We are delighted to welcome author Tom Llewellyn to Omnimystery News today.
Tom's new young adult mystery, possibly the first in a series, is The Shadow of Seth (The Poisoned Pencil; August 2015 trade paperback and ebook formats) and we recently had the chance to catch up with him to talk more about his work.
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Omnimystery News: Is your new book, The Shadow of Seth, the first in a new mystery series?
Photo provided courtesy of
Tom Llewellyn
Tom Llewellyn: I don't know. This is my first murder mystery. I hope it becomes a series. I'm working on the next one already. That's how much I hope.
One of my favorite reading experiences of my life has been following the exploits of Travis McGee, the character John D. MacDonald created in books like The Deep Blue Goodby, Nightmare in Pink, and nineteen other color-titled novels. I grew to love Travis and his houseboat docked in Slip F-18 in the Bahia Mar Marina. I loved knowing there was another book to come back to. I'd say the same about Walter Mosley and his Easy Rawlins novels, but he stopped writing them too soon and broke my heart. Why, Walter? Why?
So I'd like to do that, too, except for young adult readers. If they fall in love with Seth or ChooChoo or the other characters in my book, I'd love to give them a chance to spend more time together.
OMN: How would you categorize your character?
TL: Seth is a hard-boiled detective in the body of a teenager. I'm very much inspired by the old masters, like Raymond Chandler, James M. Cain, and Dashiell Hammett, as well as more recent favorites such as Elmore Leonard, John D. MacDonald, and Walter Mosley. I don't pretend for a second to be in the same league as any of these guys. Their work is more of a north star for me, guiding my path as I find my own way.
I categorize hard-boiled by the fact that the stories are about tough characters in tough situations. There's going to be some violence. The hero — Seth — is guided by his own moral compass, his own very clear of right and wrong — but he may not define right and wrong the same way your or I do. The story is driven by character, plot, and dialogue. The sentences are hopefully short and sharp. And the book is really less of a mystery and more about the character dealing with a situation. Its success is not dependent on, "Did the reader guess the killer?" as much as on "Did the reader like spending 200 pages with Seth?"
OMN: How would you tweet a summary of The Shadow of Seth?
TL: 16-year-old Seth's mother is murdered. Seth drops out of high school to find the killer, before the killer finds him.
OMN: How much of your own personal or professional experience have you included in the book?
TL: My dad died when I was very young and, in one way or another, I've been dealing with that ever since. I think this book is another way for me to process that. Seth learns a lot about his mother after she's gone, from the people she knew. The same thing happened to me. Friends of my dad would tell me stories about him — about his integrity or his terrible singing voice or his love of practical jokes — and I'd hang on every word, as I tried to solve the mystery of this man — my parent — who I never really knew very well.
I don't think I've ever written a character in a book without having a real person as an inspiration. This book is the same and more so. One of the minor characters, a bookstore owner named Sweet Pea, is even named after his real life counterpart, a local bookstore owner in Tacoma. All the other characters are inspired by real people, too, but you'll have a much harder time getting me to tell you who they are. I don't want to get in too much trouble.
OMN: Tell us a little more about your writing process.
TL: I do a lot of work on characters. I know what they look like and what they talk like. I have a photo for every character I write about. I outline a little bit, but try to leave enough room for the characters to surprise me, which they do all the time. But I'm a messy writer and I am fully dependent on lots of rewrites and revisions. Especially with a mystery, where the plot really has to hang together. So getting a first draft done is only a halfway point through the process for me. I've really learned to enjoy rewriting. That's where an author gets to be omnipotent — traveling back and forth through time and changing the lives of characters. Kind of like God, but for less pay.
OMN: And where do you most often find yourself writing?
