Skinwalker. Lycanthrope. Werewolf.
Whatever the name, whatever the legend,
an old evil has found its way into McGregor Falls, and no one is safe.
Tracks
by Lyn I. Kelly
Genre: Horror
"It ain't nothin' like you've ever seen before, Sheriff."
That was when Sheriff Cotton Briggs found the body, slaughtered beyond recognition inside a random boxcar. The trains have always moved through McGregor Falls, Texas, but now they have brought something into town, something Briggs had hoped was forever in the past.
Fifteen-year-old Travis Braniff while exploring an old trainyard with a friend, encounters that same something. Both boys escape the creature's murderous intent, but now it is after them and will stop at nothing to prevent its secret from being revealed...too soon.
In Lyn I. Kelly's newest novel, the werewolf mythology is explored and rewritten, as vengeance is rendered onto a small Texas town and secrets are revealed. Skinwalker. Lycanthrope. Werewolf. Whatever the name, whatever the legend, an old evil has found its way into McGregor Falls, and no one is safe.
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Travis
turned, Mark at his heel, and took a haphazard step towards the hill they had
descended only a short time previous when another sound, a new sound, froze him
in his tracks. Something was coming up from behind them. Even through the wind,
he could hear it, heavy and deliberate.
Travis
stopped to find that Mark was already looking behind them, his body language
telling Travis all he needed to know. He followed his friend’s line of sight
until he stopped on the dark shadow standing just beyond the boxcar they had
been investigating.
Even
at this distance, Travis knew it was enormous—its shoulders and chest heaving
rhythmically, hot plumes of smoke emerging as its breath and body heat
dispelled into the air. Travis did not know what it was, but it was not a man.
“Mark,
run,” Travis said, the fear choking his throat allowing for little more than a
whisper, and either Mark could not hear, could not move, or both, because his
friend did not budge.
Travis
started to nudge his light in the shadow’s direction but could not find the
courage to do it. In fact, he had never felt more incapable of movement in his
life. Run! Tell Mark to run! Both of you run! His mind screamed at him,
but he could do nothing. The shadow took a step forward, and Travis was certain
this was how he was going to die when—
—the
creature screamed forth the most violent of roars, a haunting song whose
cadence shifted from pain to anger to rage, metamorphosizing into a throaty,
animal rumble.
That
was when Travis found his legs.
He
started to pull away only to realize that Mark had not moved. He grabbed his
friend roughly with both hands. “Move!” he screamed, spinning Mark into action.
Through
the yard and up the hill both boys ran, Travis hearing the unmistakable sound
of the shadow thing chasing after them. He looked back and saw that not only
was it chasing them, but it was also closing fast. Instinctively, he threw his
flashlight at the creature, hitting it square in the chest. He turned ahead to
find that in his moment of distraction, Mark had sprinted well ahead.
He
watched as his friend reached the top of the incline only to pivot, stumble,
and disappear over the hill in a swell of obscenities. In two huge bounds,
Travis was atop the incline and straddling the railroad tracks looking down the
other side where Mark had fallen.
Travis
part-ran, part-slid down the hillside and drew up behind Mark. He hastily put
his hands under his friend’s arms, Mark jumping at the touch, and hoisted him
up.
“I
caught my foot on the tracks,” Mark wheezed, almost apologetically.
“We
gotta move,” Travis beseeched, pushing Mark ahead of him.
“What
was that? A dog? Coyote?” Mark asked as he ran over the gravel road and towards
the woodland edge.
Travis
didn’t answer, but it was no coyote, much less any sort of dog. He cautiously
looked back towards the hillside. The sky was overcast and loomed darkly, and
without any light source, everything was painted a deep, unforgiving midnight
blue; however, his peripheral vision still caught a shadowy silhouette explode
atop the tracks and leap down into the darkness.
“Faster,
Mark!” he screamed. They were both heading for the woods, but Travis understood
the woods would do nothing, not hide them, and certainly not protect them. It
still had to be better than being out in the open, he reasoned.
