Chapter 11 - Shadows

As promised, here is Chapter 11 of the How Deep Lies the Shadow audiobook podcast. This chapter just focuses on two scenes involving Kirsten then Sean.

Kirsten’s scene was revised and cut drastically as I attempted to both shorten the novel in general and weed out some of the overly complicated plot elements. In it I introduce what I call nomads. These are creatures that live in the shadows and appear as nothing more than shadows to the observant human being. They are deprived of any kind of physical stimulation, so once they find a vacant vessel (listen to the podcast to figure out who) they overindulge in any and all senses.

Sean’s scene takes place in the home of Wendy and the Lost Boys. I modeled this house after an historic mansion that my wife and I lived in as caretakers back in the mid ’90s. The Eric Sanders mansion was built in 1905 in the town of Thomas, which never incorporated. It’s in the Green River flood planes between Kent, Auburn, and Federal Way, right next to the Smith Brothers Farm. I can still smell the cows. We loved the old craftsman style house, but not the upkeep of such and old building surrounded by wetlands and a mill pond. On weekends, before mowing the lawn, I would go around and dig up or flatten out the mole hills. Those buggers kept me busy. Some of the hills got to be about three feet in diameter at the base and could fill a wheelbarrow. I never had luck trapping them. On one occasion I tried flooding them out, but after running water down a hole for about fifteen minutes, I saw no sign of mole or rising water levels. But I digress.

Sean finally gets to chat with the young punk who goes by the name of Brix and claims to be his twin brother. For those who are curious, Brix is derived from bricks, which are red like his hair. You’ll also meet Wendy and the Lost Boys in this scene. They’re inspired by their namesakes from the book by James Barrie.