TL: My writing environment is my Macbook Pro and wherever I happen to be at the time. Right now I'm on the couch, with my dog Viggo at my feet and my wife, Deb, yacking away on the phone upstairs. I have a very busy life, with a full-time job, four kids, and too many commitments. The thing I love about writing is that I can jam it in anywhere and everywhere. So I write in bed before I go to sleep and I write on this couch if I wake up in the middle of the night (which I usually do) and I write on the bus on my way to and from work. Is it weird to say I'm lucky to have a long commute? If I'm writing in a noisy place, I'll put on headphones and listen to the same album over and over — Everybody Digs Bill Evans by Bill Evans — my favorite writing music. It flips a switch for my muses, and I'm big on keeping my muses happy. If I hear Bill Evans anywhere, I swear my fingers start twitching and I start looking for a laptop.
By the way, Bill Evans was a jazz pianist and a heroin addict. He'd make a great character in a murder mystery.
OMN: How do you go about research the plot points of your stories?
TL: I dig research. I like to fill my stories with real-life, historic events. Seth has a big section about a famous artifact from history, and I spent a lot of time reading numerous sources about that plot point. It had to do with a man named Tobias Lear, the personal secretary of George Washington — a figure with a seriously tarnished reputation. Most of my research on Lear was web-based, but I dug into a lot of magazine and newspaper articles about his estate as well. I scoured estate auction websites, if you can believe that.
At the same time, I'm not a purist. I wouldn't hesitate for a second to change the facts in order to align with the universe of my book. It's fiction, right? Fiction means its packed full of artfully crafted lies.
OMN: How important is the setting of the story to you?
TL: Setting is a big deal for me. Nearly all my books are set in my own city of Tacoma, Washington.
Here's why: When I was much younger, I remember traveling to Boston and visiting the Boston Commons, where the children's novel, The Trumpet of the Swan was set. It was a kind of magical experience for me, seeing those same swan boats describe by E.B. White I set my first book, The Tilting House, in Tacoma and loved hearing from young, local readers what a big deal that was for them. One of the characters in that book was my barber, Jon. He had a few kids coming into his shop asking for his autograph.
I try to stay very true to the local geography for another reason, too: It makes the details that much more real. If there's a coffee shop in my book, I can go to a local coffee shop and take pictures and write notes, so that real details show up on the page. If I try to make one up out of thin air, I tend to make up clichés, which are death. Clichés are death. Did you get that?
I think that each place has its own personality and has a bigger impact on us than we realize. Where you're from helps define who you are. My books are from Tacoma. I hope my books take on some of Tacoma's definition. Tacoma's got a deep soul, but it's a no-BS kind of city. Not a lot of posers live in Tacoma. It's a wonderful place to live, but it's tough, too. It's a good place to set a murder.
The Shadow of Seth is dripping in real places. Shotgun Shack is inspired by a legendary soul food restaurant called Southern Kitchen. Heath High School is inspired by Stadium High School. MSM Deli is the actual MSM Deli. Guinevere's is Metro Coffee on the University of Washington Tacoma campus.
OMN: If we could send you anywhere in the world to research the setting for a book, where would it be?
TL: I'm working on a story idea that has connections to the Island of Crete. I wouldn't mind that research trip. I've had a fixation on Greek mythology for most of my life. Crete is where King Minos ruled, where Daedalus built the labyrinth, and where Theseus battled the Minotaur. The crafters of these tales — Homer, Ovid and those guys — were master storytellers. Authors like me have been ripping them off ever since. Heck, Rick Riordan makes a great living ripping them off. Good for you, Rick.
OMN: What are some of your outside interests? And have any of these found a way into your writing?
TL: I've found the best way for me to maintain my mental health is to always be a bit overcommitted. So I tend to stay very busy with a lot of activities, whether I'm particularly good at them or not. I play upright bass pretty well. I play guitar less well. I coach soccer with a couple of other guys. We win more than we lose. I snow ski — not well but fast. I kayak lazily. I camp enthusiatically. And then I do this other thing called Beautiful Angle, which is a street art poster project. It is beyond a hobby. More of an obsession. Or passion. My dear friend, Lance Kagey (the designer of my book cover), and I design and print a poster a month on an antique printing press, using hand-carved images and hand-set wood and lead type. It's a very labor-intensive process. Then we hang the posters around Tacoma, on telephone poles and on the sides of old buildings. We've been doing it more than a dozen years and we've gained a pretty serious following in Tacoma. Our work has been shown in numerous galleries and museums — some even in other countries.
