Like every other author, there are many books that defined my writing style. They helped me to decide what’s most important in a Story. Shadow of the Serpent is a blend of the many books and authors I’ve enjoyed reading since I was a child.

Perhaps one of the most influential would be J.R.R. Tolkien with The Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. As a teenager, I was spellbound by these books. The sense of adventure, allegorical fantasy and the characters were extremely compelling. I tried to include that same type of fantasy in Shadow of the Serpent.

Another profound influence was James Michener. It’s hard to pinpoint any one book that related to the style, structure or tone of Shadow of the Serpent. Alaska, Hawaii, Chesapeake, Caravans, Centennial, The Drifters and even Space were influential individually and collectively. I enjoyed Michener’s thorough research of each area. He’d often start with the geological history, move on through the first creatures and animals, the climatic changes, and finally to the first people and on up to the present. It’s important to show how people are bound to the land, and how it not only influences them, but is an integral part of their makeup. Shadow of the Serpent follows that lead, though not as faithfully as Michener. The setting is very rough, including the entire Mississippi Valley up to the ancient copper mines near the great lakes.

It takes into account the Adena and Hopewell peoples’ Serpent mounds, Cahokia, and mound building to the south. Teotihuacan, near present-day Mexico City, is used as the central source of “The Snake People”, an evil and hostile group that was essentially ostracized from the metropolis after a long reign of terror, and forced northward to build their own empire in the Mississippi Basin. Purported visits by Norsemen were also included in the story, as well as many of the artifacts, technology and crafts of the time.

But most of this was to lend credibility. The more facts and reality you mix into fantasy, the more realistic it becomes. None of the tribes ever existed, though they resembled many throughout the prehistory of the midwest. The story is not actually about Native Americans or Meso-American cultures. It’s about the natural lifestyles of small tribes/villages vs. large and sophisticated civilizations.

I’ve also been influenced by many spiritual, philosophical and ideological works such as Siddhartha, 1984, Animal Farm, Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee, Black Elk Speaks, Ghandi. I grew fond of the ancient American and Native American books by the Gears, Linda Lay Shuler, Ruth Beebe Hill, Patricia Rowe, Jean Auel and many others.

Shadow of the Serpent, though, is a breakaway from the genre. It’s not a strict focus on archaeological fiction, nor is it a romance in an exotic setting. It’s a blend of facts, adventure, philosophy, fantasy, spirituality and imagination. Parables are laced throughout the story, and like most books I’ve really enjoyed, each chapter moves the story along with increasing intensity.

I actually wrote a book that I would find enjoyable. The story unfolded of its own accord. I would allow characters to paint themselves into corners, or wander into hopeless situations where even I had no idea as to how to get them out or save them. And, I would have to think long and hard to find a way without some miraculous event, or contrived escape. I believe this is what makes a story compelling… no pre-planning. I hope you think so, too.