This is one in a series of interviews with some of my and The Wife’s favorite novelists. Today we are traveling to Texas to visit with T. F. Allen, author of the recently released The Keeper, one of the most unusual, clever and engaging novels I have read in some time.
The Wife and I first met T.F and his wife, Luzmarie, at a 2016 writing conference in the Bahamas. (Yes, there are worse places to attend a writing conference.) When The Keeper released this past month, there was no doubt I was going to read it. I wasn’t sorry I did. The Keeper was a finalist for the Claymore award. That comes as no surprise.
Ron: Okay, Todd (as T.F. is known to me), enough preliminaries. Let’s dive in, shall we? First, the obligatories. When, and why, did you start writing?
Todd: Thanks for visiting with me today, Ron. I started writing in 2001, completed a novel, landed an agent, but then fell out of the game after several important life events demanded my focus. I started over in 2013 after meeting the most beautiful woman in the world, whose dedication to creating visual art inspired me. I eventually married that woman, and we continue to inspire each other daily.
Ron: Having met “that woman,” The Wife and I agree you are a lucky man! Is writing your “day job”? If not, what is and how do you balance the two? How many hours a day do you devote to each? How else do you like to spend your time?
Todd: My father and I are sales representatives for companies who fabricate petrochemical process equipment. It’s a high risk/reward-type job, but I love it. I typically work normal “day job” hours and write in the evenings or during lunch. I am also busy raising three teenage boys and planning getaways with my wife. We both love to travel. Finally, I’ve become adept at making wooden art frames and stretching canvases so my wife can follow her passion.
Ron: Sounds like your plate is pretty full. You describe your writing as suspense thrillers, with a touch of the supernatural. Tell us about the supernatural. Is that just fantasy or does it hold some deeper meaning for you?
Todd: I’m drawn to the supernatural because of my reading habits. When I first decided to read books that weren’t assigned in school, I devoured as many Stephen King and Dean Koontz novels as I could find. These stories, though sometimes far-fetched, always took place within worlds that felt very real to me. The supernatural elements didn’t just entertain. They also enhanced the dramatic theme. Stories like From the Corner of His Eye and The Dead Zone still resonate deeply with me. So that’s what I strive for with my own writing—creating resonance.
Ron: King and Koontz, not bad role models. When I started my Brooks/Lotello thriller series, I wanted to develop protagonists who were out of the ordinary, different than the run-of-the-mill private eye or lawyer. I thought I had come up with something eye-catching and different when I paired a U.S. District Court judge, Cyrus Brooks, with a homicide investigator, Frank Lotello. But, a sister (spelled n-u-n) with her flock, an investigative journalist who is an atheist, no less, and a . . . “keeper” (no spoilers here). How ever did you come up with that threesome?
Todd: As with every story I write, it came as a complete accident. I started with the Keeper, and the famous artist he protects. Then I had the artist kidnapped with no witnesses or leads. It’s up to the Keeper to save him. One problem: no one can see the Keeper, and he doesn’t know how to interact with the world. I needed a real person motivated to seek out and find the artist, but who also carried a faith that would allow her to interact with the Keeper. So I created Hannah Klein, a reporter with a distinct connection with the Universe who doesn’t stop until she gets the stories she chases. The sister was originally created as part of the artist’s backstory. But she stormed onstage so triumphantly I decided to let her stay. Now I can’t imagine the story without her. Sister Mary Elizabeth and Hannah formed the most unique investigative team I’ve ever seen since Brooks and Lotello.
Ron: You are too kind to mention Brooks and Lotello. Let’s take this a step or two further. I write political and legal thrillers. I get many (but not all) of my ideas from the news, in particular by reading about our dysfunctional government and political system, and also from my experiences as a courtroom lawyer. Where do you get your story ideas? And once you have an idea in mind, do you map it all out before you start writing or do you just start writing and see where it goes? And how long does it take you to turn that idea into a completed novel?
Todd: I firmly believe these stories already exist in the universe. We writers are somehow drawn to them and then cultivate a need to convey them to our readers. So I don’t create them, I discover them. As I write the first draft, I learn more about each character and event and then more accurately portray them in subsequent drafts. As an organic writer, I never plot out my stories ahead of time. Sometimes I have an idea about how the main conflict will resolve, but I’m usually wrong. For instance, in The Keeper, I didn’t know the ending until I wrote a scene in chapter 32—four chapters from the end.
I can write a first draft in 6-8 months. After that, the hard work begins, and it usually takes several more months of edits and rewrites before I decide I have a story that’s ready to be shared.
Ron: Turning to The Keeper, then, how would you describe the story in 25 words or less? What’s the hook?
Todd: When a famous artist is kidnapped, the only one who can save him has a body no one can see, and a voice few can hear. That’s 26 words, but most of them are short.
The hook is the Keeper himself, as he is also the first person narrator and main character. Several big surprises await toward the end, but sharing them here would ruin the experience.
Ron: No spoilers here. Is The Keeper a stand-alone one-off novel or, with your flair for the supernatural, might it turn out to be the first in a series?
Todd: This is a stand-alone novel. I don’t think I’ve discovered a story big enough for a series yet. But I do have another stand-alone title set for publication later this spring. The Night Janitor will launch in April-May 2019. Anyone interested can follow T. F. Allen on Amazon to be notified when it’s available.
Ron: Nice job, Todd. Thanks for visiting with me today. I’ll look forward to visiting again. And for my readers, dare I say I think The Keeper is . . . a keeper. Pick up a copy, give it a read and decide for yourself. I don’t think you’ll be sorry.
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