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The limitless boundaries of creation
by Simon Andrew Stubbs
It’s easy to write about what you know, that is if creative writing is your thing.
Take me for example, I grew up in Bradford, England, so when I based my first two novels ‘Envy’ and ‘Bodies’ in England it was easy to create the backdrops for the stories. If my characters plot took them to the woodlands I have a pretty decent knowledge of the type of trees they would encounter and the atmosphere from their surroundings, if the plot took them to a local bar or pub I could create a pretty believable location based on my experience of such places in my own life.
But what if my imagination decided to take me out of my comfort zone? This is something I have encountered with my latest novel ‘Jackson Hope’, available now from Amazon and Smashwords.
‘Jackson Hope’ is the tale of a small Arizona farming community that was wiped from the map in October 1890 when the Barsdon Dam gave way and flooded the town, killing everyone unfortunate enough to live there; it is the story of the tyrannical reign of General Llewellyn Stape and the evil deeds that forced the townships untimely demise. It is the story of good versus evil, Adam Cooper, the young family man new to town, appalled at the atrocities in Jackson Hope will fight the Stape regime, whatever the cost; and Teddy Lorello, a businessman in modern day Arizona will fight the curse of Jackson Hope in the silent streets of the flooded ghost town.
I’m a horror author, I write dark fiction and tales for people who don’t mind being kept up at night conscious of the bumps and groans in their house and wondering if their time has come to meet the Candyman, but with Jackson Hope I guess I also had to think a little bit like a Science Fiction novelist. Sci-Fi authors often create whole universes out of their imagination, planets, people, races, props, in my opinon there are no rules with science fiction, if the author says it exists in the universe they have created then who are we to argue? The horror stories that I write are a little different, based on this planet, set often in the year they were written, I would be rightly scorched by a critic if my story included say a flying car or a teleportation device, unless of course the story included the invention of such devices. But what I can do is bend the truth that forms the boundaries for the tale.
For example there is no town in Arizona or for that matter the U.S. called Jackson Hope – not according to Google maps anyway! There is no Clarkesville in Arizona either, although I believe there is one in Georgia. The equipment that Teddy uses in his exploration of the ghost town I believe does not exist. In the section of the book that talks of State versus Federal Law I took certain liberties to aid the plot and support the needs of my characters.
This is where I have had to think like a Sci-Fi author, and I hope I can be forgiven. As I state in the foreword at the start of the book I am essentially writing a work of fiction to please people with imaginations as wickedly dark as my own, not a factual essay on the state of Arizona or a thesis on the building industry.
Now that I’ve ventured out of my comfort zone and enjoyed my time there, I’m sure I’ll venture out again, tentatively at first, as with Jackson Hope, then maybe becoming a little bolder as I spend more time in the unknown. Our imaginations can be limitless if we allow it, and the boundaries only exist if we allow them to be set, or if we are willing to set them ourselves.
Simon Andrew Stubbs
Author of Jackson Hope
Read the first 20% of Jackson Hope FOC now on Amazon!
Author bio
Simon Andrew Stubbs was born in Bradford, England in February 1976. He is married to Victoria and has two children, Ethan and Joseph.
He writes dark thrillers sometimes venturing into horror and his first novel ‘Envy’ was published in 2006. His latest novel ‘Jackson Hope’ is his third release.
Connect with Simon on Twitter: @simonastubbs
Jackson Hope
On October 28th 1890 the great wall of the Barsdon Dam gave way, and the Eagle Star reservoir buried the small Arizona town of Jackson Hope under forty feet of water. Men, women and children perished in the devastating flood, nobody survived. For over a hundred years the town lay forgotten at the bottom of a vast lake, but it has been a particularly harsh summer in Arizona, and the town is starting to emerge. Experts will come and survey the land, hoping to prospect for a bright and lucrative new project, but they will get more than they bargained for. Bit by bit they will uncover the truth behind the disaster which wiped a small farming community off the map, and as they do they will learn with devastating consequencies that some secrets should stay buried forever.
