Thursday, August 2, 2007

The Coming Evil by Greg Mitchell


The Coming Evil
Book One: The Strange Man
by Greg Mitchell

Why you chose that particular setting?

We write what we know. I live in a small, Southern town and I came from a small Midwestern town. A little sheltered, very average, sorta boring. I wanted Greensboro to reflect that.

What does the setting add to the story?

Everything. Greensboro is kind of the unspoken character in The Coming Evil Trilogy. At the beginning of our tale, the town has just suffered a tremendous blow due to the fact that the highway that led so many travelers to Greensboro has just been moved. The town has sort of fallen off the map, the economy has shriveled up, and the people have lost their faith and grown cold. Unfortunately, it’s this attitude that has left them an easy target for the devil known as “The Strange Man”.

Could you write the same story in a different setting? No. I don’t really think I could.

Why or why couldn't you use a different setting?

Again, Greensboro is as much a character as my actual characters. Its history, its people, all of it is very uniquely tied into this story. On the other hand, though, I think that this kind of situation can happen anywhere—to any community, to any family, to any person. It’s a story of losing your way and the dangers that await you off the path. That’s certainly something that everyone can relate to, I think.

Did you use a real place as a basis for your setting?

Greensboro is kind of the archetypal “small town”. I do a lot of driving out in the country and go through a lot of small, forgotten towns, and I always watch the houses move past my window and I wonder about those people and their lives. Greensboro is a chance to tell a story of one of those forgotten towns.

Or, did you create the setting from scratch?

While it’s inspired by those small backroads towns, Greensboro also holds a bit of a fantastical element to it. It exists in sort of its own world, in Maribel County on the outskirts of this place called “The City”. I never designate what state Maribel County is in because the idea is that it could be anywhere. That’s the fun of it being “forgotten”. Greensboro could be twenty miles from your house and you’d never know it.

Tell us some specific details about your setting. What would we see? What sort of people are there? If we were traveling to your setting, what should we bring with us? For visitors, what do they need to know to visit your setting?

Upon entering Greensboro, you’d find a place past its prime. What once was a quaint tourist stop has lost its shine and fallen into disrepair. The whole town could use a good spit and polish and that’s become the same for its people. On the outside, the denizens of Greensboro look like your average hard-working, Bible believing, salt of the Earth types that you’d hope to find in a close knit community. Look deeper, though, and you’ll find people who have given up and have stopped caring about each other. They need something to believe in again, something to fight for. When the Strange Man comes, they’ll have that motivation. What would a visitor need when entering Greensboro? Nerves of steel and a penchant for monster hunting.

Thank you for sharing details about your book setting.

Now, what's the title of your book and where can we buy it?

The Coming Evil, Book One: The Strange Man.

It’s available at the official site at http://www.thecomingevil.com/

It’s also available on Amazon at
http://www.amazon.com/Coming-Evil-Book-One-Strange/dp/1602665907/ref=ed_oe_p/105-7182982-8766067?ie=UTF8&qid=1183723817&sr=1-2

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