Today it gives the Speculative Fiction Showcase great pleasure to interview Charles Welch, whose novel Find(h)er was our featured new release on June 29.
When we last talked on November 11, 2020, we were discussing your new release, Within the Fog. I think it is safe to say you have not been idle since then. Can you tell us something about the books you have published?
Hello! Since publishing Within the Fog, and getting such
wonderful feedback from readers, I moved forward with Hunted, a novel about a
man who has been running from an evil his entire life and finally decides to
confront it. I then published the follow up to Within the Fog – Rage Within the
Fog, and a thriller – Scavenger Hunt, and now my newest work – Find(h)er. Along
the way I have also done some work with Scare Street Publications with a couple
of short stories for their Night Terrors Anthology Collection. I think Rage has had an even better reception
than the first book in the series. I have also been surprised by the great
success of Scavenger Hunt.
We’re here to talk about your new release, Find(h)er, which we featured on June 29. First of all, please can you talk about the title, which includes the words “Find her” and “Finder”. What is the significance of that wordplay?
In the story, the main character, Boone, discovers a talent
for finding lost things. He becomes a finder of lost things, and eventually,
people. While this is happening, Boone’s best friend, Sly, comes to him for
help finding a former girlfriend. She is missing and her younger sister is
desperate to find her. The mission becomes one of finding someone, Laurie, who
is lost. I liked the combination in the title of Finder (Boone) and Her
(Laurie) who he seeks.
How does this novel differ from your earlier books?
I think of this novel as 50% horror, 50% adventure with a Dystopian world mixed in. There is a theme throughout the book of Boone’s need to help his friend, who has helped him with so many things. In his quest to help Sly, Boone is challenged as a person to grow well beyond his comfort zone. I think Find(h)er is my deepest dive into relationships to this point. It’s also a look at the tension that can be created when putting very different people together and asking them to rely on one another in tough circumstances.
Is the supernatural world developed across your novels
consistent or are there different worlds?
They are different. I’ve always been fascinated by the concept of the Multiverse. In the future, I may write the Land of the Dead (Duat and the Northern Territories) from Find(h)er into other books. There will also be a follow-up to this book because I think there is more story to tell with these characters. I have liked that other author’s have done this because I think it creates intrigue for readers. That said, I see our world, and potentially those beyond our view, as diverse and multiple. I like the idea of how separate these worlds are, and yet how, ultimately, they may be related.
One of the protagonists, Laurie, has the misfortune to upset
a god in disguise. She finds herself having to survive in a dystopian
underworld. What was the inspiration for this story?
Ancient Egyptian history. As a former high school history teacher, I have always been fascinated by ancient Egypt. I always wondered about the Gods of the Egyptians’ belief system. What if these Gods existed in our world and another world? What if that other world was dominated by the Gods and mankind ended up there awaiting judgment in the afterlife? Find(h)er was born from 2 different novel concepts I had. One was about a woman who was lost in this dystopian world. The other was about a man who suddenly finds himself with the ability to find lost things. When I realized that Laurie was lost, Boone became a great solution to her dilemma, and I began mapping these two ideas as one novel.
There is a moral tenor to the book. As in folk tales, Laurie
is unkind and rejecting of a stranger who seeks her help - and proves to be
more than she seems. How relevant are the themes in these myths and folktales
today?
I think they are very relevant. We live in a world in crisis. The pandemic has created such stress for people that finding some kindness for others in stressful situations can be very helpful. The idea that Laurie is so caught up in her day-to-day life and has become judgmental due to her successes rang true to me. She is so consumed by her agenda, that everything else has drifted away from her, including the relationships that she knows are important to her. In the book, it takes the experiences she has to wake her up to what life should be about.
Your other main characters are Boone and Sly. Tell us
something about them and how they relate to each other.
Boone has always had issues relating to people. He sees the world differently than most people. He does not like physical touch, cannot stand germs, is very knowledgeable and has been so tortured by others in his past because of these traits that he only wants others to perceive him as what he believes is normal. Sly comes to his aid in high school and becomes his protector. Sly enables Boone to feel normal and thus, Sly becomes very important to Boone. As adults they maintain a close relationship. When Boone realizes he can find lost things, he is not entirely comfortable with the skill because it makes him something beyond normal. He needs Sly’s help, but also realizes that he has an opportunity to help Sly, as Sly has helped him. He struggles with the conflict of being pushed beyond his comfort zone and repaying Sly for all he has done for him.
The story involves more than one descent into the underworld
- an ancient theme going back to the story of Orpheus and beyond. How did you
imagine the underworld and what is unique about your version?
This other world was built on elements of ancient Egyptian beliefs. The Hall of Truth was a place that the Egyptians believed that we go when we die for judgment. It was their belief that if we are judged to have been truthful and honest, we are then able to move to the Field of Reeds which is a Utopian place like Heaven. I did take some liberties with these beliefs in the book, but I tried to stick as close as possible to the beliefs of this ancient society. I think the idea of new worlds is intriguing to many of us. The concept of sending a manned mission to mars is filled with the same sense of adventure. On a much smaller scale, so is a vacation to a place that we have never been. It’s something new, something unknown. In our hearts I think we all love a sense of adventure and that is what I saw in this other world. A scary place, with many dangers, but something new and adventurous.
