OMN Welcomes Timothy M. Brenner, Author of Luminaries

Omnimystery News is pleased to welcome Timothy M. Brenner, whose debut mystery is Luminaries (CreateSpace, June 2011 Trade Paperback and eBook editions).

Today Timothy gives us the origin to, and background for, the characters and storyline of the book.

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Johnny Depp. That's right, it all started with an article on Johnny Depp. I was looking through online articles, wasting time when I should have been working, and I came across an interesting article that mentioned Johnny Depp felt that he was the reincarnation of Harry Houdini. I've since searched for the article and have come up with bubkis. So I can't swear by the voracity of the claim. Still, this is what inspired me to research Harry Houdini.

Photo provided courtesy of
Timothy M. Brenner

As I was researching Houdini, I came across a very interesting tidbit of information. Harry Houdini and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle were at one time friends. The author most famous for the Sherlock Holmes books was a staunch believer in the occult. In real life, mind you, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle accused Harry Houdini of having supernatural powers. Houdini was famous for debunking supposed mystics and mediums, and challenged anyone to prove that supernatural powers existed. Conan Doyle believed that Houdini was using his own superior powers to override other psychic's powers, rendering them powerless, and in doing so debunking them. When Houdini caught wind of Conan Doyle's accusations, the two had a falling out.

I was writing screenplays at the time, mostly for the enjoyment of it, with the hope and intention of seeing a screenplay come to life on the silver screen. I read another article mentioning that it is much easier to get a book published than it is to have a screenplay made into a movie. I thought it might be interesting to write a novel, have my book published, base a screenplay on it, find an agent and see my movie made. So two-and-a-half years ago I started in on what has now become the book Luminaries.

My thinking process was this: how do I make a story about two bickering old farts into something that people might enjoy reading? I ran with the idea of Harry Houdini actually having psychic powers, and decided it'd be interesting if Sir Arthur Conan Doyle had them as well. I felt that the duo should be a trio: enter Orson Welles. The enigmatic actor, writer, director, magician … he was everything that Houdini and Conan Doyle were and more. There was just one problem with matching these three up. Houdini died around the time that Orson Welles was a teenager, and Conan Doyle followed suit not many years later. I decided to go ahead and fudge the timeline a bit, and set the story around 1932.

What powers do I give these chaps? Harry Houdini's power seemed the most obvious: telekinesis. For those at home who are unfamiliar with what telekinesis is, it's the ability to move objects with one's mind. It would explain Houdini's ability to escape from any bond, to perform amazing feats of prestidigitation, to cheat death time and time again. Perfect.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's power was a little more subtle. He wrote some of the most influential detective novels in history, so it stood to reason that he'd need a power that matched his real life gifts. Conan Doyle would have the ability to touch objects in order to "read" them. It would give him psychic flashed on who had handled the object, and what they were doing at the time. Two down, one to go.

Orson Welles, an amazing magician in his own right, was also known for a radio program called War of the Worlds, where people tuned in and actually believed it to be a live broadcast of a real alien invasion. Panic spread despite a disclaimer at the beginning of the broadcast about it being a work of fiction. Telepathy. Mental telepathy, or the ability to read and alter people's thoughts made perfect sense, and explained just how he managed to convince so many people that the broadcast was real.

I needed an antagonist. I'm going to leave the name a mystery, as I don't want to give away too much of the book. Suffice it to say the "bad guy" used their own psychic powers to kill a string of people, one being of British nobility. This is the catalyst for the story; why Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is tasked by the British government with organizing a team of psychics to track down the killer.

I spent a year writing the first draft, working nights, weekends, and lunch breaks on it. I spent the next year revising it, trying to perfect it. Six months ago I published it. I'm currently working on a sequel, although I don't believe it will take as long to write. I researched and researched to make the story as accurate as possible, despite taking great liberties with some of the historical events and timelines. I wrote this book with the reader in mind, hoping to entertain, enlighten and engage.

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Timothy M. Brenner was born and resides in Oregon, not far from the coast, which is his primary inspiration for writing. Tim is also a software/web developer who in his spare-spare time. Among his many interests are drawing, painting, woodworking, audio design, cooking, wine and movies. Tim earned a degree in Computer Science from Portland State University, where he also studied Art.

In addition to his novel Luminaries, he has written two-and-a-half screenplays, the half being the most interesting, Mummies vs. Zombies, which he based an unreleased video game on.

For more information about the author, visit his website at TimothyMBrenner.com.

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About Luminaries:

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is requested by the British Government to form a team of psychics capable of tracking down a serial killer, who murdered a member of the British Royal Family. Conan Doyle, who has the ability to touch objects and ascertain their history, travels to the United States to enlist the aid of his longtime friend Harry Houdini, a master of telekinesis, and new-found acquaintance Orson Welles, who is gifted with the power of mental telepathy. Even though Conan Doyle and Houdini have a bitter history, they put aside their differences and work together for the greater good, but not without friction.

Luminaries is an alternate history mystery-thriller set in the early 1930s, and combines elements of the supernatural, suspense, intrigue and adventure into a story about the importance of friendship. The next book in the series is tentatively titled Luminaries: Black Dragon.