Heather’s Bookshelf: Author Interview with Dean Comyn
Book Title: Something in the Water
Released: 11/12/19
Genre: Thriller
Interview by Heather L. Barksdale
What inspired you to write “Something in the Water”?
Comyn: Fear. I'm fearful of humanity's insatiable desire to make everything "bigger, better, faster". Humans create new technologies— everything from gadgets to food sources to vaccines— and sometimes unleash them on the buying public before the negative consequences are apparent. Sometimes it takes a generation or longer to realise how badly we f***** something up. And it’s usually too late. For some, at least.
And I love a good conspiracy theory. I should say first that I started writing Something in the Water before Covid was a thing. And it’s not a pandemic conspiracy thing. It was finished before half the world heard of Wuhan wet markets. But at the centre of my inspiration was the fear of a man-made global catastrophe. I wanted to write a book that could frighten everybody, and what’s scarier than a pandemic?
How did you come up with the names of your main characters?
Comyn: Most of my characters have names based on people I’ve known. I use their last names to identify their ethnicity but I also have a picture of what the character looks like. I describe many of the characters in Something in the Water to match the physical appearance of old friends, and enemies, and other acquaintances. Old, familiar faces are the easiest to draw.
Is there anything that you want readers to know about you, your writing process or your book?
Comyn: As I said, Book One took me four years to finish, and I learned how to do it along the way. Early on, I was intimidated by the enormity of writing a great novel. I was taking a few courses online, one of which was about turning a film script into a novella, the idea being you could self-publish a novella and have a better chance at selling it than you would a film script. The instructor had a background in the film industry (like me) and his most inspiring tip described how Hollywood finds film properties on Amazon, particularly in novellas and series. I immediately reimagined my book as three shorter novellas. I figured I had three, well-layered film scripts worth of story, and breaking it down into smaller units would make it much less daunting. And the idea of it becoming a series or Hollywood franchise, well…
Well, Drowning became a full-length novel before I had worked all the way through the second act. But Book One turned out to be a pretty good thriller, and sets up the series well, I think.
When you encounter writer’s block, what do you do to break yourself out of it?
Comyn: Writer’s block? You’re asking a guy who took four years to write his first novel. I guess I could say I use distraction but… I’m really good at distracting myself. What usually snaps me out of my lethargy and frustration is either the news of something terrible happening or a good film. Sometimes when I’m watching a movie, or reading a novel, I see something that sparks my imagination. Sometimes a news story, particularly about science, drives me to research and connect it to my story. I make a lot of notes… Sometimes they turn into paragraphs and chapters.
Are there any tips that you would like to share with other aspiring authors?
Comyn: I could answer with a lot of don’t’s, but I’m trying to be more positive in my approach to everything. As far as the writing of a book goes, I’d say once you’ve got a story worked out from the beginning to somewhere, whether it’s an ending or another chapter, it’s probably worth telling. So keep at it. Hopefully, you’ll know when it’s finished.
Okay, one don’t. Don’t be afraid of editors.
If "Something in the Water” were adapted into a movie, who would you like to see cast to play your lead characters?
Comyn: I think about this question often because I first conceived the story as a film. I’m a huge fan of Ryan Reynolds but he’s just a little too good looking and a little too funny, maybe not hard enough to play Burns. Although he is Canadian. I recently watched Jake Gyllenhall in “The Guilty”, which is excellent by the way, and thought he might be perfect. I really like Tom Hardy and could definitely see him playing Burns, but he’d probably cost too much. I think Dev Patel would be great as Dr Nicholas Veda, although he may be aging out of the role. I loved Suraj Sharma in “Life of Pi” and could see him in the role of a brilliant young scientist, but I think he’s retired as an actor. I pictured a younger Christopher Lee as the main ‘villain’ when I began writing but unfortunately, he’s not available. He’d have to be tall, dark and fearsome.
Detective chief Inspector John C. Wayne has the build of his famous namesake (the Marine John Wayne, not Rooster Cogburn). If the star of such WW II classics as The Fighting Seabees and They Were Expendable had been raised in Yorkshire, he might be our Chief Inspector. I can’t think of actor off the top of my head whom I’d cast as Wayne, if it was up to me. But he’d have to be tall and straight. Eva Green would be my pick for Kaia. She’d be brilliant as the damaged beauty, femme fatale of the Something in the Water series.
What is your favorite genre, book, and/or author?
Mysteries, thrillers and adventure stories have always been the staples, but I’ve read a lot of science fiction and a lot of history. I like any combination of all the above.
What are you working on next?
Comyn: Book Two, of course. It follows on where Drowning ends off. It appears that Burns and MCU2 haven’t saved the world yet after all. I should be publishing it January. There’s also a Book 2B in the works that parallels the story in Books One and Two but from the other side of the water. I’m not sure when I’ll publish that one.
Learn More About the Author and Something in the Water here:
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