Retrospect: The Mystery of the Curiosities

We are now in September, which means The Mystery of the Bones inches ever closer to release! Because Snow & Winter is my first published series to be concluded, and what really set off my professional career as an author, I thought it would be nice to take a look back at the previous titles and share some of the history behind the finished products. For those of you joining the discussion for the first time, you can find Retrospect: The Mystery of Nevermore here.

Like most of my books, if not all of them, now that I think about it, Curiosities went through hardcore re-writes. It wasn't so much a character issue, as the nuts and bolts of who Sebastian, Calvin, and Co. were had been successfully established in Nevermore. This was a problem with the historical artifact the plot revolved around. Originally, the story was centered on some Japanese wood block prints from the late 1800s. It was a really fascinating subject matter to research and explore, but I'd say about... sixty percent of the way into the book it simply wasn't grooving with the overall arc I had in mind for the series. The rest of the books revolved around Victorian-America, so this item of Japanese origin just didn't exactly fit.

I tossed the whole thing. P.T. Barnum was an obvious choice when I thought about it for a minute. I used to spend my mornings in high school sitting in the library and I did a lot of research on Barnum after stumbling across some books on him shelved in a dark corner. Such a fascinating figurehead in entertainment history and what a curious choice for Sebastian to explore. I honestly don't remember much of that original draft, except for one scene where Sebastian had (against Calvin's word) confronted a suspect who had a few ukiyo-e in his possession and some serious danger was about to go down. I think I remember that scene because that's when I realized I was writing the wrong book. But I incorporated, not the actual scene, but the elements of the danger, into Curiosities when Sebastian goes to Ricky's Private Parties.

So much of this series ended up on the cutting room floor, if you'll pardon a film expression. But I don't like to keep those around to recycle. To me, they got tossed for good reason. There was a fundamental flaw that kept those scenes, dialogues, or entire concepts from meshing with the rest of the book or series. I don't miss them, wherever they are in dead computer heaven. But I'd love to share a few of my favorite moments with you all that are in Curiosities!

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Saul's Diner's slogan was “Get stuffed.”
But brunch was neither the time nor the place for that.

Calvin sat up and pulled his wallet from his back pocket. He took out a few bills and handed them over. “Take a cab back.”
“I have money.”
“Seb—”
“Fine. Fine, fine.” I took the money and shoved it into my coat pocket. “I’m just going to use it to buy cupcakes and whiskey, though. You can find me at Pop’s between the hours of now and forever. I’ll be drunk under a blanket, watching television.”
“Atta boy.”

“If by doing so, are you going to do something illegal, and does that make me an accomplice?”
“No.”
“Why do I not believe you,” Max said absently.
“What do you want in return?”
“A raise.”
“Fat chance. I’m homeless. If either of us is getting a raise, it’s me.”

“I should have arrested you back in December when I had the chance.”
“I love you too.”
“I’ll be there soon.”

-

Since the release of Curiosities in 2017, it has become available for pre-order in French (currently at iBooks,) published with Reines-Beaux, as well as audio, narrated by Derrick McClain. And to celebrate the upcoming release of Bones, the ebook of Curiosities is on sale for $1.99 across all third-party vendors.

| Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Google Play | iBooks | Kobo |

You can add the book to your Goodreads shelf or find it on BookBub. Codas are also available for free at my website.

Make sure you check out the giveaway below. I'm offering one signed paperback of The Mystery of the Curiosities! Event ends September 9, 2019.

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I hope everyone has enjoyed this second retrospect of the Snow & Winter series! If you're new to the whirlwind lives of Sebastian and Calvin, I hope these posts have been interesting for you. Be sure to join me next Monday as we kick off a look at The Mystery of the Moving Image and host the third giveaway!

Random fact: Pop's apartment is designed after one rented by a couple who were in the art department of the first film I ever worked on.