It’s easy to write about what you know, that is if creative writing is your thing.
Take me for example, I grew up in Bradford, England, so when I based my first two novels ‘Envy’ and ‘Bodies’ in England it was easy to create the backdrops for the stories. If my characters plot took them to the woodlands I have a pretty decent knowledge of the type of trees they would encounter and the atmosphere from their surroundings, if the plot took them to a local bar or pub I could create a pretty believable location based on my experience of such places in my own life.
But what if my imagination decided to take me out of my comfort zone? This is something I have encountered with my latest novel ‘Jackson Hope’, available now from Amazon and Smashwords.
‘Jackson Hope’ is the tale of a small Arizona farming community that was wiped from the map in October 1890 when the Barsdon Dam gave way and flooded the town, killing everyone unfortunate enough to live there; it is the story of the tyrannical reign of General Llewellyn Stape and the evil deeds that forced the townships untimely demise. It is the story of good versus evil, Adam Cooper, the young family man new to town, appalled at the atrocities in Jackson Hope will fight the Stape regime, whatever the cost; and Teddy Lorello, a businessman in modern day Arizona will fight the curse of Jackson Hope in the silent streets of the flooded ghost town.
I’m a horror author, I write dark fiction and tales for people who don’t mind being kept up at night conscious of the bumps and groans in their house and wondering if their time has come to meet the Candyman, but with Jackson Hope I guess I also had to think a little bit like a Science Fiction novelist. Sci-Fi authors often create whole universes out of their imagination, planets, people, races, props, in my opinon there are no rules with science fiction, if the author says it exists in the universe they have created then who are we to argue? The horror stories that I write are a little different, based on this planet, set often in the year they were written, I would be rightly scorched by a critic if my story included say a flying car or a teleportation device, unless of course the story included the invention of such devices. But what I can do is bend the truth that forms the boundaries for the tale.
For example there is no town in Arizona or for that matter the U.S. called Jackson Hope – not according to Google maps anyway! There is no Clarkesville in Arizona either, although I believe there is one in Georgia. The equipment that Teddy uses in his exploration of the ghost town I believe does not exist. In the section of the book that talks of State versus Federal Law I took certain liberties to aid the plot and support the needs of my characters.
This is where I have had to think like a Sci-Fi author, and I hope I can be forgiven. As I state in the foreword at the start of the book I am essentially writing a work of fiction to please people with imaginations as wickedly dark as my own, not a factual essay on the state of Arizona or a thesis on the building industry.
Now that I’ve ventured out of my comfort zone and enjoyed my time there, I’m sure I’ll venture out again, tentatively at first, as with Jackson Hope, then maybe becoming a little bolder as I spend more time in the unknown. Our imaginations can be limitless if we allow it, and the boundaries only exist if we allow them to be set, or if we are willing to set them ourselves.
Simon Andrew Stubbs
Author of Jackson Hope
Read the first 20% of Jackson Hope FOC now on Amazon!
Author bio
Simon Andrew Stubbs was born in Bradford, England in February 1976. He is married to Victoria and has two children, Ethan and Joseph.
He writes dark thrillers sometimes venturing into horror and his first novel ‘Envy’ was published in 2006. His latest novel ‘Jackson Hope’ is his third release.
Connect with Simon on Twitter: @simonastubbs
Jackson Hope
On October 28th 1890 the great wall of the Barsdon Dam gave way, and the Eagle Star reservoir buried the small Arizona town of Jackson Hope under forty feet of water. Men, women and children perished in the devastating flood, nobody survived. For over a hundred years the town lay forgotten at the bottom of a vast lake, but it has been a particularly harsh summer in Arizona, and the town is starting to emerge. Experts will come and survey the land, hoping to prospect for a bright and lucrative new project, but they will get more than they bargained for. Bit by bit they will uncover the truth behind the disaster which wiped a small farming community off the map, and as they do they will learn with devastating consequencies that some secrets should stay buried forever.
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