Amber Kawee's Last One Alive offers a lot of dangerous actions as groups of 10 people are chosen one by one.
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Squamish writerAmber KaweenovelLast One Aliveis a fast-paced, character-filled thriller. A remote location at the edge of Howe Sound as an eerie and deadly background to a story likeclues.
Recently,post-medianews caught up withKaweeand asked about hernoveland her writing. T:
Q: Where did the inspiration for this story come from?
A: During the bizarre days of the 2021 pandemic, I took my two children to a tourist attraction in the corridor from sea to sky. Avoided socially distant boredom. spring vacation. We went to the Squamish Lilwat Cultural Center and the Britannia Mining Museum. Indigenous folklore and the history of the settlers were woven into my heart. Eventually, the threads gathered and became the story of a stone witch.
Q: Did you have a story about a local ghost you drew? Is there a real Stonewitch story?
A:The Stonewitch legend was inspired by the wonderful narrator of the Squamish nation, who told the myth of Kalkril, which means "giant cannibal woman." .. She was a large woman who roamed the woods after dark to catch and eat children. She fascinated me because she was invented to embody a warning about the dangers of the wilderness.
Squamish is a kid because the wilderness is so dangerous to miners and their families who built their homes on the rocky slopes around the newly operating copper mine. It was right to teach us to be careful. Britannia 100 years ago. Shattered camps and settlers on the slides were often injured.
Calcril myths, coupled with the dangers of early settlements around the Britannia mine, encouraged the story of a young woman in the same forest. She surrounded her.
Witches are a hot topic because when a woman is accused of black art, misogyny, distrust, and overthrow of gender norms are often involved. I loved the idea of creating complex and eerie legends in the form of loose stones that can be played on those themes.
Q: Why did you set up a story near your home in this part of British Columbia?
A:My undergraduate degree is in history, but I'm a terrible historian. I love reading local history books, but I often invent characters and stories to bring them to life. I live in Squamish. Squamish has a surprisingly rich history of indigenous peoples and settlers, and you can dig in and spin off in all directions.
Q: As a writer, did you feel uneasy about making the main character a writer?
A: Last One Alive is a novel about a story. It's a story we tell ourselves and others believe. About the person who writes the book Writing a book is a bit taboo, but for the story to work, the protagonist had to live and breathe fiction.
Q: Your protagonist was anxious for the idea of her second novel. It's something you can relate to. Do blank pages bother you?
A: I have two kids and a lot of freelance work, so I'm plagued by blank pages that I don't have time to fill. .. My despair as a writer comes from many different places. In other words, it's a feeling that you can't complete an idea on paper before it disappears forever.
Q: What was the research process for this book?
A:Since taking advantage of indigenous myths and the history of settlers, I have spent a lot of time talking to storytellers and interpreters at the Squamish-Lilwat Cultural Center. Spent. I also read a local history book called Britannia: The Story of the Mines and used archived photos and many maps to create remote areas in Howe Sound.
Q: The press notes in your book say that your internet search history is anxious. Can you tell me more about it?
A:Some scenes in my book ... require sensitive research. I had to commit Google's head injuries and how to inflict them, deadly drug doses, and true criminal cases where people fled in murder. On paper, it may look worrisome.
Q: There are many characters and moving parts in this story, how do you map the story?
A:This was intense in terms of plots. I created a kind of clue board for the character so that I can move the character in a specific scene. We also used a very complex outline to make sure everyone was there when and where they needed it.
Q: What is the key to a great mystery novel?
A:Crackling tension, compassionate characters, embedding in great past works.
Q: What inspires you about novels in this genre?
A:We live in a world with so many problems that we can't seem to solve. The book that promises and offers solutions to the dire problems inside it is such comfort.
Q: Which thriller / mystery novelist do you like?
A:This may take a day. Thomas King, Sina Kamal, Samantha Bailey, S. M. Friedman, Marissa Stapley, Robin Harding, S. A. Cosby, Riley Sager, Catherine Mackenzie, Zakiya Darilla Harris, A. J. Devlin, Shari Lapena, Ruth Ware are (some) modern writers of this genre and I'll throw everything away for reading.
I also love classic writers like Agatha Christie. P. D. James, Patricia Highsmith, Dorothy Hughes.
Q: Obviously, I don't want to reveal the murder situation in this book, but could someone explain how to decide how to reach the end prematurely?
A:You mean the most fun part of writing a book like this (insert an evil laughter). Curiously, the first thing I knock off is often my favorite character. I think it's the worst compliment in history.
Q: What is your irresistible summer reading that you want to crack?
A:Grant Lawrence's "Return to Solitude" and Katie Gutierrez's "Unprecedented".
We are also very fortunate to host a panel of crime and thriller writers at our beloved Whistler Writers Festival in October. You can get four great fiction pieces from Charlie Demars. I also read Anna Pitoniac, Daniel Kara and Sandra Wong during the summer.
dgee @ postmedia. com
twitter. com / dana_gee
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