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Shadow Catchers Q&A |
THE SHADOW CATCHERS Q&A With the Author: Q: What is your first novel,The Shadow Catchers, about? A: It's about an FBI agent in disgrace named Mike Yeager, who gets a second chance when a child goes missing in a remote Nevada community. Although at first the kidnapping appears to be an isolated incident, he soon discovers that it's only the latest in a series of related events – and that these may have their roots in long-buried crimes. On another level, it's about the way bad memories can provide the ideal breeding ground for monsters. Q: What does the title refer to? A: "Shadow catcher" is one translation of the Lakota word for "photographer." My FBI agent specializes in analyzing photographs – and, as it turns out, the bad guy likes to take pictures of his victims. Q: So why is "Shadow Catchers" plural in the title? There's more than one? A: This is part of the mystery Mike has to solve. Q: Speaking of Mike Yeager: who is this guy? A: Mike works in the FBI's Crimes Against Children unit, which investigates abuse and exploitation of minors. I named him "Mike" for St. Michael, patron saint of policemen, and "Yeager" after the legendary test pilot, Chuck Yeager. It seemed right because Mike is very idealistic, and he's always launching himself head-first into trouble. In terms of his personality, he's smart but fallible. He's capable of noticing subtle details and making bold leaps, but he often misses the obvious. At one point in The Shadow Catchers his partner, Agent Peggy Weaver, tells him that if she wanted to hide something from him, she'd glue it to his forehead. Q: And Peggy? A: Peggy is an FBI squad leader – effectively, she's Mike's boss. They also have a romantic connection that's still getting worked out. Peggy's much more thorough and cool-headed than Mike. She doesn't always have the same flashes of brilliance, but she's also less likely to be distracted. We meet her as a supporting character in The Shadow Catchers. In the novel I'm currently working on, she has the lead. It's a lot of fun because I'm discovering that Peggy's got a few cards that she keeps close to the vest – her own demons. I'm also getting a much better idea of what makes her relationship with Mike tick, both on and off the job. They're fiercely loyal to each other, but they have almost nothing in common – except for a shared desire to protect children. Q: Why did you choose to make your hero an FBI agent? A: Initially because it gave Mike farther to fall. Within the FBI, putting an agent on administrative leave – "on the bricks" in Bureau slang – is a very big deal. It's like excommunicating a Jesuit. Later, as I began to research the FBI's history and culture, I was impressed to discover that one of the Bureau's original mandates was to recover lost children. This image of the strong protecting the weak is the basis for my conception of Mike. Like the FBI itself, Mike has made mistakes – but he's still trying to do right. Q: You're from Alabama, but The Shadow Catchers is set in Nevada. Do you consider yourself a Southern writer? A: Yes and no. Like most writers from the South, I'm interested in themes of loss and the burden of history. I also like the creepy gothic stuff. At the same time, I don't want to limit my stories to any particular setting. I chose Nevada for this book because I used to live out west, and I came to appreciate the desert for its hardness and simplicity. Since Mike is so guilt-ridden, I thought it would make sense for him to try to escape into the wilderness. My second book, Chillwater Cove, does take place in the South – Tennessee, to be specific, which is where Peggy grew up. The third book will take place in New Orleans. So maybe I am a southern writer after all. Q: Do other aspects of your background impact your writing? A: I grew up in a large family, mostly women, where social dynamics are everything. You also have to be a very good talker to keep up. My father is a minister and mental health professional, and my mother's a teacher and an incredibly active person; they've always fed my curiosity and love for new challenges. In terms of my own development, I've always been drawn to the dramatic arts – public speaking, theatre, film, television. My professional training is in Playwriting, and I tend to favor dialogue and action over interior monologue and description. For me it's the most natural way to tell a story. Q: Which writers do you most admire, and why? A: E.L. Doctorow first, because he does such an amazing job of weaving history and fiction together. I also like Tim O'Brien; his prose style is so hard and clean and human that it hurts. I'm a big fan of graphic novels, and my favorites there are mostly Brits – particularly Alan Moore (Watchmen) and Neil Gaiman (Sandman). Among Americans, Eric Shanower is a clear favorite: check out his extraordinary retelling of the Trojan War, Age of Bronze. Non-fiction, especially military history, is high on my list: I highly recommend John Keegan's The Face of Battle. I also love reading screenplays and could go on for a long time talking about Hitchcock, Wilder, and Coppola. Some of the best work nowadays is being done in television: series like House, 24, The Office, and the HBO/BBC production Rome prove that audience-friendly writing can be intelligent, and vice versa. Which leads me to my all-time favorite, the English television writer Dennis Potter. The first time I saw The Singing Detective, I realized just how much I had to learn about writing. He's wonderful and he never wears out. Q: Why do you like writing mysteries? A: Mysteries have a strong sense of moral clarity: the stakes are always life and death. It's never a question of whether truth exists, but rather of what sacrifices the hero has to make in the pursuit of truth. Also, as every writer knows, it can be tough dealing with characters when you have no further use for them. In a mystery or thriller, all you have to do is kill them off. Q: What's next? A: I plan to keep building this series, with Mike and Peggy alternating novels. I have some ideas for an over-arching plotline that connects the stories, although it's all in early stages. My agent and editor have both been incredibly supportive, so I definitely feel the wind at my back. Beyond that, I'm also interested in writing historical novels. If that doesn't work out, I've been giving serious thought to a soft-serve ice cream business. The sky's the limit. |
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