Does any of this ever turn up in my books? Music certainly does. Seth is full of some of my favorite hip-hop and alternative music. And the inspiration for my characters comes from people I've met through these activities. But these activities don't really show up in a big way. At least not yet.
OMN: What is the best advice — and harshest criticism — you've received as an author? And what might you say to aspiring writers?
TL: The best advice I've received has consistently come from my agent, the esteemed Abigail Samoun of Red Fox Literary. She has a merciless eye and catches every bit of unnecessary language. She is constantly telling me to cut stuff out. It's a more ruthless version of "show it don't say it." No adverbs. Very few adjectives. Not much description. Just tell what happens in as few words as possible and then tell what the characters say. Their actions and dialogue should be what moves the plot forward. If you were to meet Abi, you'd think she was one of the sweetest people on the planet. She is. But if you're on the wrong end of her editing emails — well, it stings a bit sometimes.
The harshest criticism I've received has also come from Abigail. I sent her a completed manuscript that I worked on diligently for about eighteen months. It was a fantasy mishmash about flying horses and such. She flat out told me it wasn't very good and that I shouldn't pursue it. So I didn't. Because she's almost always right. And I am a slow learner. Eighteen months slow.
Another great piece of advice I received came from another Tacoma author named Brent Hartinger, the author of The Geography Club. Brent gave a talk called, "My Thirteen-Year Overnight Success Story." He told how he struggled along for thirteen years with very little success, and then finally broke through. I heard his talk at a very low point in my writing career. It was just what I needed to hear. So I reset my calendar. From that day forward, I gave myself fifteen years to achieve publication. That was about ten years ago and my second book has just come out, so I guess I'm ahead of the curve I set for myself. Aspiring writers take note: publishing is hard.
OMN: Complete this sentence for us: "I am a murder mystery author and thus I have …"
TL: I am a murder mystery author and thus I have a dark sense of humor. I make jokes about death.
My dad died when I was five. I have a big extended family of old aunts and uncles and so have been to lots of funerals. Between all this I developed a dark sense of humor about death that freaks some people out. I think many people tiptoe around the subject because it is unknown to them. They fear it. Therefore, they can't make jokes about it. I lived it, so I can. It's not foreign to me. I make jokes about everything. Why should death be any different?
OMN: Tell us more about the cover design. And how did you come up with the title?
TL: The cover design was created in conjunction with my talented friend, Lance Kagey. It is meant to evoke vintage boxing posters and actually takes a big nod from a classic Muhammad Ali poster. Seth works as a sparring partner and lives above a boxing gym. The cover is a reflection of that.
The title of the book is meant to echo the phrase "The Shadow of Death." Seth sounds like death. It's a murder mystery. It all makes sense. If I'm lucky enough to turn this into a series, that titling device will continue.
A side note on Seth's name, in case you care: According to the book of Genesis in the Old Testament, Seth is one of the first humans born outside of paradise — outside of the Garden of Eden. Seth's mother is named Eve, just like the Seth's mother in Genesis. Seth's last name is Anomundy. It is derived from the Latin phrase, Anno Mundi, which translates as in the year of the world. It is a calendar era that begins after creation. It begins once the humans are tossed out of Eden. Seth is clearly living in that post-paradise era.
OMN: What kind of feedback have you received from readers?
TL: I'm chatty and full of opinions. I like sharing them. So please ask me questions. I particularly like questions about backstory, such as, "What was your inspiration for this person or that place?" I have an answer for almost all of those questions.
Like most authors with even the tiniest modicum of success, I also have a lot of aspiring writers asking me how to get published. I like those, too. I tell them the three secrets to success: One: Write good stuff. Two: Keep trying. Three: Get lucky.
OMN: Suppose The Shadow of Seth were to be adapted for television or film. Who do you see playing the key roles?
