I recently completed Saving Eddie, a fictionalized paranormal retelling of Edgar Allan Poe’s life. This is different from any of my other books for the following reasons:
- It crosses genres. The book is a biographical mystery with romantic and paranormal elements. It attempts to seamlessly merge these elements together.
- It uses unique plot devices. It is based on Arthur Rimbaud’s idea of a “season” covering the key periods in Poe’s life. The book is mostly told through two imaginary journals including one of Edgar’s mostly unknown real-life brother Henry. Henry also is deciding throughout the book when would be best to save his brother’s life.
- It provides a different perspective on Poe’s life. There are many different books on this great author. But few are written from the perspective on why he could so clearly describe the ideals of beauty and the depths of human madness. It provides a theory on the disastrous consequences of his being constantly in debt. Some of his lesser known works are also highlighted.
- It is well-researched. Diving into primary resources as well as visiting many of the places where he resided made this the most researched book that I have done to date.
- It uses lengthy chapters. Typically I write short chapters. However, in this case, a chapter was written for each “season” of Edgar’s life. Using the “one long take” approach allows the reader to better understand the ups and downs of that period.
- Use of unreliable narrators. The two journal writers in the story are caught up with their own emotional biases and may make misleading judgments. Along the way, you watch them both grow.
- A preview copy and cover was released early. It had the most downloads in the shortest period of time of all my book samples.
- It is not a retread. Another author could have made this a rehash of Killing Thoreau with time travel. But I decided to go into unfamiliar and more challenging territory instead.
This was a highly satisfactory experience that I hope you have as much fun reading as I did creating,