As we have noted here several times in the last few months I am working on a new sequel to the acclaimed
Era Sinistra. This is an exciting
era in the evolution of Brad Mathews. As I can attest, promotion of said work has been difficult. If you have not yet had a chance to check out the original
Era Sinistra, you can view the product and read about it
here.
Now I have come to this: As a service to those of you who enjoy a good mystery by an author you are familiar with, I have decided to answer questions regarding the new
Era Sinistra installment from you, the fans and readers. It is something to keep you interested and something to get you licking your chops for the final chapter of the saga.
Without further ado, here are the questions and answers:
Q: Where and what time frame do the characters live in? --Alik
BM: One of the challenges of writing a sequel that takes place 11 years after the conclusion of the original story line is finding a way to tell the story in a way that illustrates the passage of time.
Era Sinistra takes place in the present time, so 11 years later would be in the future. Telling the story from the perspective of 11 years in the future is a balancing act between showing future technology without getting too sci-fi-ish. Most of the story takes place in the mountainous back country of Western Idaho. It is a very scenic, out-of-the way location in which the main characters seem somewhat 'out of their element.'
Q: How do you choose human characteristics for the characters in your books? --Allison
BM: Believe it or not, I compose most characters off of what I believe to be enduring characteristics normal, every day people. For instance, I try not to write from the point of view of law-enforcement officials too much. I need the characters to come off more human and more relatable than your typical crime and police-procedural characters. I keep physical characteristics to a minimum unless those traits are central to the plot. The most common method I use to flesh out characters is to just write what comes to me. Human attributes such as personality and emotional presence evolve, just like in real life.
Q: Is this a continuation of another saga? --James
BM: In a way it is. What I call it is a separate story built on the events and characters of a previous episode. In layman's terms, a sequel.
Q: What is the release date of your new book? --August
BM: That remains to be seen. As opposed to the film and music industries, book industries rarely publicize 'release' dates unless the book is heavily anticipated in the media. Also interesting to note is that books are never released on a prescribed date. They are released whenever they come off the presses. This book should 'come off the presses' a few months after completion. As of now, I am just over halfway through the story, so realistically, we are talking about winter or spring of 2014.
Q: What is the sequel's title? --Marion
BM: This has been a difficult story to assign a working title to. Early on in the process, I was simply referring to it as
Era Sinistra 2. I tossed around several names in my head for quite a while. Of these various names,
Days Without Rain seemed really interesting. That, however, doesn't quite fit the story perfectly and too closely resembles the title of an Enya album. I believe I have finally settled on this:
Era Sinistra: The Shadow. This is both a play off of a common character's perception of the story's main antagonist and a notation about the years following a noted time period--the shadow of an era, if you will.
Q: How do you choose the setting for your books? --Makiah
BM: This is a difficult question to answer. The easiest answer I have is that the story simply takes place where I visualize it in my mind. Rain Dance was easy, since the concept of the book came from a dream I had where I was sailing in the waters of he Puget Sound in the dark. For
Era Sinistra I had to build the scenario because all I had to go from was a brief news story. It was definitely going to take place in the woods, but where?
Q: What made you decide to write a sequel? --Sandy
BM: A while after reading
Era Sinistra again I realized that the previous book intentionally left some loose ends. So, naturally I began to ask myself what would happen next? As I thought about it, the basic plot just came to me.
Q: Do you think paperbacks are a dying medium? -Steven
BM: Everyone knows that the hot medium right now is the e-book. Traditional trade paperbacks, as a result are seeing a decline in popularity. Still, not all people own e-readers and many people prefer real, bound books. There is no doubt that such books feel more substantial. Still, it would be foolish not to capitalize on the latest trend in the publishing industry. I'd say most people own some sort of device that can display e-book text.
Q: In what forms are you going to print this book? -Liz
BM: Although the future may hold a paperback version of this book, my plan is to self-release it as an e-book only format. The advantage is that e-books can be priced much, much lower than traditional paperbacks and will last longer. The decision to go this route stems both from a desire to reward my readers and the need to emerge from beneath the oppressive hand of the traditional publishing industry. My frustration with PublishAmerica is well-documented by now. Simply put, I will never let that sham of a publisher make another penny off a new book I write. The book will likely sell for about $2.99 USD, but there will definitely be promotions which will allow readers to download the books for discounts or FREE for a limited time.
Q: Do you have plans for another novel? --Mike
BM: I do have one outline that seems quite interesting to me. It is sort of a military-type story that presents an interesting battle and its mysterious underpinnings. I also have a concept to a sequel to
The Thousand Branches, but I'm not sure if real plans for that will ever materialize. Right now, I'm putting all of my writing focus on
The Shadow.
BM: Thank you all for your questions. Hopefully my answers have given some insight on what is behind the new book. Also, thanks for stopping by. Your readership is the main engine behind this blog staying up and running. We normally talk about music, so please come again!
-brad