TL: Here's my uneducated wish list:
Seth: Kodi Smit-McPhee. Kodi played the boy in The Road, did the voice of Norman in ParaNorman, and plays Nightcrawler in the upcoming X-Men: Apocalypse. He's got an edge. He's vulnerable. He's thin. If he's in a fight, you're not sure if he'll win or lose. If he wins, it's more from guts than brawn.
Eve: Marissa Tomei. She is beautiful, but good at playing broken. Seth's mom was fairly broken. I wonder if Marissa would play a part this small?
Choo-Choo: Delroy Lindo. I love this guy. Watch Crooklyn to see how good he can be.
Azura: Chloë Grace Moretz, from Kick-Ass and Hugo. She's smart, beautiful, and sassy and doesn't take crap off anyone.
OMN: What kinds of books did you read when you were young?
TL: I write two kinds of novels today: YA murder mysteries and middle-reader magic-realism. As a kid, I read everything. I was the youngest of five kids in a loud, crazy house. I was the quiet one in the corner, reading. I'd max out the check-out limit at the local library, which was fourteen books. I'd read them all and usually lose one somewhere in our house. I always had a lot of late fees and missing book fees.
I read every book written by Roald Dahl and loved them all. I read lots of Hardy Boys and never really liked any of them. Then in sixth grade, I discovered S.E. Hinton. Her stuff cut me deep and I've never recovered. Her characters were tough. They lived in a tough world. They talked tough. But they had a hint of poet and philosopher to them, too. I read the four books she wrote back then, at least a few times each: The Outsiders, That Was Then, This Is Now, Rumblefish, and Tex. Each one blew me away.
I don't think Hinton is usually categorized in the hardboiled column, but that's where I put her. Her books are noir for teens. And they set me on the hardboiled road. After that, I discovered James M. Cain and Dashiell Hammett. They sounded like Hinton to me, but for adults. So I read them all. Then I found Chandler, who was the same but better. And now I read Walter Mosley, John D. MacDonald, and Elmore Leonard and I still hear Hinton in those pages. It all goes back to S.E. Hinton for me.
So yeah, that's why I wrote Seth. Because that's what I love. I don't know if I pulled it off with the same tough characters and the same hints of philosophy. I probably didn't, but I'm working at it.
One thing I'd like to be clear about. I love that these books have an aspect of mystery to them. But solving the mystery is not the main point. The main point is just living in the world, living with the characters — whether it's Hinton's Ponyboy or Chandler's Marlowe — and seeing if they make it to the end of the book with their soul and their skin intact. That's what Seth is for me, too. A hardboiled novel with a bit of mystery thrown in, but not a whodunit.
OMN: And what do you read today for pleasure?
TL: I read the same stuff I've talked about in every other answer. Elmore Leonard, John D. MacDonald, Walter Mosley, and a smattering of stuff people call literature. Right now I'm reading two books at once. City Primeval by Elmore Leonard, and Metamorphoses by Ovid. One was written in 8 A.D. One was written in 1980. So I guess they're both old. Lots of people die in both.
OMN: Have any specific authors influenced how and what you write today?
TL: I try to channel Elmore Leonard. I usually fail. I like dialogue and action. I dislike descriptions. I try to eliminate all adverbs and almost all adjectives from my writing. I want my books to read fast. Leonard's touch disappears in his stories. You never feel the heavy hand of the author. No fancy stuff to pull you out of the world he created. No poetic language to remind you you're reading fiction. I try to do the same. Lean languages. Short, sharp sentences.
I write what I want to read. I like hardboiled murder tales. So that's what Seth is.
OMN: What kinds of films do you enjoy watching?
TL: Too many people call themselves film buffs, so I'll avoid claiming that label, but I do watch a lot of movies. And the ones I like, I watch over and over again. Ask my wife. It drives her nuts.
I love the old classic noir films, like To Have and Have Not, The Big Sleep, Double Indemnity, and that sort of thing. I love three of the four Indiana Jones movies and three (or maybe four) of the Star Wars movies. My favorite movie last year was Guardians of the Galaxy. I like good dialogue, some humor, and lots of action. At heart, though, I'm a classic film buff. I tend to follow directors, like Preston Sturges, Frank Capra, John Ford, Billy Wilder, and Howard Hawks. I don't think we've done better in recent days. These guys focused on the story and the characters. That's what good novels do. There is no CGI in books.
