Echo Lake by Letitia Trent-Review and Interview with the Author
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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date July 15, 2014
Thirty-something Emily Collins inherits her recently murdered aunt’s house, deciding to move to Heartshorne, Oklahoma, to claim it and confront her family’s dark past after her dead mother begins speaking to her in dreams, propelling this gothic, neo-noir thriller toward terrifying revelations of murderous small-town justice when a horrible community secret is revealed through the supernatural pull of Echo Lake.
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REVIEW: Echo Lake is an interesting look at the evil people do in their lives and where it lives. The evil is present in the lake and sporadically effects the behavior of those who frequent it. It’s a man-made lake with a small village and cemetery at the bottom.
Emily is a lonely and misused thirty year old woman who has inherited a house and property on the lake from her Aunt Fran. At a place in her life where this gives her a change of scenery and a new start, she packs up, quits her job and moves to Heartshorne (the town near Echo Lake). Her mother was born and raised in Heartshorne until she was a teenager, and then the whole family (except Fran) left the area and never returned. Emily grew up with stories of how much her mother (Connie) hated this place and would never return, but also never really explained why.
Several murders and kidnappings are happening at the same time. Emily also finds out that her Aunt was murdered in the house, probably in her sleep. It appears to the police to have been a random act of violence.
She has visions of her mother helping her at times, telling her what she needs to do to fix this. Then Emily also meets an interesting and good-looking man (Jonathan) who owns a shop outside the near town of Keno, who reads Tarot cards. He does a reading for her which is interesting and also gives her his card and tells her he’d like to show her around the area. He’s kind and very interesting and a relationship begins to build, as he helps her to see the area and much more.
She also gets a visit on her first day moving in from Levi Richardson, pastor of the Free Will Baptist Church and he invited her to a town meeting about the violence happening in their town. He and others begin to shed light on her family for her (a family she has never known since her mother grew up).
Ok, that’s pretty much the scary set up; the details of the story should be left for reading.
I found the writing actually good, the storyline interesting. Here are a couple of issues I had:
This copy was provided, but was not denoted as an ARC, or unedited version. There were no quotation marks in the story, making conversations difficult to keep track of; I found several words and spelling issues; toward the end of the story left a few things hanging. The storytelling was very good, but the characters lacked life, a few good feelings would have broken up some of the intense sorrow. All in all, it was a good story as a first novel.
Copy supplied by the publicist
Reviewed by Georgianna
TRC: Hi Letitia and welcome to The Reading CafÈ. Congratulations on the release of ECHO LAKE. We would like to start with some background information.
Would you please tell us something about yourself?
You can find Letitia: Goodreads / Twitter/ Facebook
Letitia: Sure! I’m currently living in Colorado, where I’m pursuing a graduate degree in counseling psychology. I received my MFA in poetry from Ohio State University. I live with my husband, my two-month old son, and three cats. I spent my early years in Vermont and Oklahoma, where I traveled around with my parents to flea markets.
TRC: Who or what influenced your career in writing?
Letitia: I think the support that I got both in undergrad and in graduate school from teachers and fellow writers has been the most influential. Early on, just reading, reading, reading was my biggest influence. I read books that made me feel less alone in the world or that excited me and I wanted to create that feeling for other people, too.
TRC: Would you please tell us something about the premise your latest release-ECHO LAKE?
Letitia: Echo Lake is about a woman whose life is going nowhere: she realizes she is living in a city she doesn’t love with a person she doesn’t love. Fortunately, she gets word of an inheritance from her last living family member and gets an opportunity to start again in the town where her mother grew up. This town, though, refuses to deal with the crimes of its past. The story is her journey to understand her mother’s history and how she fits into this place that should feel like home.
TRC: What challenges or difficulties (research, logistics, background) did you encounter writing this particular storyline?
Letitia: I didn’t do much research for this book, so there were few challenges in that regard. I think the biggest challenge was figuring out how the whole thing came to a head: I’ve never been interested in stories in which “evil” is defeated by “good”. That narrative simply doesn’t interest me. I wanted an ending in which ambiguity is embraced and the characters integrate what they’ve learned about the darker or “shadow” parts of themselves. It took me a while to figure out how to dramtize that process in a way that made sense for the characters.
TRC: When writing a storyline, do the characters direct the writing or do you direct the characters?
Letitia: The characters definitely direct the storyline. I think that story comes from choices characters make in reaction to their environment, so it’s important to know a character well enough to know what they would realistically do or say in a situation. Once it feels like I’m speaking and moving the story forward from the character’s perspective, then I know the story is really moving.
TRC: The mark of a good writer is to pull the reader into the storyline so that they experience the emotions along with the characters. What do you believe a writer must do to make this happen? Where do you believe writers fail in this endeavor?
Letitia: I think it’s essential that the characters are interesting, that the language is precise, and that the reader is in a place that they can really feel and experience viscerally. Ultimately, I think there are many, many ways to engage a reader, and some things that engage some readers don’t engage others, so it’s all about finding your personal style and figuring out what you really care about as a writer. You can’t please all readers, but you can stay true to your own personal vision, so that’s what I aim for.
TRC: What three things would you like to accomplish in the next five years?
Letitia: I’ve liked to write another book, complete another poetry collection, and perhaps finish a nonfiction collection. I also have a true crime novel I’d like to write, though that will probably take several years of research.
TRC: What is something that few, if any people, know about you?
Letitia: My first crushes were Dudley Moore and Lance Henriksen.
TRC: On what are you currently working?
Letitia: Not much right now, since I have a newborn, but when I have the time, I hope to complete a novel about yet another mysterious town, this one far more overtly supernatural than Heartshorne. I also hope to complete another poetry collection.
TRC: Would you like to add anything else?
Letitia: Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the book!
LIGHTNING ROUND
Favorite TV Show: Twin Peaks
Last Movie You Saw: Maleficent
Favorite Musical Group: The Smiths
Dark or Milk Chocolate: Milk
Secret Celebrity Crush: Gabriel Byrne
Last Vacation Destination: Oklahoma
Do you have any pets?: Three cats: Doombot, Cheeto, and Nina Simone
Pet Peeve: People who say something unkind and then say “just kidding” immediately afterward
TRC: Thank you Letitia for taking the time to answer our questions. Congratulations on the birth of your baby. We wish you much success and happiness.
