Spotlight on Crow Creek

Well, it's taken me 20 posts to get here, but I've finally made it.  Crow Creek has been on sale for a few weeks now.  Thank you so much to those who've purchased a copy.  I would love to hear your feedback.  Feel free to message me on Facebook, leave comments here, or post an Amazon review.  For those who haven't ordered one yet but are considering it, here's a little background on the story.

Early in October last year, as I was closing my classroom door before the start of study hall, I had this disturbing vision of a woman scrambling into the backseat of her car.  She jumped over to comfort her little girl as their vehicle plunged into darkness.  I could vividly hear screams and crunching noises as their car was consumed.  I got the chills (like someone had stepped on my grave) and even a little teary-eyed.  I rushed to the computer after class started and quickly wrote the first draft of a story I called simply, "The Sinkhole."  This powerful image became the first chapter of Crow Creek and a central plot element of the novel.

The next afternoon, while eating a ham sandwich (my favorite) at the kitchen counter, I had another vision.  This time of a dark figure baptizing people in a pool of muddy water.  The dark figure became Black Jesus, my favorite character in the novel.  He's a superhero who doesn't believe he has any special powers.  He's part my dad, part Bruce Willis from Unbreakable, part John Coffey from The Green Mile, and part Daryl from The Walking Dead (which is where I got his real name, Darrell).

A week and a several chapters later, I realized I had the start of what could be a rather fascinating novel about people in a small town dealing with the worst kind of tragedy: the loss of a child.  I connected the  dots between the sinkhole and an idea I had in an earlier story about young girls jumping in front of freight trains.  All I needed was my villain.  While doing research on Native American mythology for Pastor Aken's backstory, I read a blurb about shape-shifters and knew I had what I needed.  I was so excited that I ducked out of study hall that day to call my wife.  I was beaming!  She could probably hear me smiling over the phone.

What I enjoy the most about Crow Creek is the world I've created.  It's my home away from home in so many ways.  I can go there whenever I want.  That town has been around for over a decade now.  Since 9/11 when my wife and I first wrote Points South together.  I've used it as the setting for several stories.  My son even wrote a concordance for me so I can keep track of all the people, places, and things.  Once I finally put Crow Creek to rest (the publicity is killing me), I'll write a sequel.  I'm thinking about calling it Queensboro.  I had visions of a disappearance and an injection.  That should be enough to get me going.