OMN: Create a Top 5 list for us on any topic.
TL: Top 5 favorite noir movies (in no particular order)
1. Rear Window. This was the inspiration for the Shia LaBeouf film, Disturbia. It has James Stewart — the greatest actor of all times — stuck in his apartment with a leg in traction and Grace Kelly in sexy dresses. Stewart witnesses a murder. Or thinks he does.
2. Double Indemnity. This one sounds boring because it's about an insurance scam. But then Barbara Stanwyck wraps Fred MacMurray so tightly around her finger that MacMurray not only murders on Stanwyck's command, but takes the rap for it.
3. Brick. This film by Rian Johnson stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as a kind of high school noir hero. It's one of the best modern takes on film noir, and it's set in a high school. It was a big inspiration for me. Thanks, Rian. I love your movie.
4. Pulp Fiction. This is not a murder film. But it's based on pulp, a twentieth-century term that describes the cheap paperback novels and magazines chock full of murder tales. A couple of my favorite authors — Jim Thompson and Robert E. Howard — were considered pulp writers. Pulp Fiction brought snappy noir dialogue back to the movie theater. I've seen it at least a dozen times and it made me a lifelong Quentin Tarantino fan.
5. Blade Runner. This one takes a classic noir hero, Rick Deckard — played by Harrison Ford — and places him in a dystopian future. Heck, Blade Runner practically drew the blueprints for the dystopian future. It's cool and weird, but at its heart, this film is noir from top to bottom.
OMN: What's next for you?
TL: I'm currently working on three books. That's probably a bad idea. Oh well.
The first is a middle reader novel I'm almost done with. It's called Black String. It's about a family whose father disappeared. One day, five years later, they get a ball of black string in the mail. Nothing else. But the string causes all sorts of chaos. It makes their house glow. It electrocutes people. It leads them to strange characters and stranger clues all across the city.
The second is a sequel to The Shadow of Seth. It's called The Kiss of Seth and it has Seth looking for a missing girl. The trail drags him through more danger and more love. But he'll probably get his heart broken again.
And then, finally, I'm noodling around with another idea, based on an old Robert Louis Stevenson short story. I'm excited about it, but it's too early to talk about it. I don't want to piss off my muses.
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Tom Llewellyn is a writer, creative director, and street artist who lives with his wife and four kids in Tacoma, Washington. When he's not writing, he plays bass, coaches soccer, and snow skis.
For more information about the author, please visit his website and his author page on Goodreads, or find him on Twitter.
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The Shadow of Seth by Tom Llewellyn
A Seth Anomundy Murder Mystery
Publisher: The Poisoned Pencil
Sixteen-year-old Seth Anomundy is a product of his environment: in this case, Tacoma, Washington. What L.A. was to Chandler, Tacoma―a working-class port city now undergoing urban renewal―is to author Tom Llewellyn. Seth has grown up in Tacoma's tough neighborhoods, where he's perfectly at home in Choo-Choo's boxing gym and Miss Irene's soul food palace, the Shotgun Shack. With his mom working nights as a cleaner, Seth goes to high school, gets decent grades, and makes money where he can: filling in as cook at the Shotgun Shack, working as a sparring partner, and running errands for Nadel, the clock repairman. Life is hand-to-mouth, but okay―until he gets the news that his mother has been killed. The police don't care about the death of just another drug addict, so a bewildered Seth takes it upon himself to find the killer.
On a clock delivery run, he meets a beautiful rich girl named Azura Lear, who encourages Seth and tries to help track down the killer. But instead of finding answers, Seth finds only trouble. He faces down a gang of baseball-bat-wielding high school jocks and deals with the contempt of Azura's suspicious father. And then there's King George―a teenage thug Seth has previously managed to avoid―who has for some reason let it be known that he wants Seth dead. Right now.
— The Shadow of Seth by Tom Llewellyn
