych, rather than a trilogy. I didn’twant to fall into the trap of each book repeating itself, or the middle book being a bridge between books one and three. They are three books with independent elements. In “The Passage,” the main narrative is a road story. For “The Twelve,” Iwanted to fold in elements of espionage fiction, some “1984” in the background.

Q: In 2007, Fox 2000 and Scott Free Productions — run by Ridley Scott and his recently deceased brother, Tony — bought the film rights to the three books. Are the films forthcoming?

A:

They’re on a second script. They’ve had two different guys do it. The first was John Logan [ who wrote “Skyfall,” the upcoming James Bond film], but then he found out the James Bond film schedule had changed and he couldn’t do it. Jason Keller is the new scriptwriter andMatt Reeves is the director attached to the project. Reeves did a film called “Cloverfield” that I really liked.

Q: Your books have been translated into dozens of languages. I hear you’re indebted