Through
their footfalls and Mark’s labored breathing, Travis heard a new sound: a sharp
crunching. That thing, whatever it was, was close, so close that Travis felt a
smattering of rocks kicked up by the thing’s pursuit sting the backs of his
legs. In desperation, Travis grabbed Mark’s arm in the hopes of helping his
friend move faster, but two steps later, they both stumbled and fell.
Travis
felt a burning as his cheek skid roughly across the gravel while somewhere
around him, Mark let out a shout as they tumbled over the other before settling
in a frightened mound of cold pain. For a moment, there was no sound except for
his and Mark’s anxious breathing as they lay twisted and cold on the barren
gravel road, but then a dark shadow swelled over them, turning the blue night
black.
It
was pouncing,
Travis realized. Instinctively, he turned, throwing his right arm over his
face, and felt something like a hot knife slice effortlessly through his jacket
and into his forearm before pulling free with a terrible squelch.
Travis
heard the thing land in the leaves and twigs of the bordering forest, and he
tried to reach for Mark, knowing another attack was coming, but his right arm
would not respond. Aside from a sickly warm sensation that was flowing down his
arm, it was numb. He switched to his left arm, again trying to help Mark—and
himself—up, but after a confusing dance of struggling to right the other, they
both collapsed back to the ground.
Travis
could hear the thing circling around in the woods, moving towards them. Unable
to run, he shut his eyes tightly, hoping that whatever was out there would lose
interest and, if not, would be quick about its intent.
Then
there was the explosion.
What inspired you to write this book? The initial impetus for this book is obscure, really
obscure. I was working late at a theater one summer when I was about twenty. It
was around 2:00 AM, and another employee was knocking on the side door for me
to let them inside. I was in the middle of fixing a film and did not have the
time to let them in at that moment, but I stopped what I was doing and started
running down the hallway to door, all the while grumbling that I did not have
time for this. My imagination went into overdrive, and I suddenly thought, what
if I was a guy hiding a huge secret, like a werewolf secret, and I knew that by
the time I reached the end of the hallway I was going to have fully transformed
and the secret would no longer be mine?” Like I said, obscure, but that is where
the idea started.
What can we expect from you in the future? Tracks was
originally going to be a one-off story, my having decided to not do another
series after I just finished the Dark Lands. Well, before Tracks
was even published, my wife, editor, and beta reader were all telling me that I
needed to write a sequel. That, coupled with the reviews I have had asking for
a sequel, have convinced me to write a sequel, and it will not just be a
sequel, it will be a trilogy.
Do you have any “side stories” about the characters? I do, but most of those stories are actually shared in
the book. The other side stories would spoil the book itself, so I cannot
really disclose them.
Can you tell us a little bit about the characters in
Tracks? Tracks has two main characters: Sheriff Cotton Briggs and (high
schooler) Travis Braniff. Briggs comes across as a gruff, old-school lawman,
more akin to the early 1900s than the 2000s in which he lives. He knows more
than he lets on about what is afflicting his town, but he cannot tell what he
knows or why he knows it. Travis is your typical fifteen-year-old boy who is
always pursuing a mystery, an adventure, and then does not know what to do when
he finds it. Garmr is the “big bad”, the antagonist, and he is ruthless, but
when you learn his background, you understand why he is that way, though it
still does not justify his actions. There are several other characters that
drive the story. Travis’ mom, Beverly, and the co-captain of his cross-country
team, Rainey Fillmore, are, by far, two of the big favorites of those that have
read Tracks. Dr. Henry Slaughter is the Medical Examiner, and he also
provides a dry comic foil to Briggs’ stoicism. There are numerous other
characters who give the novel its flavor – no pun intended – and they all play
an important role no matter how minor.
How did you come up with the concept and characters for
the book? I was reading an article about a group of Vietnam
Veterans who decided to “ride the rails” after the war was over, leaving
society behind to just live on the road. Over time they developed almost a
mafia type mentality where they ran the rails and even made those people who
crossed them “disappear”. I started thinking, what if there were a group of
werewolves riding the rails, moving from town to town, and staying in the
shadows? I then tied that in with what I alluded to in response to an earlier
question, about being a werewolf and hiding it from everyone you knew. From
there the characters just took shape.
