Well, not exactly behind the scenes but close enough, I guess. Three months to go until publication and I’m very excited to see what people think of my new tale. This is especially true because it isn’t my usual kind of horror. Don’t get me wrong – it gets dark. But this one has more of a thriller edge to it. This wasn’t a deliberate choice or even really a conscious one. It’s just how things worked out so I guess you can say the result was a happy accident.
Like most writers, I start work with a combination of ideas. Sort of a what if this situation met this one and then both hit this character. I knew who the main character of Burn would be. Steve Crossley: husband, father, friend. Kind of Mr Average and happy with it. Three kids; happily married. Getting through life with his focus on his family until. . .
Shit goes down.
I also wanted a kind of locked room mystery. An unexplained situation without an obvious answer to what’s going on or how it’s possible. I thought that could be fun as well as interesting. So what would happen to Mr Average when his family are murdered but then his family turn up safe and sound? How can someone deal with the sight of his wife and children dead on a slab when his wife is calling him on the phone at the same time?
At that point, I had zero clue but I wanted to find out so I wrote the first draft which, as all first drafts are, was not impressive. I worked out the issues and plotlines that went nowhere, fixed it all and came up with a second version that was much improved. A few more ideas came to me which ended up resulting in a third draft I was very happy with. Plus answering my initial question of what this would do to Steve was a bonus.
I had a literary agent around then. She liked the book but was clearly moving away from the kind of stuff I write. Things didn’t work out which was a hell of a setback. I still liked my book but didn’t know what to do with it seeing as it’s somewhere between horror and thriller. Baynam Books liked it as well – the timescale between my initial submission and their acceptance was damn quick so you can imagine how pleased I was with that. Finding it a home after getting canned by my agent was a massive boost.
Side note: a while ago, I wrote a book called Winter Graves which featured a supporting character named Ali Hannan. At the time, he was a one-off. Or so I thought. There was something about him that stuck with me so when he reappeared in Burn, I probably shouldn’t have been surprised. Some characters stay with the writer. It’s happened to me before as much as I like to explore new worlds and new people with each tale. In any case, Burn isn’t a sequel to Winter Graves in any way at all. At most, they’re set in the same universe but there’s no need to read one to follow the other. I hope you like Ali as much as I do.
Other news: I’m back on Threads (@lukewalker_writer) so feel free to join me there. Or stick with BlueSky if you prefer. I did create another Facebook page but for some reason, they deleted it within half an hour. I have no idea why and can’t get a direct answer so I figure that’s not happening. Also other news: the book I’ve been writing for what feels like the last thousand years has another 30k ish to go before draft 3 is done. And then because I’ve massively overwritten it, it will need the same amount cutting from it before I can submit it. The quality is there and I think I’ve got something special. Problem is I’ve got way too much of it. Once that’s done, it’ll be prep work for the book after Burn. Chaos is published early next year. I’m also hoping to hear about a third one soon. Ditto a few short stories which have been out there for a while. As any writer can tell you, publishing time exists outside of the rest of reality.
That’s about all for now. Talk soon.
Be well.
Luke Walker - Writer 