Ian Lewis's Blog: Ian Lewis Fiction - Posts Tagged "supernatural-thriller"
New release: Beacon Road Bedlam
I'm excited to announce the release of Beacon Road Bedlam. This is the third Driver story, and the first full-length novel in the series (the previous two books are novellas).
This book has been in the works for a while, its release delayed by the birth and rearing of children, the decision to independently release Godspeed, Carry My Bullet last year, as well as managing the re-release of my back catalog earlier this year. It was slow-going at first.
BRB continues the experimental approach of the series, albeit in a different format this time. I had written The Camaro Murders and Lady in Flames in the first person point of view; each had their own nuances with regard to timeline. So I wanted to try third person with BRB. I had just come off of Godspeed and was thinking of narratives from that perspective, but it just wasn't flowing.
The voices of certain characters (primarily the Sheriff) were so ingrained in my head, it was difficult for those voices to not come through in the narrative. I think a character's voice should come through in dialogue or inner monologue, but not the actual narrative. It took around six months to get some traction on this front.
However, I still couldn't leave the first person POV alone. I ended up writing some first person flashbacks into the story which I hope were done in an original way. I guess you could say that's the experimental part of this book. The Driver series is where I have freedom to try new and sometimes unorthodox things. And I want each Driver story to be a little different.
Is the book more accessible because of the third person? Probably, but that wasn't a primary motivation. I really wanted to explore the Upper Territory in greater detail. It's difficult to be poetic with description when things are told from first person, since I'm limited to the character's thoughts, and the character may not think anything that would pass as prose. With third person, I can be detached and paint a picture for the reader. Since the Upper Territory is a dream world of sorts, there were nuances that merited some more descriptive details that were lacking in the previous books.
Conceptually, "layers" were important to the story. The intertwining threads of the mystery are told in layers comprised of different characters' experiences, both living and dead. No one layer tells the whole story. The reader has to see them all together.
Thematically, "truth," or the search of, is something that drives all three viewpoint characters. It becomes an obsession for each in their own way: the Driver, Sheriff Hildersham, and Tad Ozzel (a pesky reporter).
I have to make mention of Ozzel. He was a lot of fun to write. He's named for Admiral Ozzel from Empire Strikes Back. According to Vader, he's "as clumsy as he is stupid." Similarly, Tad Ozzel is an over-confident fool with an inflated sense of self-importance. He was also partially modeled on Schwarzwald/Michael Seebach from The Big O, a reporter who's search for truth becomes a destructive obsession.
A good portion of the story takes place in the 50s (see flashbacks), which lent a pulpy/noir vibe, I thought. I wanted to capture that feeling in the cover, and Justin Adams at Varia Studios did a phenomenal job in doing so.
Another fun/interesting fact is that two short stories I wrote (well, technically one of them isn't finished) contributed details to the storyline. This happens quite frequently, and I hope to someday release an anthology of short stories so you as the reader can see how some of this stuff takes root.
There's a lot going on here! How would I classify this book? I'd say it's a supernatural thriller/murder mystery with rural noir overtones. If that doesn't get you interested, I don't know what will.
Thanks for reading, and as always, please take the time to leave a rating or review.
This book has been in the works for a while, its release delayed by the birth and rearing of children, the decision to independently release Godspeed, Carry My Bullet last year, as well as managing the re-release of my back catalog earlier this year. It was slow-going at first.
BRB continues the experimental approach of the series, albeit in a different format this time. I had written The Camaro Murders and Lady in Flames in the first person point of view; each had their own nuances with regard to timeline. So I wanted to try third person with BRB. I had just come off of Godspeed and was thinking of narratives from that perspective, but it just wasn't flowing.
The voices of certain characters (primarily the Sheriff) were so ingrained in my head, it was difficult for those voices to not come through in the narrative. I think a character's voice should come through in dialogue or inner monologue, but not the actual narrative. It took around six months to get some traction on this front.
However, I still couldn't leave the first person POV alone. I ended up writing some first person flashbacks into the story which I hope were done in an original way. I guess you could say that's the experimental part of this book. The Driver series is where I have freedom to try new and sometimes unorthodox things. And I want each Driver story to be a little different.
Is the book more accessible because of the third person? Probably, but that wasn't a primary motivation. I really wanted to explore the Upper Territory in greater detail. It's difficult to be poetic with description when things are told from first person, since I'm limited to the character's thoughts, and the character may not think anything that would pass as prose. With third person, I can be detached and paint a picture for the reader. Since the Upper Territory is a dream world of sorts, there were nuances that merited some more descriptive details that were lacking in the previous books.
Conceptually, "layers" were important to the story. The intertwining threads of the mystery are told in layers comprised of different characters' experiences, both living and dead. No one layer tells the whole story. The reader has to see them all together.
Thematically, "truth," or the search of, is something that drives all three viewpoint characters. It becomes an obsession for each in their own way: the Driver, Sheriff Hildersham, and Tad Ozzel (a pesky reporter).
I have to make mention of Ozzel. He was a lot of fun to write. He's named for Admiral Ozzel from Empire Strikes Back. According to Vader, he's "as clumsy as he is stupid." Similarly, Tad Ozzel is an over-confident fool with an inflated sense of self-importance. He was also partially modeled on Schwarzwald/Michael Seebach from The Big O, a reporter who's search for truth becomes a destructive obsession.
A good portion of the story takes place in the 50s (see flashbacks), which lent a pulpy/noir vibe, I thought. I wanted to capture that feeling in the cover, and Justin Adams at Varia Studios did a phenomenal job in doing so.
Another fun/interesting fact is that two short stories I wrote (well, technically one of them isn't finished) contributed details to the storyline. This happens quite frequently, and I hope to someday release an anthology of short stories so you as the reader can see how some of this stuff takes root.
There's a lot going on here! How would I classify this book? I'd say it's a supernatural thriller/murder mystery with rural noir overtones. If that doesn't get you interested, I don't know what will.
Thanks for reading, and as always, please take the time to leave a rating or review.
