Writers hold an awesome power in their hands. We’re able to create “storybook people” from the depths of our imagination. I like to think of it as playing God. Of course, with great power comes great responsibility, and I take the people-building process quite seriously. I hope my readers appreciate the end-results of all the planning, plotting and layering I’ve done to create my character’s personalities.
Readers can relate to many of the characters in BRING DOWN THE FURIES because they’re a lot like people we know. Maybe people we care for a great deal. There’s old Verla Covington, for example, the unofficial hostess of the Magnolia Inn, a grand old southern plantation-like B&B. From his first meeting with Verla, Quint has the feeling he knows this woman. Something about her is so familiar. Only later does he realize she reminds him of his great-grandmother, a woman he hadn’t thought about in years since he was only four or five when she died.
Verla plays a big part in Quint’s motivation as he pursues the Heartthrob Bandit and tries to identify a dangerous serial arsonist who has targeted Quint as his next victim. Another major subplot is the feud between a conservative minister and the lead researcher at a nearby archaeological site. The feud erupts into a cultural war that inflames emotions on both sides and attracts the attention of the national news media that descend on little Allendale like sharks in a feeding frenzy.
They’ll also meet Wilburn Peeks, the county sheriff, a crusty, no-nonsense ex-Marine who can’t abide private detectives messing around in his town. As we soon find out, Sheriff Peeks already has his hands full with the serial arsonist who’s destroying Allendale one building at a time. Another spicy old gal, Iva Mae Higginbotham, plays a big part in the story as it pertains to the Heartthrob Bandit.
Author John Dufresne said it best when he reviewed my book and said, “As in the best of plots, nothing here is as it seems.” If readers enjoy unraveling mysteries along with a lead character who keeps fighting through all the adversity life—and a sadistic author— throws at him, then they’re sure to enjoy BRING DOWN THE FURIES.