Sean Rodman's Blog, page 18

Great review for Dead Run!

Thanks to Terri Hayes for this excellent review of Dead Run!

The Next Big Thing Book Blog Tour

I’ve been tagged by Alex van Tol in the Next Big Thing Blog Tour - an epic, viral game of tag between authors. You can learn more about Alex and her Work in Progress here - and here’s some info about my upcoming book, to be published by Orca in the spring of 2013.

What is your working title of your book?

Night Terrors 

Where did the idea come from for the book?

Back in my late teens, I spent two summers working at a hotel in the middle of Algonquin Park. One year, I stayed on after the guests had left to close up the hotel. It was insanely spooky - and it didn’t help that I was reading “The Shining” at the time. “Night Terrors” comes out of that experience - based on true life, plus a ghost and a knife-wielding sociopath. 

What genre does your book fall under?

Young adult horror

What is the one-sentence synopsis of your book?

Dylan takes a summer job at a remote wilderness hotel, hoping to shake the memory of his brother’s recent death. But when he volunteers to help close up the resort for the winter, things only get worse. Edward, the hotel manager, seems to be out to get him. A freak snowstorm blocks the road to the resort, leaving them trapped for days. And Dylan keeps seeing a ghost that might be trying to send him a message - or maybe Dylan really is going crazy this time. (Ahem - I know that’s more than one sentence. But it’s my blog…)

How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?

This is a funny question for me. I spend a fair amount of time on the outline - mulling it over for a couple of months, testing out different plots and characters. This is the time in a book’s gestation period when my kids will complain that I seem a little “off in space.” When I wake up in the middle of the night to scribble down an idea. When I hoard scraps of information about obscure topics, like ravens or knife-wielding sociopaths. By the time I have the outline worked out, the actual writing it fairly quick - maybe a week of solid writing, plus some editing. 

What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?

Well, “The Shining” by Stephen King is a direct relation. But I’d also suggest reading “Acceleration” by Graham McNamee. It’s a terrific book, and has the protagonist suffering from a similar situation to Dylan. Well worth reading by youth and adults.

Star Wars #62, August 1982, written and penciled by Walt...

Star Wars #62, August 1982, written and penciled by Walt Simonson, 

Wow - I saw this cover and had a sudden flashback to me, age 10 years old. This was one of my favourites - and it taught me the meaning of the word ‘pariah’.  See, comics are good for your learnin’.

I’m currently reading “Ready Player One”, and...

I’m currently reading “Ready Player One”, and feeling extremely geeky. Ergo, this picture.

"This was a fairly atypical event. We see brass poles from time to time, but there were alligators."

“This was a fairly atypical event. We see brass poles from time to time, but there were alligators.”

- Thurston County Sheriff’s spokesman Lieutenant Greg Elwin on an unusual drug bust

Smithsonian Magazine

Smithsonian Magazine:

The Pros to Being a Psycho