Boone has acquired a magical power, that of finding things -
and people. Where does it come from and is it a blessing or a curse?
One day, I lost my phone while walking in a park near my house. My wife and I searched high and low for it at home in case it had fallen out of my pocket before I went walking. We called it, listening for it to ring somewhere and could not find it. Finally, I retraced my walk through the park hoping I would find it. The Park had been very busy, and I thought if the phone had fallen out of my pocket there, it would be gone. Instead, as I approached the playground, there it was, laying on the sidewalk. I was amazed and grateful to not need to go phone shopping. The next day we got a snowstorm and ended up with about eight inches of accumulation. I decided to take my morning walk in the weather and then came back home and went to work. It wasn’t until that night that I realized my wedding ring was missing. My hands shrink a little in the winter and my ring becomes very loose. Again, my wife and I searched the house over. I tore apart the plumbing under a sink thinking it may have come off while washing my hands. We could not find it. I decided to retrace my morning walk, in the dark with a flashlight. I walked my entire route kicking snow out of the way, looking for my wedding ring. I didn’t find it. When I returned to my house, I stood next to the sidewalk and kicked the snow in front of me out of frustration. As I did, I saw a gold fleck fly through the air and land in a snowbank. I dug into the pile of snow and there was my ring. I remember thinking – Ok, this is a good premise for a story.
For me, finding my lost things was a gift and saved me from my wife! For Boone, his gift is both a gift and a curse. He can help his friend, but the gift takes him far from his desire to be what he believes is normal.
Has the presence of the global pandemic influenced what you
write or changed it in any way?
Only in the respect that I have always wanted to write an end of the world, apocalyptic novel that is not based on Zombies. Because the pandemic had already created such feelings of the end of the world for so many, I put off my concept until just recently. I see story telling as a distraction from the stresses of real life and so I hope my work offered that to my readers.
Tell us something about the antagonists in Find(h)er: “angry
and vengeful Gods who protect the Hall of Truth from those who have not yet
been judged for their sinful existences.”
These Gods exist to judge humanity. Anubis, as the deliverer of mankind to the Hall of Truth, has a role to play, as does Osiris who performs the judgment ceremony. In the story, for Anubis, the role of taking Laurie to the hall is an issue of the God being angry with Laurie. Laurie refused to help her when she could have. Anubis seeks revenge by opening the portal to this other world. Laurie, due to her impatience, walks right into it. That created the opportunity for Anubis to deliver Laurie to her judgment. The Gods are there to fulfil their role, but Laurie has unknowingly antagonized Anubis. The Gods look down on humanity as impure beings anyway, and in this instance, Laurie is directly in the crosshairs of Anubis. The challenge for Osiris and the 42 judges of ancient Egyptian beliefs is to fulfil their role and see the truth in Anubis and Laurie’s actions.
In Within the Fog, the evil character Croatoan preys on
people’s anger. Is there a link or theme in common to the books?
I think the link between the books is emotion, anger, angst, and unfulfilled desire. I have always wondered about what would happen in relationships that are faltering, or failing, if the extraordinary happened. Would these relationships in these situations heal or fail? Both of these books have this premise at their hearts.
What are you working on now?
I have a new thriller coming out in the next few weeks titled Wicked Games, which is about what happens when the mega rich become bored with their lives and have evil intentions in their hearts. I am also finishing an apocalyptic novel titled Laughers, which focuses on a mother, her son, and his girlfriend at the end of the world. In this instance, the end of the world comes when most of Earth’s population become hysterical and violent. These people see humor in their destruction. I am enthralled with this story because it not only exposes the dark past of the mother in the story, but also her continued desire to make up for lost time with her son. In short, Laughers is the end of the world – without Zombies.
What is your writing routine?
I write in the evenings and on the weekends. I outline my ideas and then fill in details (which always adjust as I write). Then I write to the outline and erase the outline as I progress. I am always listening to music while writing. The mood of the music definitely influences the direction of the story.
What do you read - or watch - to relax?
I am into horror, thrillers and comedies when it comes to TV shows or movies. There are too many to name. My wife and I tend to move from one series to the next and always have at least 2-3 going. I love a good scary movie too. I have an appreciation for ideas in story-telling that make me wish I had thought of it first!
About Charles Welch:
Charles Welch has been a home designer and builder, a middle school and high school teacher, education administrator, corporate learning and development professional and writer, previously publishing the spiritual book Walking Softly. His formal education includes a Bachelor of Arts in Social Science Teaching, a Master of Education in Learning and Technology, and an Educational Doctorate in eLearning. He and his wife live in Northern Colorado and share their lives with three extraordinary kids, three grandchildren, two pugs, a pit bull, a Chihuahua and two lizards. Charles has had a lifelong passion for horror fiction and horror films and is a huge fan of several of the genre's great authors including Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Brian Keene, Richard Laymon and many others.
In addition to Walking Softly, Charles debuted his horror writing with the Within the Fog series and the upcoming release, Hunted.
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