We chat with author Brian Freeman about Photograph, which is an emotional cold case mystery of hidden identities and startling twists-perfect for fans of Lisa Jewell, Mary Kubica, and Freida McFadden.
Hi, Brian! Can you tell our readers a bit about yourself?
I still feel like a newcomer in this business – but I actually just celebrated the 20th anniversary of my first novel, and my upcoming release PHOTOGRAPH is my 33rd published book. Where did the time go? My wife and I say that a lot, because we just celebrated our 41st anniversary. After decades in the cold of Minnesota, we finally wised up a few years ago and moved to sunny Florida. Now I do most of my writing outside on the lanai…I love it!
When did you first discover your love for writing and stories?
I started my first mystery novel in 6th grade! So making a living as a writer has been my dream as far back as I can remember. We had a little cottage in rural Michigan when I was growing up, and I used to take walks on the dirt roads with my dad – and even back then, I’d be imagining the secrets and stories going on in the farm houses we’d pass. I think mystery writers are just wired a little differently than normal people!
Quick lightning round! Tell us:
- The first book you ever remember reading: It was a horror novel called WHEN MICHAEL CALLS. I was probably ten or eleven. It scared the crap out of me!
- The one that made you want to become an author: TRINITY by Leon Uris really showed me the dramatic power that a writer can bring to the page, especially when he breaks the rules. It was a first person novel – and he killed off the narrator at the end!
- The one that you can’t stop thinking about: I’ve been in love with THE MAGUS by John Fowles since I was a teenager. My book INFINITE couldn’t be more different – but I talk in the acknowledgments about how The Magus inspired that novel.
Your latest novel, Photograph, is out now! If you could only describe it in five words, what would they be?
It’s full of emotion.
Its secrets are unexpected.
Its mystery is dark.
It’s a story of redemption.
Most of all, it’s about the need for family.
What can readers expect?
PHOTOGRAPH is told by a Florida private detective named Shannon Wells, who helps women with nowhere else to go. One day a woman comes to Shannon with a strange request: Find out who I really am. The trouble is, soon this woman is dead, and the only clue to her background is a photograph of a little girl in a motel parking lot in the rain. How could something like that be a motive for murder?
Where did the inspiration for Photograph come from?
The original inspiration actually started with a nonfiction book called Midcentury Memories. It was a photo essay book where people sent in pictures of ordinary life in the 1950s. But you know how thriller writers think. I immediately started wondering…what if a photograph in a book like that opened the door to a dark, dangerous mystery?
Were there any moments or characters you really enjoyed writing or exploring?
I love writing in the first person. There’s a level of intimacy with the character that’s unlike any other kind of writing. Shannon Wells is funny and fierce, and she’s got a great “voice” for the reader, because she doesn’t take herself too seriously. And yet at the same time her humor becomes a kind of self-defense for deep emotions. Shannon’s mother used to tell her “the good and the bad of our lives lead us where we’re supposed to go.” It took a long time for Shannon to reach that epiphany in this book, but when she finally got where she needed to go, we were both in tears.
Did you face any challenges whilst writing? How did you overcome them?
As much as I enjoy first person narrative, there’s a special challenge that comes with it. You have to develop a level of trust with your hero. The character needs to open up and tell you their secrets at a very personal level. Even good friends don’t always reach that level of trust – but the writer and hero need to, in order to make the novel work. In Shannon’s case, she had a very dark episode in her past, something that defined her identity in a profound way. So it took time, as I told her story, to get her to open up to me. Sounds strange? Maybe so. But as I said, it’s an intimate relationship, and as a writer, you can’t expect your character to lay themselves bare from the beginning. You have to let it unfold at their pace.
What’s next for you?
My longest-running series features a Duluth, Minnesota, detective named Jonathan Stride. I’ve got eleven books in the Stride series, and readers have been waiting patiently (well, not so patiently!) for for a new book for the past three years. Well, never fear, I’m in the middle of Stride #12 right now. It’ll be out next fall.
Lastly, what books have you enjoyed reading this year? Are there any you’re looking forward to picking up?
My reading tastes are pretty eclectic! When you write suspense for a living, curling up with someone else’s suspense novel at the end of the day feels a little like work. So I mostly read nonfiction – history, biographies, memoirs. Over the summer, I’ve gone from a history of the British crown to memoirs by Pattie Boyd and Ione Skye to a story of 1960s espionage in the UK to Ron Chernow’s Mark Twain. And now I’m reading Jim Lovell’s tale of Apollo 13. So you never know what I’ll read next!
