A Writer's Tale

To address your concern about me “reverting” to the “Kelly” type of novel, I have a few observations.

I wrote One Rainy Night after I had written The Stake but before I got any reactions to The Stake. During the entire writing of The Stake, I was extremely nervous about it. I thought of it as “my novel in which nothing happens.” I rather expected you to find it a disappointment. I thought you would probably tell me that it doesn’t have enough horror.

(This was, in fact, the reaction of some editors here in the States. Bantam, which had been eager for Resurrection Dreams, wanted nothing to do with The Stake while those at NAL considered it a great step forward.)

Therefore, while writing One Rainy Night, I was completely unaware that The Stake would be appreciated at all.

So I was writing a book that I intended to be more true-to-form.

In fact, I intentionally went in the opposite direction from that I’d taken with The Stake.

My purpose was to write prime Laymon, fast-paced with loads of action and violence.

I do, however, think One Rainy Night is no more a “Kelly” book than were the dozen “Laymon” books that came before The Stake.

Here are a few things that I think are strengths of One Rainy Night.

1. Like The Stake, it is not very occult or supernatural. It isn’t a monster story. It’s mostly about the reactions of normal people to a crisis situation that happens to have been brought about by supernatural means.

2. It is probably my first book with a rather serious theme. At its core, this is a story about the effects of racism. It might almost be seen as a parable. More than just another trashy blood-and-sex book.

3. From the outset, it is non-stop. I tried to create a few likable main characters, put them into deep trouble, and keep the trouble coming to the very end. I think this book probably has more forward narrative thrust than any book I’ve ever written. Its action takes place almost in “real time.” The entire story occurs over a period of about five hours. And I think that an enormous amount of suspense, action and shock goes on from beginning to end, almost without letup.

4. I don’t think it will disappoint any of my readers who like such books as Funland, Resurrection Dreams, Flesh, The Cellar and so on.

However, as I indicated above, I wrote it during a period when I had no confidence in The Stake. I do think that the way to go in the future is toward mainstream books with more characterization and somewhat tamer nasty stuff. I realize that it may present difficulties to publishers if I keep switching back and forth. At the same time, it seems important to give readers enough of the shock to keep them interested. I’m trying to strike a balance of sorts.

I do hope that W.H. Allen will accept One Rainy Night as the second book of the contract. We’re after the audience that likes my stuff, plus people who enjoy books by such people as Koontz and King. While this book is a trifle rougher than what readers would get from those two fellows, I think it will help hold onto the people who like Laymon some of whom I’m afraid might find The Stake a little timid for their tastes.

My next book, let me assure you, is more along the lines of The Stake. It is unfilled, as yet, though I’ll be done with it in a couple of months and it should run over 500 pages. It is about six college students who embark on a quest for treasure on the advice of a Ouija board. It is also about their professor and her boyfriend, who realize the kids may be heading into trouble, and set out to find them. It’s part mystery, part adventure, and part horror. And it’s one of those books in which “nothing happens.”

Again, thank you for letting me know how you feel about One Rainy Night. After what happened with The Stake, I had rather expected (with some dread) a bit of negative response. But of course, One Rainy Night was already done by the time I found out that I’d made a big stride forward with the previous book.

I hope all is going well with you and that you have a great holiday season.

Best Regards…

The main problem was that, while I had felt that The Stake would be my most significant book to date, I’d had strong worries that my agents and publishers might see it otherwise.

I figured there was a good chance that everyone would think it too mild. “Just not what we expect from Laymon.” But I didn’t wait around to find out. Before I got any reactions to The Stake, I went ahead and wrote One Rainy Night.

I wrote it like the old stuff.

Only more so.

But surprise, surprise! The general opinion was that The Stake was a giant improvement over my earlier stuff. So some people saw One Rainy Night as a giant step backward.