| 1. WHAT
THE HELL IS GOING ON?
A: Keep reading. Everything will be explained when you finish all three novels. Really. 2. IS THERE ANY SIGNIFICANCE TO THE STORY STARTING IN 1874? A: Yes, it is the year of Harry Houdini's birth. 3. SEVERAL THINGS ARE NAMED 'MATTEN' (THE RESORT, ROBBY HOLLIDAY'S HILLSIDE ESTATE) BUT NO CHARACTER EVER APPEARS WITH THAT NAME. WHO IS THIS MATTEN PERSON? A: Anders Matten appears in the spin off I wrote, "The Vanishing of Archie Gray". I wanted to have unsolved links throughout to make the story seem even larger than these three books could contain. In the back of my mind, I'd like to think there were three men named Matten: Anders Matten, the Mr. Matten who owned a lot of real estate, and I fancy having the third Matten be the mysterious gentleman of the rail. 4. WHY THE NAME-DROPPING OF ESCAPE ARTISTS? A: I just thought it would be cool. Robby Holliday uses splitting to escape from the locked attic. He compares himself to an escape artist. I thought it would clever to have references to that breed; maybe they were the ones who discovered the tunnels in the first place. Create your own scenario. 5. WHY THREE SMALL BOOKS AND NOT JUST ONE LARGE ONE? A: The books are about multiples; there are multiple books. Switch indexes come in threes; there are three books. Besides, one book would be just enormous. This makes it more digestible. 6. IS SONNY ROYCE MODELED AFTER A REAL JAZZ MUSICIAN? A: Well, not really, but if you must compare, I was thinking a bit of Dexter Gordon. See 'Round Midnight' - his acting debut from 1988. He's fantastic in the film, and some physical descriptions of Sonny Royce resemble him in attire and his 'lumbering' body type. Dex and many other American jazz musicians relocated to Europe in the 1950s, as the United States' love for swing, be-bop, and post-bop was destroyed by Elvis Presley. Sonny Royce and his band mates live a very real existence of touring and recording, as Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and other notables had during those days. Sonny Royce, as a name, is a play on Sonny Rollins and Sonny Clarke, two brilliant musicians from that time. 7. AUDREY GREEN IS A LITTLE TOO SMART FOR HER AGE, DON'T YOU THINK? A: That's intentional. First, English children from certain parts of the Isle with certain accents and education speak very well. They are more like adults. Second, as the ending is revealed, Audrey is quite a different age from her 8-year-old-self running about in 1957. Third, I needed her to do an awful lot in THE NUMBING OF AUDREY GREEN, and she couldn't just be stammering all the time. It was a practical decision. I toyed with increasing her age to eleven, but that was too gawky an age; she needed the grace of a little girl, not the awkward motions of an adolescent. 8. WHO DO YOU SEE AS THE AUDIENCE FOR THESE NOVELS? A: Young adults, the middle-aged, men and women mathematicians, readers of H.G. Wells and E.L. Doctorow, those who watch mad-scientist films, casual science fiction admirers, mystery addicts, escapists, those who consider Ray Bradbury a hero, those who enjoy romance but hate romance novels, Buddhists, musicians, masochists, and people who think there is a meaning to life. 9. IN WHAT ORDER SHOULD THE BOOKS BE READ? A: I was hoping it did not matter. THE TRAVELS OF AUDREY GREEN does tend to give away the farm. I suppose you can buy all three novels and save 'part three' of TRAVELS until the end. The books were written in this order: NUMBING, SEARCH, TRAVELS. 10. WHAT ABOUT THE STRUCTURE OF THE NOVELS? AT TIMES, IT SEEMS SO RANDOM. A: It is absolutely not random. Here are some hints: First, there are three books. Each person has three companion switch indexes. There are three parts to each book. There are three railway men, plotting in the background. There are also three central characters of the Green children - Audrey, Winsey, and Antony. Each book starts with Section One: a section devoted almost entirely to someone in the Green family. NUMBING is Audrey. SEARCH is Winsey. TRAVELS is Antony. Discovery is the main theme of these sections: discovery of patterns, discovery of the missing, and discovery of the tunnels. First sections usually run chronologically, linearly, without interruption. Section Twos are for the bad guys. NUMBING is Robby Holliday. SEARCH is Robby