Today's Chat with Sarah features Keith Steinbaum author of The Poe Consequence.
To view the official review, click here.
To view the book on Amazon, click here.
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1. What made you decide you wanted to write?
When you ask about what inspired me to start writing, perhaps you’re referring to novel writing, but as a creative writer, it didn’t start with that thought at all.
Something happened in my sophomore year in high school that was of such a tragic nature I needed an emotional release strong enough to help me. That’s when I started writing poetry – my first foray into creative writing of any kind. After several years of poetry, while in college, my creative writing transformed into writing song lyrics. I’d take songs by artists I liked and write my own words to their melodies. After graduating, I tried hard to be a successful song lyricist, and although I had songs cut, mostly overseas, and a couple in a movie, I realized about ten years later that it just wasn’t going to happen for me as a career. Fast forward about twenty years and after working in the landscape industry from the time I stopped writing lyrics, I eventually got the desire to write a novel due to an internal unhappiness with my life that I didn’t recognize until I started writing what turned out to be my first novel, The Poe Consequence. That story was inspired by the many Section 8 low-income housing projects I worked at that had their share of neighborhood gang problems, and my fictional novel is directly related to that.
2. What was it that made you say (or what will make you say), "Now, I'm an author?"
The first part of that realization occurred when I typed “The End” at the end of my first story, The Poe Consequence. And although the final version of the book is now published by a traditional publisher, Black Opal Books, the first edition was self-published, and seeing the book in print, with the book cover sandwiching those completed pages, felt like the accomplishment had been completed. However, that being said, the gratification of feeling like an author became a true validation when Black Opal Books offered me a contract for my second novel, You Say Goodbye. Just about anyone can get self-published nowadays, so to have an objective and professional publishing company offer me a contract for a story I’d written sealed the deal of feeling like a true professional author. And shortly after Black Opal Books published You Say Goodbye, they offered me a contract for The Poe Consequence.
3. Let's talk about your book The Poe Consequence. The title refers to Edgar Allen Poe. Why did you incorporate him into your book?
Knowing that I needed a seemingly unbeatable and destructive beyond-the-grave antagonist seeking revenge for his murder against the two street gangs responsible for his death, the challenge that I presented to myself was what kind of supernatural entity could I create and what kind of damage would it inflict? I’ve been an admirer of Edgar Allan Poe for a long time and have a book of all his works. The idea struck me that perhaps one of Poe’s darker tales could offer an idea for evil that I could use.
After perusing some of those stories, when I came upon The Tell-Tale Heart, I had one of those “Ah-ha” moments to incorporate the concept of evil-hearted gang members getting their comeuppance through the physical destruction of their own hearts. That opened the door to making the murder victim an English professor with a strong affinity for Poe and possessor of the knowledge of his stories that he could utilize in the afterlife as he seeks revenge. Once that became established, along with The Tell-Tale Heart, it allowed me the chance to use other Poe tales as well in the storyline, mainly, The Pit and the Pendulum.
4. How is Poe incorporated?
As I mentioned in the previous question, the physical destruction of the hearts of certain gang members causes their deaths in what appears to be, on the surface, normal heart attacks (until the autopsies show the real reason behind them). But there are certain lines in The Tell-Tale Heart (and The Pit and the Pendulum’s use of ravenous rats), that I reference and use as means of revenge perpetrated against the gang members. There are taunting threats made by the voice (only) of the supernatural killer such as, “It increased my fury, as the beating of a drum stimulates the soldier into courage.” And as each murdered gang victim is also found with an unexplainable blue hue over one of his eyes, the reader (and not the police) is aware as to why. “One of his eyes resembled that of a vulture — a pale blue eye, with a film over it.” And with the death of each gang member occurring at exactly 4 am, the reader once again understands what the police do not. “When I had made an end to these labors, it was four o’clock — still dark as midnight.” These are but three of several more examples of how and why I utilize some of Poe’s lines into the story. And it’s not necessary for the reader to have any previous familiarity with Poe because I bring in explanations for them to understand each motive.
5. One of the characters gets to choose whether to see his wife in the afterlife or exact revenge. Does this echo what you believe happens after we die?
No, especially the exacting revenge part of the question. For the sake of my story, I did my best to make it a believable option, but if the desire for revenge remains with us at that moment we die, it doesn’t say much about finally transcending our base human emotions to one of a more spiritual nature, does it? I’m like most of us who hope that we will rejoin our deceased love ones in an eternal afterlife of peace, but won’t know until I die. So in the meantime, my life, like my memories of them, carries on.
6. There also seem to be themes of prejudice in the story. Why was this important to you to include?
I’m an author who, despite writing fiction, believes in utilizing concepts of real life in order to say things I care about. I did the same thing in my other novel, You Say Goodbye. For me, this philosophy is my attempt at engaging the reader because I want them to feel emotional, to care, to get pissed off, to feel relief, and even tear up if necessary for both good and bad reasons. In other words, just like we do in real life. I’ve succeeded in this if I can get the readers to lose themself in something that might be unpleasant, but that they know exists in real life. It’s an altered definition of historical fiction in that the historical aspect isn’t a time and place from the past, but rather non-fictional human qualities that are as old as history itself, such as prejudice, melded into a fictional setting. Hopefully, the reader gains a fuller experience by relating to realities through the fictional storyline.
7. Which character in the book do you most closely identify with and why?
Answering this question creates an interesting conundrum because on the one hand, the person I am and the life I’ve led is quite different than any of my characters. However, by creating each of them, they have been instilled with emotions and thought processes that came from my mind and life experiences and were therefore handled in ways that I felt were logically developed. So they’re all part of me I guess which admittedly seems odd to say when East L.A. gang members are involved. But if I were to choose one, it would be Kevin Palmer, the white guy who redeems himself after a certain tragedy and consequent down-the-drain behavior. I’d like to think I would make my way back from the depths like he did and recognize what’s most important in life.
8. What next for you? Is there another book in the works?
After a long period of time pondering ideas that didn’t make it much further than the starting gate, I’ve recently begun outlining the idea for my next novel that has the potential to be an intriguing mix of various things based around the oldest non-denominational cemetery in Los Angeles. There’s a lot of work to do to get it right but I’m finally ready for the next literary journey.
How about a few lighter questions.
9. What's your ideal day?
Two answers:
If I’m working on a novel, after returning from taking my dog for a walk in the morning, to then sit down at my computer and, however long it takes, to feel that whatever I accomplished that day makes me feel that substantial progress was made. After that, to celebrate my good mood, either a cozy home cooked meal or, on certain occasions, a favorite restaurant for dinner with a martini and glass of wine shared with my wife and maybe family members or friends.
Experiencing a beautiful peaceful area with my wife somewhere out of the country where we walk through small villages, eat the local cuisine, drink the local wine or beer, and converse with the townsfolk.
10. What's your favorite holiday and why?
Thanksgiving. It’s a happy day spent with my family and does make me reflect on my blessings of which I’m very grateful. And the food can’t be beat.
11. What was your favorite book as a child?
I’m sixty-seven years old, and I’m sorry, but I don’t remember. No ‘Rosebud’ moment here. The closest I can come to answering this is to tell you the book that I read in high school that instilled a love of reading that has never waned. Isaac Asimov’s The Foundation Trilogy took me by the literary coattails and shook me into a mesmerizing experience of a futuristic galactic world through the man’s incredible imagination.
12. Do you have a favorite quote you can share?
I don’t know who to attribute this to, but it’s a quote about friendship that I came across in my high school years and one I’ve never forgotten:
People who have warm friends are happier and healthier than those who have none
All the wealth in the world could not buy you a friend or pay you for the loss of one
