I'm thrilled to have award-winning novelist Allen Eskens join us on my blog today. Allen Eskens is the USA Today-bestselling author of The Life We Bury, The Guise of Another, and The Heavens May Fall. He is the recipient of the Barry Award,
Minnesota Book Award, Rosebud Award, and the Silver Falchion Award and has been
a finalist for the Edgar Award, Thriller Award, and the Anthony Award. His
debut novel, The Life We Bury, has been published in 16 languages and is being
developed for a feature film.
October 3, he launches his fourth novel, The Deep Dark Descending.
THE INTERVIEW
You
started your writing career with a bang. The Life We Bury won
three prestigious awards and was a finalist for four others along with multiple
5-star (and starred) reviews. How has that kind of pressure to succeed impacted
you in your subsequent novels? Do you consider the success of each previous
book as you're writing the next?
I’m the kind of writer who has multiple
projects percolating at any given moment. For example, I had my second book
written and sold to my publisher before my first novel, The Life We Bury, hit the store shelves. As I write this, I am days
away from turning in my fifth manuscript, two days later my fourth book will
hit the market and I’ll be writing book number six. Because I am always casting
forward, I can keep the pressure in check.
With that said, I have to say that I do feel
driven to repeat as much of the success as I can with each new book. I try not
to analyze too much because I want every novel to stand on its own merit. On a
side note, I have to admit that having that kind of success on the debut novel
gives me confidence to trust my instincts as I go forward.
You
write in both first person and third person point of view. What have you found
to be the pros and cons of these? What made you choose one POV over another for
each book?
My personal preference is to write in first
person. I feel that I can get deeper into the character’s mind and heart in
first person. When I write in third person, it’s because I want to tell a story
from more than one point of view. I know a number of writers who will mix first
and third points of view in a single story, and it’s been done well by a few. I
haven’t tried that because I haven’t yet written a story that invites it.
Location
is an important aspect in your work. Whether you are showing us the streets of
Minneapolis, small-town Minnesota or the interior of a courtroom, place comes
through like a character. Is that something that comes naturally to you as you
write? Or do you consciously spend time working on creating both atmosphere and
detail?
I love describing my scenes. One of the things
that I do in my first revision is to look at my scene descriptions and ask
myself if I can make them better. I sometimes think of revision like walking
across a field of deep snow. It takes effort to make that first crossing (the
first draft) and when I turn around to cross again, my inclination is to walk
in the same path that I’ve already cut. It’s easier than walking through fresh
snow. So I force myself to look at passages that seem just fine, maybe even
good, and make them better. If I can, I will visit the places in my books. This
helps me engage all five senses, not just the sense of sight (which seems to be
the default sense of my imagination). (Great
analogy. I’m writing the first draft of my next book right now, I’m going to
apply this to my own work!)
You've
recently retired from a law career to write full time. Was that a tough
transition? Any surprises or challenges in making that shift?
I am happy to be a writer. I practiced law for
twenty-five years, all the while wishing that I could quit and write novels. I
started studying creative writing as soon as I passed the bar exam. I played
around with it for twenty years before I got serious and wrote my first novel. I
never expected to be able to retire from my law practice this soon after
publishing my first novel, and I consider myself to be very fortunate on that
score.
What
do you wish interviewers would ask you that they never do?
The question that I hope to get asked and
never get asked is: What did the fish say when he swam into a wall. The answer
of course is, “Dam!” (Ah ha ha ha, okay, Allen, I laughed out
loud when I read this) With that said, on a writing level I don’t think
it’s a question I would like to share, but a quote. I studied writing in my
free time for 20 years before I sat down to write The Life We Bury. When I finally took the bull by the horns and got
serious about getting published and doing this for a living, there was this
quote by Maria Rainer Rilke that inspired me. It reads:
[A]sk yourself in the most silent hour of your night: must I write? Dig
into yourself for a deep answer. And if this answer rings out in assent, if you
meet this solemn question with a strong, simple “I must,” then build your life
in accordance with this necessity; your whole life, even into its humblest and
most indifferent hour, must become a sign and witness to this impulse.
(Great quote. Printing this out now…)
What
are you working on now?
As I write this, I am five days away from the launch of my
fourth novel, The Deep Dark Descending,
and four days away from turning in my fifth manuscript to my editor.
The Deep Dark Descending is the end of a three-book character arc for
my character, Max Rupert. Book five, which is as yet untitled, but will be out
sometime in 2018, is the sequel to my debut novel, The Life We Bury. (Now I’m
really excited about book five)
Final
words of wisdom:
The word of wisdom I would impart is EVOKE. As writers, we are artists. As
artists, we should be looking for every opportunity to evoke as we write: evoke
emotion, evoke understanding. Writing should be about more than simply telling
a story. We have the attention of the reader for a brief time, and we should
make the most of it. I write mysteries, but all my stories deal with character
plots that hopefully touch the reader. I want to address deeper themes like
guilt, or forgiveness, or tug-of-war between justice and revenge. I see my mystery plots as a vehicle to move
the story forward. However, it’s the personal journey of the characters within
that mystery that will ultimately engage the reader on a deeper level. That’s
the goal at least.
Great word. Thanks again for
joining me this week on Arc of a Writer. I hope you’ll join us again next year
for book five!
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