Where did you come up with the names in the story? The names in all of my books are not ever random. I pull
them from family, friends, places that have significance for me, song lyrics,
and other such nuances.
What did you enjoy most about writing this book? What I enjoy about writing this book and any book is
watching where the story takes me. I know how a story will begin and end, but
much of the middle is driven by the characters, and sometimes things happen
that I did not anticipate.
Tell us about your main characters- what makes them tick?
Sheriff Cotton Briggs is driven by the desire to
protect his town, and the guilt of his past, both which come to a confluence in
Tracks. Travis Braniff is just a high school boy looking for adventure,
and he finds it in the wrong place at the wrong time.
How did you come up with the title of your novel? Tracks is a play
on train tracks and the tracks left by an animal, a werewolf in this case.
Who designed your book covers? Mike Murdock designs my book covers. He is one of the
best artists I know, and he does not get near enough credit or appreciation for
his work.
If you had to do it all over again, would you change
anything in your latest book? No, I am very
happy with the way the book flows.
Did you learn anything during the writing of your recent
book? I learned to not be such a
perfectionist with the first draft. Let it be rough, and then come back and
smooth it out.
If your book was made into a film, who would you like to
play the lead? Travis would need to be
played by someone young and unknown. Briggs could be played by someone in the
vein of a Josh Brolin.
Anything specific you want to tell your readers? Thank you for reading and being so generous in your
reviews.
How did you come up with name of this book? Tracks is a play
on train tracks and the tracks left by an animal, a werewolf in this case.
What is your favorite part of this book and why? I really like when Travis and Marcus are investigating
the old switching yard and are attacked by the werewolf. I also like the final
fight between Garmr and (someone who I cannot reveal lest I spoil the story)
atop the moving train.
If you could spend time with a character from your book
whom would it be? And what would you do during that day? I would probably spend the day with Sheriff Briggs and
ask him about his past in detail. I would also like to spend the day with
Rainey Fillmore, but my wife would not appreciate that.
Are your characters based off real people or did they all
come entirely from your imagination? The
main characters come from my imagination, some of them based loosely on actors
or character actors with whom I am familiar. Some of the very minor characters
are based on people I know with the names (usually) changed to protect the
innocent.
Do your characters seem to hijack the story or do you feel
like you have the reigns of the story? I
have said this many times and will repeat it here: if you have well developed
characters, they will write the story for you and take you places you never
imagined.
Convince us why you feel your book is a must read. I am horrible at marketing and never quite know what to
say when asked these types of questions. I will just say that the story is a
different take on the werewolf genre, one that I believe many will enjoy.
Have you written any other books that are not published?
I wrote a thriller back in the 1990s about a
terrorist attack on the United States capital that was not ever published. I am
thinking of updating it and releasing it, but right now my other current works
are taking priority.
If your book had a candle, what scent would it be? It would be a very woodsy scent.
What did you edit out of this book? I edited out three primary scenes. The first was a
conversation between Garmr and a character named Ellard near the beginning of
the book. I thought that it removed some of Garmr’s mystery. There was also a
conversation between Ellard and Rainey near the books end where he warned her
about the future. I decided the scene was not necessary. There was also a scene
between Rainey and Deputy Alexis Reilly, also near the book’s end, that kind of
put a detente to the tensions between the two, but I removed it because I found
it unnecessary. There were also a few minor occurrences that I also removed.
Is there a writer which brain
you would love to pick for advice? Who would that be and why? I would not mind getting some advice from both Stephen
King and J.K. Rowling. Both are masters at the craft of writing and almost
anything they say would be valuable.
Fun Facts/Behind the Scenes/Did You Know?'-type tidbits
about the author, the book or the writing process of the book. This is not really a “fun fact”, but it took me four
years to write Tracks.
Lyn I. Kelly is the author of the Dark Lands series and the horror novel, Tracks. His work has been published in Diamond Comics and in periodicals such as the Wichita Falls Times-Record News, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, and Newsweek. Lyn is a member of the Horror Writers Association of America (HWA). He and his family live in Keller, Texas. He has cats that occasionally hinder his writing.
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ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the guest post. Sounds like a great thriller.
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