An Interview With Cameron Trost, Author Of Letterbox

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Cameron Trost is an acclaimed indie author known for his suspense-mystery thrillers, Letterbox and The Tunnel Runner. What We Reading sat down with Cameron to talk about everything from the influences and motivations behind his work to the hurdles faced by independent artists today!

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Thanks for speaking with us, Cameron! First off, tell us a bit about yourself and what led you to the world of writing.

I’ve been writing since I was a kid and always planned to get my work published, so it wasn’t really a decision I made out of the blue one day. I started selling stories to magazines and anthologies about fifteen years ago and soon took it all a step further by setting up my own independent publishing house, Black Beacon Books.

“Why?” is never a simple question to answer, but it boils down to the fact that I’m good with and love playing around with words, and I have plenty of ideas for original stories and twists. 

Talk to us about Letterbox. What is it about, and how does it differ from your other works?

Letterbox was the first novel I wrote that wasn’t scrapped, and as any writer knows, that’s a feat in itself.

It was originally published to little effect by a now-defunct indie press. I forgot about it for several years, publishing The Tunnel Runner through Black Beacon Books in the meantime, and eventually went back to Letterbox and substantially rewrote it, ultimately changing it from pure suspense to a suspenseful mystery novel.

It’s a very different novel compared to The Tunnel Runner in terms of setting, characters, and plot…in every way really other than that they are both very much suspense stories. It is perhaps the ending that sets it apart from most of my other stories and indeed most novels in general. I can’t say much more without saying too much. As in any decent mystery, readers need to pay attention in order to identify the culprit before all is unveiled, but the real twist is in how the madness comes to a dramatic close.

Oh, and it has a crossword in it that one of the characters (and the reader) can try to solve.

What is the number one goal you want the book to have with readers?

I want Letterbox to entertain, to thrill, and to intrigue. I want the reader to feel for the people of Mirebury – to side with them – and hopefully follow the clues and know who the Postman is before the end. What I really want, though, is to make the reader pause just that second longer before daring to open his or her own letterbox.

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“I want Letterbox to entertain, to thrill, and to intrigue.”

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Can we talk about the Mystery and Suspense genres? What do you make of them at the moment?

“At the moment” narrows it down a lot. I don’t necessarily only read the latest books released and I almost never read the bestseller everyone rants about. I don’t like following trends like a sheep and I’m generally much more impressed by relatively unknown voices than by whoever is the latest fashion.

When it comes to mystery, I like to keep it old-school. I want an actual mystery to solve before the detective unravels the case. I want atmosphere, quirky characters, a likeable but imperfect protagonist, clues, red herrings, and some subtle foreshadowing. You can find this at the moment, but you need to dig around.

What about suspense? Well, it’s more or less the same, but the setting is arguably even more important, and I tend to like remote, atmospheric places, like islands, marshlands, forests, and country towns in the middle of a storm. Dramatic settings, offbeat characters who aren’t always what they seem, and a plot I haven’t read a hundred times before.  

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Check out Why Readers Love Anti-Heroes So Much

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What do you think makes you stand out as an author? Are you someone who throws themselves into the stories they write?

It’s not for me to say. The reader needs to tell me what sets me apart. I write the way I write and I tell my own original stories. That’s my job as an author. 

What do you think is the biggest obstacle facing independent and aspiring authors these days?

The biggest obstacle facing artists today is a society of consumers who do what they’re told and accept what’s shoved down their throats. We need adventurous readers who want quality and originality and we need them to buy, review, and sing out loud about our books. It’s not much to ask for when you think about it, and yet…

And finally, what do you hope the future holds for you and your writing?

I want more time to write. I don’t get “writer’s block”. The ideas are there but the daily grind gets in the way. There’s not much I can do about that.

Realistically, I want an ever-growing readership. I want to sell at least one copy of one of my books each day. I want to receive messages and read reviews from readers about how much they love my stories. This is all happening, but I want more and I want it faster. The “how” matters to me as well. I’ll keep doing it organically, the way I am, engaging with readers and not paying for fake reviews. I want to keep it real…punk rock writing! Who’ll join me?

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Follow Cameron at his website or find all of his works here

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