About Behind the Scenes

I am one of those people who watches the director's commentary on DVDs.  Sometimes, I watch it more than once because finding out how a story comes together fascinates me.  The combinations of planning, editing and incorporating chance events all come together to create a story which seems like it grew rather than was made.  (Sometimes I watch and the director will say "I was going to do X but went with Y" and I'll say to myself: should have stuck with X.)

This is my version of a director's commentary.  I talk about my favorite scenes and lines, go into the inspiration for some characters and moments, and share how the story evolved as I wrote it.  If you are the sort of person who cares about having a pristine experience and not being spoiled, then read the book first.

I've organized it by chapter so that if you're interested in a particular bit, you can jump down to that chapter.  If there's a question burning in your mind which I haven't answered, send me an email at jclewis@pastthemirror.com and I'll do my best to answer it.

Chapter One

Introducing Dani was a challenge.  In my earlier versions, she was coming across as too uncaring and aggressive.  I needed to show her vulnerable side and then flip things around to show her power.

I’ve seen my share of people like Josh, who believe intimidation should be the first and only strategy of negotiation.  I’m clearly not a great admirer of the technique.  As my martial arts instructor says, bullies will always go with their <blank> of death.  A grip of death, a punch of death, the killer quip: whatever they think is the fastest way to get what they want.  They always believe their secret weapon is inescapable.

The warning about human predators and the second location is from Gavin de Becker’s The Gift of Fear.  He begs potential victims to never let themselves get taken to the second location.  They need to make a fuss and resist right away because once they are in the predator’s control, their chances of survival are slim.

I made up the town of Perdition because I needed something a little smaller than the traditional party towns.  I based it in part on college towns where the population is always changing as students come in and then graduate.  It seemed like the perfect place to avoid being noticed and find a ready pool of suitable victims.

Chapter Two

I love the term “emergency flirtation device” and I’m glad to have found somewhere to use it.

I also enjoyed exploring the ramifications of feeling what other people feel and having to see their worst secrets.  I can imagine it being confusing and discouraging.  Michael holds himself back to keep from being overwhelmed but cares enough about those around him to let himself get pulled in over and over.

I believe we all have cosmic flashes, just not as obvious as Michael’s.  There have been a number of times when I’ve been trying to do something and obstacles keep popping up.  Many times, I’ve discovered that what I was trying to do would have been a mistake.  I know others who’ve had similar experiences.  I believe that sometimes the Universe does conspire to protect us from ourselves.

I also believe in crowd energy.  Sometimes I enter a room full of people and my hackles rise in self-protection.  Although everyone is being pleasant, there’s an undercurrent of tension and aggression.  Other times, it feels like the good times have soaked into the walls, buoying up everyone’s spirits.

Chapter Three

If I’ve done my job right, when Dani leaves the bar with Josh, everyone should think he is the predator.  Getting to reverse that and show that she is more dangerous to him was one of those great moments as a writer.  It took a lot of rewriting in this chapter to get the balance of danger and pathos right.  I needed to show that she is making the best of a bad set of choices but I didn’t want to undermine my original concept.  At times I toyed with the idea of having her use something other than orgasm to release the Huntress but that is not how the ancient temple priestesses worked.  There was much debate and many people said that no one would want to read a book where the heroine attacks people through sex.  I stuck to my guns and now we’ll see if I was right.

Chapter Four

Dalhard was a great villain to work with.  I’m not a big fan of Evil People.  Instead, what scares me are those who believe that the end justifies the means and that their ends justify everything.  Vincent and Eric have been held for testing for awhile, kept in isolation.  That is why they try to escape, betraying their true natures.  It’s also one of the reasons Vincent breaks so quickly with Dalhard.

Dalhard’s little reminiscence about seeing a man lift a tractor is actually a reference to Walter’s imprisonment.  And his version of how he came to hire Karan should be read carefully.  There’s more to Karan than meets the eye.

I had fun coming up with his “stable” of supernaturals.  My two favorites were the descendant of Rasputin and the camouflaging thief.  Thanks to many years of geek debates, I had the perfect ironic downside for invulnerability.  If nothing can break through your skin and you are immune to chemical reactions, that includes antibiotics and IVs.  A simple germ can kill you.  And the idea of being able to change the color of my skin to blend in with backgrounds and escape detection is just cool.

Chapter Five

This was the first scene I wrote for this book and was originally going to be my opening.  It’s still my favorite.  There’s something appealing about the pure physicality of how Dani goes through life.

Introducing Gwen needed to be handled carefully.  I didn’t want to give away too much too soon but wanted to establish that she is closer to crazy than sane but that she is also loved and cared for.  I thought showing Dani taking care of her would help to offset the more violent side of her nature.

Gwen talks to ghosts.  They tell her things but like all of us, they’d rather gossip about the bad than remember the good.  They also have no concept of visiting hours and personal space.  People go crazy getting emails on their phones at all hours, imagine being barraged by the most relentless houseguest possible and never getting away.  That’s what her life has been like.  She has to choose between insanity-inducing interruptions or living in complete isolation.  That mixture of tragedy and innocence is what makes Gwen special.

Chapter Six

Bernie’s tantrum is based on an actual tantrum described by one of the moms in a message group.  In the space of two hours, her child destroyed the bed in her room.  Everything got hauled out in Hefty bags and there weren’t any pieces bigger than a hardback book.  And it wasn’t the first time it had happened, although it was the fastest and most thorough.  What surprised me was how matter of fact the mom was when she described it.  It happened then we cleaned it up, ordered a new bed and got a air mattress out for a few nights.  No big deal.  I never actually met her but I’ve based Martha on some of the moms I did speak with.

Michael’s mangled lyrics for Old MacDonald are based on the lyrics my husband used to sing to our children.  They would laugh like crazy when he got it wrong.