The Shadow Men

Article first published as Interview: Novelist Christopher Golden on The Shadow Men on Blogcritics.

Bestselling, award-winning novelist Christopher Golden is rarely at rest, considering that he typically writes or co-authors four novels in a given year. Or to consider it from another metric, as one bio notes: “There are more than eight million copies of his books in print.”  Last month, Spectra released The Shadow Men, the fourth Hidden Cities novel by Golden and Tim Lebbon. Here’s an excerpt from the publisher’s description of the novel: “From Beacon Hill to Southie, historic Boston is a town of vibrant neighborhoods knit into a seamless whole. But as Jim Banks and Trix Newcomb learn in a terrifying instant, it is also a city divided—split into three separate versions of itself by a mad magician once tasked with its protection.

Jim is happily married to Jenny, with whom he has a young daughter, Holly. Trix is Jenny’s best friend, practically a member of the family—although she has secretly been in love with Jenny for years. Then Jenny and Holly inexplicably disappear—and leave behind a Boston in which they never existed. Only Jim and Trix remember them. Only Jim and Trix can bring them back.”

Not only do we discuss this novel in our email interview, but Golden also discussed his ongoing Peter Octavian series (the latest installment, Waking Nightmares, was released this past March) as well as his Young Adult novels (written under the name Thomas Randall), such as Spirits of the Noh (the second installment in his Waking trilogy). Longtime fans of Golden’s writing will be pleased to learn in this interview he has upcoming e-book plans for such series as Body of Evidence and Prowlers. They’ll also be enthused to learn he has plans to collaborate with bestselling author Charlaine Harris.

Once you’ve read the interview, be sure to visit Golden’s Amazon page, where you can glimpse inside The Shadow Men.

Creatively, what do you most appreciate about the opportunity to collaborate with Hidden Cities co-writer Tim Lebbon?

See, you caught me with the word “creatively.” I might’ve commented on his sexy accent or impeccable taste in ales. But, creatively…two things come to mind instantly. The first is that, though Tim and I are very simpatico, we do bring different sensibilities to our work. His take on characters and what they feel is often different from mine, and it forces us both to think. The story always benefits from that. The second thing is that Tim is comfortable with spontaneity and improvisation, and that is very hard to pull off when there’s more than one writer on a book. But we can talk on Skype, spitball ideas, and cause a story and its characters to grow organically. That’s exciting.

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