Holli. TRAVELS is Rob Holl. These sections move backwards in time from the first sections, and are generally much, much darker. There is a slight variation, in that TRAVELS starts section two with a subsequent two chapters about the events at the Marsden Mill, but for the most part Section Twos begin to play with time. It moves forwards and backwards, sometimes decades in a flash. In these sections, there is a greater attempt to bring in more characters, to 'split' the action, to fracture it. In Section Three of the books, there is a climax. These parts are generally shorter than the first two sections (as a three-act play might be structured.) Here, the pacing is greatly increased, the characters numerous, the intersecting lines of story crashing together. It's on purpose, this collision of many characters, sometimes to the point of being confusing, because I wanted the books to be like a camera pulling back - a room, a house, a neighborhood, a village, a country, a continent - increases of population, the theme of splitting really being pounded. Each Section One begins with a description of a Green (PIANO LESSONS, SWIMMING LESSONS, DANCE LESSONS): "Audrey Green was a serious child, with red curls and an eye toward her health; it drove her parents mad." "Winsey Green was a stunner, with brown wave and brown eyes, standing short 160cm and prone to terrible, spoiling fits." "Antony Green was a devious child, with a subversive sense of adventure. He dabbled in far more than was known." Each Section Two begins with a Plague Boy chapter: THE PLAGUE BOY, THE PLAGUE BOY WASHES ASHORE, and THE PLAGUE BOY DISCOVERED. Exactly 2/3 through each Section Two, there is also another mention of the boy, here from 3rd party storytellers (THE SECOND APPEARANCE OF THE PLAGUE BOY, TALK OF THE PLAGUE BOY, THE PURPOSE OF THE PLAGUE BOY.) I put this in to not only keep that thread alive, but also to show that he was always around, from the beginning of the story (1874) right through the end, lurking, chatted about, present. When the end comes and Audrey meets her brother, I wanted to show that the Plague Boy had never gone away, even when he was not mentioned for hundreds of pages. You always had to be on the lookout for him. Section Threes all begin with back stories - almost like independent shorts - which provide 'buffering' to characters that may not have had the spotlight, but are crucial characters to the action. NUMBING contains THE TYPIST OF 1943 - Elizabeth Levy's story of a romance with her boss before he's called to serve in the war. SEARCH's THE DOCTOR OF BOMBAY is about Doctor Roman Rollo's days in India as a boy. TRAVELS' THE JAZZMAN OF 1949 is about Sonny Royce in Chicago, and his move to Europe. Elizabeth is important, obviously, because she turns out to be Audrey Green's natural mother. Roman Rollo is key because he met the three railway men. Sonny's story bolsters why he is the only American involved: because his brother drowned, just as Audrey's brother. Also, these are all love stories. Every book needs a great love story. There are romantic interludes in other parts - I believe Colin Blight loves Winsey, and Alice Pravel loves Michael Fletcher - but these Section Three love stories are different. They're all tragic. They're all impactful. Obviously, in TYPIST, it's Elizabeth and Reg. Plain as well is Sonny and Claire in JAZZMAN. Hidden, however, in BOMBAY, is affection between Roman's father and their housewoman, Shyla. Not until they are being driven away from the hotel is it revealed, and it's subtle, but I really believe they are in love. The last chapters in the books are all words of 'finality.' TERMINAL, FUNERAL, DEPARTURE. Terminal is, naturally, a railway term, and Departure is similarly related to travel. However, Funeral kind of throws it. In actually, I meant it to be stages of illness & death: terminal, the diagnosis of an illness and chances of recovery; funeral, patient's death by said illness; departure, the soul's leaving body for greener pastures. This is related to both the Plague Boy and THE GENTLEMAN chapter. I'll leave the other patterns to the readers, because, believe me, there are many more. So, although what your reading may seem random or choppy--moving time and place quickly (at the speed of, say, a locomotive?), it really isn't free association at all, but a decisive, mathematical puzzle that takes time to sort out. I designed it like this not to be confusing, but to give the readers the desire to re-read the books, and to emphasize the themes (travel, multiples, patterns, structure, clues, puzzle pieces, interconnectivity.) That's the point of the novels - to show that there is, everywhere, an absolute purpose to things that can be known if we a) collect enough data, b) analyze for patterns, c) test theories, d) make statements. 