Q&A with author reveals mystery in supernatural novel 6/14/2009 12:31 AM
By RACHEL JOHNSON Staff writer
Cool off this summer with a chilling summer read.
"Taking Three" by Mark McCallum offers a novel full of mystery and intrigue with twists that keep the plot moving and chills running down your spine.
From the first page to the last, the suspense builds as the character of Old Coals runs rampant in the town of Soke.
McCallum, a native Southerner, spent more than 10 years as a sportswriter and 12 years producing content for Internet-related companies before embarking on his writing career.
Currently a resident of Covington, Ga., he works as a freelance writer and believes the supernatural touches our lives everyday. For more information about McCallum or to order the book, visit www.takingthree.com.
After reading the pulse-quickening book, the Aiken Standard had a few questions for the twisted tale's author.
Q&A with author Mark R. McCallum
Q: Where did you come up with the idea for Old Coals?
A: Old Coals fascinates me. There's a whole book devoted to walking down that dark road with it. Discovering how it evolved. Why it behaves so. What drives it. I don't recall any specific legend or entity that curled into my mind other than seeking some connection to why death comes in threes. Is there some mythical creature that arrives at a predestined time? And how would it do so without revealing itself to all? From such questions - and Bill Talbert's comment - Old Coals emerged. Now, some of my characters would be familiar with Lee County's Lizard Man, so what they once heard I'm sure filtered into their fateful meetings. But that's as close as anything comes to a pre-existing legend after the fact.
Q: What inspired your characters, especially Wacky Jacky?
A: Creating characters might be less inspiration and more revelation. You know you need a cop. You name him. So, Merl Burt now must fit his name. Does he have a limp? Is he thin or barrel-chested? Is he married? Who is this person and why is he here?
In giving my characters life, I've had set ideas for a few and watched them completely morph into someone else as the story unfolds. I've added bits of myself into some and watched others walk into my imagination and create a life for themselves. I've been asked countless times if so-and-so is based on this person, but they aren't.
Only one character isn't fictionalized, and another, Wacky Jacky, simply grabbed onto an odd coworker who used to utter nonsequitors at the most inappropriate times. He always seemed to be on a different wavelength than the current conversation. Wacky grew from that memory and those old quotations.
While I do take bits and pieces of what's happened in people's lives and hold them up to the carnival mirror so they're warped enough to fit my story, I've been surprised how few characters resemble people I've known. I can't say that Mallison is this person or Robbie is that one. They formed their own identities.
Q: Did you "write what you know?" Are the story line or characters based in reality?
A: Friends are stunned my novel is not about baseball, so I can't say I'm writing about what I know. I mean, my novel centers on a creature taking three lives in a supernatural manner. The novel focuses on the relationship between an 11-year-old boy and his father, on the relationship between a 56-year-old cop and his odd friend. While many of the hospital scenes came from watching both parents in the ICU, I've never been in a coma, worked for a police force or met a supernatural entity. At least, as far as I know. But I have been an 11-year-old boy, and I have been scared. But one of the joys of writing is researching what you don't know or verifying what you think you know. How do you fly a Sopwith Camel? My hero knows how because he read about it. So, he'd get those details correct, even in a dream.
Is any of the story based in reality? I've mingled with these folks since 2004. I like to think they'd take issue with me if I said this weren't all true.
Q: How long did you work on the book?
A: I awoke at 6 a.m. one Saturday in June drenched in sweat from a horrific nightmare. Two months later, I held a rough first draft based off that one disturbing scene. All because my imagination flicked into hyper drive, wanting to figure out how those two reached that moment. In the four years I searched for a publisher, I thought, prayed and edited. I heeded constructive feedback from my personal editor, Tom Hallman, and my best friend, Lou Kinard, who also did the cover. In that time, I worked the puzzle pieces in the hopes that the reader would not be able to stop reading.
Q: When was it published?
A: "Taking Three" was published right before Thanksgiving 2008. I got copies in December. It became available online January 2009. It's special order in most bookstores.
Q: What inspired you to publish a novel?
A: Getting published has been on my list of things to do before I die for quite a while. Like going to Fenway Park. Seeing the Grand Canyon. Hearing my lyrics on the radio. However, I never believed I could write a novel, much less get it published. How could I sustain your interest for 250 pages? I'd been a sportswriter for years and was trained to tell an entire tale in 15 inches or less. Then I got the idea for "Taking Three," and the story carried me so far I discovered I needed to cut things out. I was thankful that during the process, Tom Hallman, my ruthless editor, made it very clear that I wasn't wasting my time.
Q: What was the biggest challenge of writing the book?
A: My toughest challenge as a writer is finding time to write. Finding excuses is easy. Grass needs cutting. After dinner. Wait, "Supernatural" is on. Even when I was between freelance contracts, I didn't write much. But when writing "Taking Three," I sat down for at least one hour every day. No excuses, all while working a 40-hour week with a daily commute of 70 miles and playing baseball on the weekends. But I was so gripped by where the story was going and what might happen next that I couldn't wait to get to it or think about it every day. It was basically an infatuation.
The next biggest challenge was letting go of the novel and certain characters. You constantly want to tweak the tale and make improvements. To change this word or that. Does this scene move the story along? Does this chapter serve a purpose? You're never satisfied and have to listen to your characters saying "Enough, already." And then, Old Coals appears and somebody's going to die. Who will it be?
Q: Do you plan on writing a sequel?
A: I am a quarter of the way through the sequel and have plans for visiting the town of Soke again, but I'm sure my publisher is more interested in sales as the driving force more than story line.
Contact Rachel Johnson at rjohnson@aikenstandard.com.
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Comment Title: Well worth the time
Interesting interview. Fascinating book! I couldn't stop reading. There are scenes -- especially the dream sequences -- that are impossible to put down. And McCallum makes it all perfectly believable and downright real.
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