Heather’s Bookshelf: Author Interview with Colin Searle

Book Title:  The Call of Abaddon

Released:  07/29/25

Genre:  Adult Sci-Fi

Interview by Heather L. Barksdale

What inspired you to write “The Call of Abaddon”?

Searle: The central idea that became Abaddon has been around in my head for years, since high school at least. I've read lots of classic and contemporary SF/F, and broadly in other genres too. Classic sci-fi movies like Star Wars and Trek, as well as TV shows like Battlestar Galactica and many video games also added to the soup that eventually boiled down into my first book, the characters and the universe. I like the concept of psychic powers, weird Lovecraftian stuff, near(ish) future sci-fi, dystopias, post-apocalyptic stories and many similar things, so it's no wonder that Abaddon has all of the above and more.

The actual event that inspired me to physically sit down and begin the final version of the book was being laid off from my job at an animation studio. Sensing industry instability was all the prompting I needed to begin the author journey as an off-ramp into a new line of creative work. I'm still an artist and always will be, but considering how well Abaddon has done since launch in July (especially for an indie with very little outside support other than friends/family/reviewers like you and no publisher), I've got no choice but to continue writing the series!

How did you come up with the names of your main characters? 

Searle:  Jason, David and Sam have been around since the very beginning. While they've gone through crazy iterations, their names have not changed. Even from the start, I wanted simple names for them. Jason and David don't even have last names due to their origins, and Sam's is a deliberate secret until the end of Abaddon Book 1, so readers are given very straightforward names to focus on and become attached to.

Is there anything that you want readers to know about you, your writing process or your book?

Searle: If anything, Abaddon Book 1 was a very crazy process. It took 2.5 years to write, edit and then launch, from late 2022 until July 2025. First, it was way too long, as I knew nothing about publishable lengths and industry standards. It's been through the editing gauntlet, including a developmental editor named Bryan Schmidt, who was the first editor of the Martian, right down to friends, family and my girlfriend. Hundreds of edit passes carved the book down into its final form, largely thanks to the feedback from all of these people and more.

If “The Call of Abaddon” were adapted into a movie, who would you like to see cast to play your lead characters?

Searle: That's a good question, and a tough one. I really don't know! A lot of my favorite actors are older (or dead), so it's tough to choose good ones for the main characters. Rather than give a wishlist, I'll just say that I'd be honored if my work is adapted in ANY way beyond the books themselves (be it graphic novels, animation, games, TV or feature films), and I'll trust the casting director to do a good job. 

When you encounter writer’s block, what do you do to break yourself out of it?

Searle: I've got an easy and somewhat unfair fix for writer's block - when it happens, I jump into doing art for the book/series. Whether it's world-building illustration, 3D-modelling vehicles, props or locations, painting character portraits, drawing the next book's map or covers, those are all things that I default to after hitting writer's block. By the time I'm done a few of those things or get tired of doing so much art, enough time will have passed for my brain to reorient and solve the problems I was encountering in the process that led to writer's block. I just did this recently with the followup prequel novellas that are coming after Book 1, and I was left with 4 new cover illustrations! Now I'm ready to return to the text and finish each novella off, as if I never hit writer's block in the first place.

Are there any tips that you would like to share with other aspiring authors?

Searle: Never give up, never surrender is a pretty good motto - but with the caveat that breaks are good, and always seek/follow good feedback on your writing once you become too attached to it. There will come a point when you're mentally incapable of evaluating and editing your own work - which is the exact time to get your editor on it, or pass it out to your alpha/beta readers. If you receive the same feedback from multiple people, that's a sign that something needs to change. Writing is impossible in a vacuum.

What is your favorite book, genre, and/or author?

Searle: My absolute favorite genre is sci-fi (no surprises there). My favorite book/series is Lord of the Rings and its companion texts, and my favorite author is probably Lovecraft. I know those three answers don't really match with each other, but that's the problem with having such a wide interest range! It's hard to pick favorites when you've read thousands of books by so many authors, in print/ebook/audio forms as well. I've read and listened to audiobooks so much that I could tell you my favorite audiobook narrators too, but even that comes down to a tie between RC Bray, Marc Thompson and Jonathan Keeble.

What are you working on next?

Searle: Immediate next steps after Book 1 are continuing to support and market it. Next up are the prequel novellas I mentioned earlier. They will be released piecemeal starting early 2026 (hopefully), to be followed up by a bundled version that also has a unique final story to finish off the novella arc - which conveniently ends right as Book 1 kicks off. While the novellas are launching, I will be working feverishly on the direct sequel to the Call of Abaddon. We'll see how things go from there, but I think late 2026 is a good target for the followup. I've learned a lot about writing and about my preferred process in getting Book 1 across the finish line, so while Book 2 will not be easy, it will definitely be a bit more straightforward than the first. 

Interested in checking out the book for yourself?

Find it for purchase here

Interested in submitting your book for review? Visit my review page for guidelines and submission requirements.

review