Mystery author Larry Allen Lindsey is chatting with me today about his paranormal suspense novel, Bones.
Bio:
A former high school tea teacher/varsity basketball coach and disabled veteran, I am also the author of STUMP! and LONG SLOW TARGET. STUMP! is the story of a World War II frogman for whom I had the honor to serve as caregiver during the last month of his life. LONG SLOW TARGET is a largely lighter-hearted chronicle of my nearly two year tour of duty up and down the rivers of Vietnam in a dilapidated, twice re-commissioned WW II vessel, the same ship that landed my father on the beaches of Normandy in 1944. Somewhat of an adventurer, I obtained my pilot’s license on Guam while serving with the SEABEES. While stationed with the Marines on Okinawa I earned my deep water diver’s certification. After leaving the Navy I spent two years traveling the country, putting fifty five thousand miles on my motor home, visiting every national park in the nation. I have dived the under-water caves of Saipan, landed on the deserted island of Tinian (take-off spot of the Enola Gay, the plane that carried the A-bomb dropped on Hiroshima), and been attacked by a black bear at Yellowstone. I have navigated the mighty Colorado River through the Grand Canyon in a small wooden dory (a capricious craft that almost drowned me at Lava Falls) and took a month to traverse the ALCAN Highway from California to Alaska and back. I currently live in sunny San Diego with my wife.
Welcome, Larry. Please tell us about your current release.
Inspired by the tragedy of the 18th Century Irish giant, Charles Byrne, BONES is set in the remote mountain tops of Appalachia and brings to life the hardships of a forgotten people, untouched by the rampages of civilization. It revolves around a hermetic shawoman, Hattie Sexton, probably the oldest non-Biblical being to ever trod this good green earth, and lays out her century-long quest to avenge the premature death of her young brother and subsequent theft of his bones by an unscrupulous doctor, the same doctor that brought him into the world. Her dedicated resolve and strange methods are sometimes humorous, but always mind-boggling. And at times, macabre.
In her final days Hattie sends for TIMES reporter, Bostonian John March, to tell her multi-faceted story and perhaps clear her conscience. After a harrowing journey into the backwoods hills of Tennessee March is rewarded with a mesmerizing tale of retribution, replete with a plethora of hill mannerisms and quirks. Spanning nearly a century, Hattie’s story alters his outlook on life and eventually earns him a Pulitzer. When he returns to Boston he is a changed man who quickly realigns his priorities. Both at work and at home. By an odd twist of fate Hattie turns out to be living (and dying) proof that “turnabout is fair play.” That “revenge is best served cold.” And in her case… stone cold dead.
The locales in BONES – the sophisticated publishing world and citified inhabitants of urban Boston versus the isolated mountains of eastern Tennessee and its backwards hill people – provide a fascinating backdrop to the plot. The character development of BONES chronicles how a “flatlander” from the big city comes to appreciate, and often admire a people vastly different from his rat race world. How he eventually learns from them, altering his own outlook on life in the process. Unexpected twists and turns abound in BONES. During his short stay March is bombarded with eye-popping yarns from a variety of eccentric characters, each more outlandish than the last.
What inspired you to write this book?
During my travels in my RV I chanced through a mountainous section of eastern Tennessee, in Hancock County, north of Sneedville. While there I came across an enthralling group of hermetic people called Melungeons, who after a while opened up and told me a wealth of stories. Later, also by chance, I read a short story about Charles Byrne and how his bones ended up in a museum. I thought the juxtaposition of the two would make for an interesting novel.
Excerpt from Bones:
From the intro:
Today the bones of Charles Byrne are still on display at the Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland. Rumor has it that late at night, when the room gets real quiet and there’s no one else around, if you put your ear close to the glass enclosure, you can hear Charles whisper out a raspy request: ‘Please…let me go.’
What exciting project are you working on next?
On April 6, 1945 my father single-handedly convinced over two thousand Nazi’s to surrender at Rinteln, Germany. On that same day, my father-in-law, a World War II fighter pilot ace, shot down two kamikaze’s at Okinawa. Also on that day, my neighbor was also at Okinawa on a troop ship, shooting up at those same kamikaze’s. I’m trying to compile the histories of those three men that led up to that coincidental day.
When did you first consider yourself a writer?
I first realized I might have a “way with words” when the admiral I was working for as a flag lieutenant decided he liked my writing style better than the normal speech writer employed at his command.
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 only when the spirit moves me. I work out regularly, volunteer often, and have given talks at several local organizations, i.e. Rotary, VFW, libraries, book stores, etc.
What would you say is your interesting writing quirk?
When I do get the urge to attack my computer (which I tend to use only as a word processor) I punch up a classical CD and twist up my manual timer. It puts out a gentle ticking sound that soothes my nerves.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up? “At the tender young age of ten I had a crush on a fourteen year old girl. Back then I thought that if I ate a lot I might catch up to her and that she would finally notice me. But alas, it didn’t work. I got older, but so did she. At one time I wanted to be a lawyer, but thankfully that too, fell by the wayside.
Anything additional you want to share with the readers?
To hone my craft I read a ton of books, went to untold conferences, took a load of classes. The last class I attended was the one where the “professor” laid the following gem on us: ‘Never, EVER, start anything with the word ‘It.’ Up until that time I’d heard a zillion tricks of the trade, and swallowed most of them religiously. However, this one stuck in my craw. “Sir?” I said. “Doesn’t one of the most famous opening lines in history begin with the word ‘it?’ And I’m pretty sure “it” was mentioned twice in that first line. (It was the best of times, it was the worst of times) And if I’m not mistaken, if you check today’s New York Times best seller list, Stephen King’s latest effort ranks #1. And it’s titled “It!”
That was the last conference or class I attended. I also stopped reading “how to write” books.