A big welcome to today’s special guest author Henry Mitchell. We’re chatting about his new magic realism, Among the Fallen.
During his virtual book tour, Henry will be giving away a $10 Amazon or Barnes and Noble (winner’s choice) gift card to a lucky randomly drawn winner. To be entered for a chance to win, use the form below. To increase your chances of winning, feel free to visit his other tour stops and enter there, too!
Bio:
Henry Mitchell reads and writes in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. He is the author of six novels and two collections of short stories.
Welcome, Henry. Please tell us about your current release.
Among the Fallen is set in two worlds, the country surrounding the village of Trier, home of an ancient Abbey, and the Southern Appalachian town of Drovers Gap. To all the visitors passing through, it seems just another sleepy mountain town, right off the interstate, on the way to other places more spectacular and entertaining. But unspoken malice lurks behind the placid facades, and a spark from another world will ignite an insatiable evil that wants to devour the entire town and every soul in it.
What inspired you to write this book?
Wendl VonTrier, a character in my 2022 novel, The Winged Child, had more to say. I felt he deserved his own book, so I immediately began writing Wendl the Fallen. He introduced me to some other characters and about half-way through, realize it wasn’t just Wendl’s story but the story of a whole town. So I began re-writing it then as Among the Fallen.
Excerpt from Among the Fallen:
On an August afternoon that rendered the whole world a sauna, Abigail Trammell labored in her front garden, pruning back her roses now reduced by the unrelenting heat to a failure of withered blossoms and limp yellow leaves, though not even the Japanese beetles had been able to dull the thorns. Those remained sharp as ever.
She possessed shears some place that eluded her memory, so wielded the sharp butcher knife she liberated from her kitchen, a sin she’d only forgive herself. Startled, she nearly slipped and sliced her fingers when she heard the unfamiliar voice behind her.
“Miss Trammell?” A man’s voice only maybe, with a peculiar lilt, obviously not from around here.
“You’re a quiet one,” she said, turning to face the tall, gangly figure who’d snuck up on her. Abigail was proud that she had kept her acute hearing into her elder years while she had to shout at most of her friends, couldn’t fathom why she didn’t hear a car come up her drive or footsteps on the gravel. “Can I help you?” As much accusation as question. She assumed this was one more lost tourist, reduced to asking directions of a local because his GPS app was off-line.
The spinyspindly maybe-man – a closer look left her still not quite certain of the gender – said, “VonTrier. I reserved your room.”
Abigail remembered the name because it was odd. “Yes,” she agreed, “Wendl. You’re set for the week.” She subjected him to a frank inspection. How did he get here? I didn’t hear a car because there isn’t any. “Luggage?” She wouldn’t rent a room for a week to a man without luggage, and started to tell Wendl VonTrier precisely that.
“Here,” he said, lofting his suitcase as if it were empty.
Abigail wondered how she’d missed it. It was almost as if it didn’t exist before she named it.
She dropped her trimmings into the basket at her feet, waved her knife in the air, “I’ll show you,” she said, remembering to smile.
What exciting project are you working on next?
I’m working on a collection of short stories tentatively titled Telling the Dark. I find short stories harder to write than novels. One can bury one’s mistakes in a novel, but a short story bares the bone. Also working on a novel I’m calling Orphan, about artificial intelligences who get religion.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I worked as a visual artist for fifty years before I was diagnosed with macular degeneration at age 70. I told my wife, Jane Ella, “I want to spend my likely brief future doing something I can get better at.” She said, “I’ve been telling you for years to write something.” I did, and two hundred queries later a publisher in the UK accepted The Summer Boy.
Do you write full-time? If so, what’s your workday like? If not, what do you do other than write and how do you find time to write?
I write “full-time” I suppose, as I don’t have to punch anybody else’s clock. I write for three or four hours in the morning and another two or three in the evening. Afternoons when I’m not writing, I bake bread, garden, build stone walls, hike the mountain trails near my home.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
I abhor outlines. I tend to agree with Stephen King when he says plot is the last refuge of a bad writer.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be a painter and sculptor, and for five decades, I was.
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
If you really like my book. Or if you really hate it, write to me and tell me why. Unless we meet on the street, then I’ll buy you a cup of coffee and we can talk about it.
Links:
Website | Patreon | Blog | Facebook | Amazon
Thanks for hosting!
Thanks for the interview. It was great fun. Abigail and Wendl and all the denizens of Drovers Gap thank you, too.
Sound like a great story.