Odyssey Pruit paints pictures of the ghosts and spirits she saw in the halls of an old hotel where she worked ten years before. GUY HOGAN doesn’t believe in ghosts. Hogan is hired to guard Odyssey’s pictures for her first art show in the same old hotel. When an early blizzard closes the roads, knocks out the power and telephone, Hogan is trapped in the hotel with Odyssey’s quirky fans. When imps and ghouls make their presence known, Hogan questions his doubts, and the answer could be murder.
Interview with Kevin Wolf
What is your favorite part of the book?
Can you imagine finding yourself in a hotel built in the early 1900s? A sudden blizzard has closed the roads. Power is out. There is no telephone service. You gather just before midnight in the hotel’s lobby with other stranded travelers. There’s a chill in the air. The only light is the flickering flames from the fireplace. Shadows threaten, and a creepy storyteller begins to tell tales of the ghosts and imps that will keep you company when you lock the door to your room. What writer would not enjoy creating that scene?
Does your book have a lesson? Moral?
Every story is a vicarious experience. We ask ourselves how we react and what would we do if we were a character in the story. Would you be the hero? Or would you enjoy being the villain? In answering those questions and playing those parts, we teach ourselves something. Isn’t that why we read?
Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination?
I’m a shameless people watcher. It’s an addiction. I collect faces, gestures, and patterns of speech. I weave them together to build the characters that I need to tell my stories. Of course, some are more real than others. I might slip myself in now and then.
Of all the characters you have created, which is your favorite and why?
Guy Hogan is a decent man. He still grieves the wife he lost to cancer. He blames himself for not being able to save her. In Early Snow, Hogan finds himself attracted to the Shelby character and feels guilty. My wife and I celebrated our 50th anniversary. I love her very much and I’m haunted by the fear of losing her. What would I be? That attracts me to Guy Hogan.
What character in your book are you least likely to get along with?
Without a doubt, Ms Randolph. I fear pushy women. Please don’t tell anyone.
What would the main character in your book have to say about you?
Guy Hogan would invite me to his favorite trout stream for a day of flyfishing.
Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
EARLY SNOW is the second Guy Hogan Mystery. I have plans for a third. While I hope each book stands on its own, I’m trying to create a character that people will want o visit not just for the adventures he finds but to see how his life grows.
About the Author
