While I’m promoting BLOOD DEBT, I’m simultaneously working on the next book, titled DEAD WAIT. It’s an interesting phenomenon for me, because while I love all my characters from the first book, I’m falling in love with the ones in my next book. I sort of feel like I’m cheating on my characters. (I don’t know if this is common in all novelists, but I’m pretty sure I’ve got some kind of brain chemistry imbalance when it comes to my writing. Don’t judge me.)
The next story involves a serial killer in the Lubbock area. The thing is, I want the story to be interesting, so I don’t want your run-of-the-mill serial killer. He needs to have a special “hook.” I thought about making him a cannibal, but that was done pretty well by Thomas Harris with Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs. Also by Jeffrey Dahmer in real life. I needed something different. Something better. And by “better,” I mean “worse.”
At this point I need to tell you about my wife. Kathy and I have been together for twenty years. During that time she’s been incredibly patient and understanding as I talk about ideas for stories – “What do you think would be the best way to rob this restaurant?” is normal dinner conversation for me – so after all this time she’s become pretty unshockable as I discuss murder, mayhem, and terrible human practices in general.
So we’re getting ready for bed and I mention this new, um, quirk, that I want my serial killer to do to his victims. My formerly unshockable wife sits up and says “Where in the world did you ever hear of that???”
And I knew I was onto something. So look for that bit of fun in the next book.
And, continuing my newly-discovered practice of Shameless Self-Promotion….
Look for DEAD WAIT this summer.
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