Ian Lewis prefers not to be bound by a particular genre.
Though the inspiration for his work varies, it often finds roots in something
he dreamt. He strives for a gritty realism and maintains an interest in the
humanity of his characters. His hope is that readers find themselves haunted by
his stories in the sense that the narrative sticks with them long after they've
finished reading, leaving them with a subtle restlessness for more. Mr. Lewis is the author of The Camaro
Murders, Lady in Flames, and Power in
the Hands of One, all novellas. His first full length novel, Godspeed, Carry My Bullet, was released
in April of 2016. He has been writing since 2002.
For More Information
Title:
Godspeed, Carry My Bullet
Author: Ian Lewis
Publisher: Independent
Pages: 325
Genre: Thriller
Author: Ian Lewis
Publisher: Independent
Pages: 325
Genre: Thriller
Bobby Clyne has nothing to lose. Two illegitimate
governments have taken the place of the fallen United
States: The Directorate in the East and the
United States Valiant in the West. And he's just learned that a man who once
terrorized his family as a low-ranking member of the Military Police is set to
become the Grand Marshall of the Ohio Region. Armed with his father's Dragunov
sniper rifle, Bobby embarks on a mission of revenge with consequences far more
reaching than his personal vendetta.
For More Information
- Godspeed, Carry My Bullet is available at Amazon.
- Pick up your copy at Barnes & Noble.
Thank you for this interview! I’d like to know more about you as a person
first. What do you do when you’re not
writing?
I work full-time for a software company and have two small
children who are only fifteen months apart. So in some respects, my life is
controlled chaos. I try to keep in shape and I enjoy reading when I can find
the time. I also enjoy cooking, but anymore it’s “eat to live” rather than
“live to eat.”
When did you start writing?
I started writing in college. I had the creative urge to do
so, but didn’t have any good ideas at the time. Most of what I wrote began as
meandering slice-of-life type stuff that never really solidified into anything
interesting. Then I got busy with a new job and stopped writing for three or
four years. Around the time I got the idea for my first novella, The Camaro Murders, a friend invited me
to her critique group. I started writing again and have been doing so ever
since.
As a published author, what would you say was the most
pivotal point of your writing life?
Joining a critique group stands out because it’s what gave
me motivation to write. Because writing is a solitary, introspective task,
being surrounded by fellow writers who have an interest in honing his or her
craft is encouraging. It had never occurred to me that such groups existed.
Getting a contract offer for my first novella was huge too.
Though I haven’t quit my day job yet, being vetted by a publisher was
validation for me that I was in fact a published author.
If you could go anywhere in the world to start writing
your next book, where would that be and why?
I would go somewhere familiar where the environment wouldn’t
be a distraction. I need to be at an even keel mentally and emotionally in
order to write. If I feel out of my element for any reason, my creativity and
ability to focus go right down the drain.
If you had 4 hours of extra time today, what would you
do?
I would either sleep or write, or perhaps both. I don’t have
enough time to do either, and often one comes at the expense of the other.
Where would you like to set a story that you haven’t done
yet?
I can’t say that I have plans for a story in a location
other than what I’ve done so far. The
Camaro Murders and Lady in Flames,
my first two novellas, are part of a loose series that take place in a
fictional county in Ohio. Future
installments in that series will continue in that location. I’m currently
working on the sequel to Godspeed, Carry
My Bullet, and so it will obviously take place in the United
States. I do have the desire to write a
1950s spy thriller in homage to Ian Fleming’s 007 novels. Perhaps I will be
able to work in an exotic locale with that one.
Back to your present book, Godspeed, Carry My Bullet, how did you publish it?
