The other day, I was telling someone about From A Dead Sleep, and I
mentioned that the story takes place in the summer of 2001. She
was fascinated by this, and asked if there was any historical
significance to that time period in regard to the story.The answer is yes, although it's more about my personal history than it is the plot of the book. I chose the era, in part, to help me more closely identify with the novel's protagonist, Sean Coleman.
Now, there really aren't all that many similarities between Coleman and myself, but there are some purposeful timeline parallels in relation to the very early 21st century. It was a time when I found myself at a bit of a crossroads. I wasn't sure if I was on the right path in life, and I really didn't even have a great sense of where I wanted to be. After graduating college and finding a decent job, I lived by myself for nearly five years in the same one-bedroom, basement apartment. Though I enjoyed the independence and lack of responsibility, time often moved by very slowly.
New relationships were hard to come by, and old friends were all moving away or getting married off. When you watch the people you know seemingly enter new, exciting chapters of their lives, while you feel as though you're stuck firmly in neutral, loneliness and monotony can really weigh you down. You think about ways - even silly ways - to get people to take notice of you, and see that you have something to offer - something beyond their expectations.
That's the picture I wanted to paint of Sean Coleman: A lonely man who feels as though life has passed him by. He's someone who yearns to redeem himself, but he can't find the will or the way to do it.
For Coleman, that struggle has embittered him and it slowly deteriorates his self-confidence. So, when a deadly mystery unfolds before his eyes, and no one believes his account of the event he witnessed, Sean finds himself at his own crossroads. He can either crawl back into the continuance of his life with his head held low, or he can build the strength to act beyond himself and push forward to get to the bottom of the mystery, searching for personal redemption along the way.
I also liked the idea of using the aforementioned time period, because I wanted to write a story that wasn't facilitated by today's technology. For example, in 2001, cellphones were very much around, but not everyone owned one. They also didn't come with the kind of goodies today's smartphones have (like GPS and Internet access). Cell coverage wasn't nearly as widespread back then either, especially in the mountains where much of the story takes place.
I wanted to throw several technological hurdles (along with non-technological ones) at the characters that wouldn't exist so much in the year 2013, while delivering a story that still takes place in the modern era. Placing the story before 9/11 also gave me some leeway to do some things I probably wouldn't have been able to pull off (with believability anyway) if I was writing it for the current day. I'll let you guess as to what that's all about.
On a less intensive note, readers can expect to find some humorous cultural references from the period as well, including that of the razor-close presidential election of 2000, and the mention of movies and television shows that were big at that time.
From A Dead Sleep is currently available for pre-order. Its release date is June 25th, 2013. Click here for details.