This book was my first foray into self-publishing. Because I
wrote it for fun (more on that below), and because I’d gone the independent
publisher route with my previous three releases, I didn’t feel obligated to
leave it to the subjective whims of a publisher or agent. I felt like it was
great storytelling, it had page-turning qualities, and was the most accessible
thing I’d written to date. So why not self-publish it? My discovery of
Pronoun.com put me over the edge. Pronoun is really slick platform that helps
authors get their manuscripts converted into .mobi and .epub formats and then uploaded
to Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Apple, Kobo, and Google Play. The best part? It’s
all free. Pronoun doesn’t take a cut. And their services don’t stop there. They
build professional looking landing pages for the books (https://books.pronoun.com/godspeed-carry-my-bullet/)
and provide sales analytics and other genre stats as it pertains to your book.
The site is modern, responsive, and easy to use. And did I mention it’s free?
In writing your book, did you travel anywhere for
research?
I travelled virtually courtesy of Google Maps. I’ve never
been to many of the locations in the book, and so I relied on Google and
Wikipedia to nail down the details of each locale. I found that unless you’re
writing something where setting is as important as the characters themselves,
you can establish veridical details just by doing a little research.
Why was writing Godspeed,
Carry My Bullet so important to you?
In one sense, it was important to see it through to
completion because I set out to do it. I won’t start something unless I know I
can commit to finishing it, and I was determined to write my first full-length
novel. Plus, I promised friends from work that I would write it. The basic
concept of the story was rooted in an inside joke amongst my coworkers; it
wasn’t something that was spawned from what I call “official Ian Lewis canon.”
It was just supposed to be a fun exercise to do something a little different.
As I got into it, the story really took off and grew into something bigger.
It’s now a 100,000 word thrill ride that features a would-be
assassin, a nomadic survivalist, a preacher turned vigilante, a rookie spy, and
a single mother trying to provide for her family. However, at its heart, the
book is an allegory of failed partisan politics. That’s really the
takeaway—that as long as we’re voting the party line, we enable the same crooks
in either camp to remain in power. They’ll continue to sow divisiveness,
keeping us all at each other’s throats over issues that they’ll either never do
anything about, or issues that aren’t really the government’s business to begin
with.
Where do you get your best ideas and why do you think
that is?
I get my best ideas from music and dreams, primarily because
I’m a very visual person. Music can be very atmospheric and moody, and the tone
or vibe of a song creates a picture in my head of a character or a scene.
Sometimes lyrics can take on a meaning entirely different than what was
intended by the songwriter. Not that I intentionally try to interpret an
artist’s lyrics to fit my purpose, but sometimes something grabs me as poignant
and my mind runs with it. A great example of this (and a very literal one at
that) is the song “Meatplow” by Stone Temple Pilots. The music just sounds like
a stinking hot summer day whereas lyrically I picked up on what felt like a
little bit of paranoia and hopelessness. Lyrics like “Fine place for a day full
of breakdowns,” “Throw a tack on the road, stop the meatplow,” “Got a bullet
but in ain’t mine,” and “They’ve got these pictures of everything, to break me
down, yeah to break me down” all fueled the opening scene. Bobby, one of the
viewpoint characters, is overlooking a stalled supply truck that’s surrounded
by a feverish mob in the afternoon heat. He’s wary of the government and
contemplates lashing out with his sniper rifle. At the end of the scene,
there’s even the arrival of a Military Police infantry vehicle nicknamed “a
Meatplow.”
Dreams, if I remember them after waking, are obviously easy
fodder for ideas since they are so abstract. There are no rules in dreams, so
it’s very easy to come away with a basic concept that can be built on and
enhanced. Everything from world-building to ideas for characters can be mined
from dreams.
Any final words?
Thank you for letting me participate in the interview. I
would encourage readers to pick up a copy of Godspeed, Carry My Bullet since we’re in an election year. Many
people are disgusted with politics in general, and so the book might serve as a
subtle reminder of what’s wrong with our political system. That being said, one
could read the book for pure entertainment value. I don’t beat the reader over
the head with the “moral of the story.” If you do choose to read, I always
appreciate constructive reviews regardless of whether you liked it.