11. TELL ME ABOUT THE EPITAPHS THAT BEGIN EACH BOOK. WHY THEM? WHY AT ALL? A: The epitaphs are "stage-setters" - like a bit of a prologue. NUMBING's Nietzsche quote is very confusing: some random chatter about the importance of numbers. I liked how, at turns, it was clear, and, at others, confounding - much like the first novel itself. Obviously, Simon Green comes upon the patterns when studying a ledger of accounts, the study of numbers, and there is a link there to the quote, but I mostly meant it to be something large, cryptic, both amusing and nonsensical. SEARCH's quote is more decipherable; it is a Karen Armstrong quote, a woman's, and since SEARCH is very much Winsey Green's novel, I felt it better to have a female philosopher to begin it. Also, it speaks of 'narrowing' the search for God, looking at finite examples, breaking bigger things down until they can be understood in incremental parts. That's basically what SEARCH does in the series, beginning to add some clarity to the enormity of the story (of God.) Lastly, Kafka's TRAVELS quote is a clear narrative. There are no mysteries, except, 'Who Is That Man?' That seemed an obvious choice for book three, where the railway men and the Gentleman of the Ministry are such behind-the-scenes operators. Plus, there is a travel theme in 'The Helmsmen', which is born out by the tunnels of Book Three. I like epigraphs in novels because it shows that the author has read a bit, has understood connections to other writers, and has a sense of a place within literature. However, that's not the primary reason for their inclusion (I really didn't want to 'show off.') My hidden agenda is that, perhaps, the authors of these quotes were also swept up in the study of patterns, a continuing attempt to discover the tunnels and 'pull a Simon Green or Robby Holliday.' There was one quote I rejected: "They
have experimented musically by using Fibonacci's Golden Ratio, a It was good for Sonny Royce or Simon Green, but wasn't as fitting as the others. It did inspire the 2/3 Plague Boy mention in the Section Twos (see above), which I kept intact, even after discarding the quote. 12. ARE MARSDEN, DORRY, and BURNBY, ENGLAND REAL TOWNS? A: No, they are not. However, there are similarly named seaside towns in existence in that approximate area. 13. WERE THERE REALLY BALLROOMS LIKE 'THE VICTORY' IN 1958? A: Yes. 14. ARE YOU ENGLISH? A: Nope. Born in Washington, D.C. 15. HAVE YOU BEEN TO ENGLAND? A: Yes. 16. WHAT'S UP WITH THE SHAKESPEARE REFERENCES? A: You mean A THOUSAND NATURAL SHOCKS and other subtleties? I think Willy might be another pattern detector. 17. WHY SO MANY RED HERRINGS? LIKE INSPECTOR FALLIHER BEING DEAD WRONG ABOUT AUDREY AND THE PLAGUE BOY? A: Well, it is a mystery, after all. 18. WHAT IS THE QUESTION ROBBY HOLLIDAY ASKS EMILY JACKSON TO GET HER INTERESTED IN HIM? A: The question was (drum-roll): How many lovers have you had? 19. WHAT WAS THE ORIGINAL INSPIRATION FOR THE BOOKS? A: Walking down State Street in 1998, my right leg above the knee went numb and has been ever since. It is totally impervious to touch or changes of temperature. No doctor has been able to figure it out. The best guess is a pinch in the spine. 20. WHICH IS YOUR FAVORITE BOOK OF THE THREE? A: They are all quite different, despite stylistic similarities, so it's hard for me to judge. NUMBING is a period piece, SEARCH is a character study, and TRAVELS is an adventure. 21. WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE CHARACTER? A: Michael Fletcher, hands-down. 22. IS 'THE GENTLEMAN' CHAPTER THE REAL TRUTH OF IT? A: Discard it if it brings you down too much. 23. I FOUND A TYPO! A: Blow me. 24. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE PART IN ALL THE BOOKS? A: Rob Holl snapping his own neck in the jail. I'm not sure if it quite works as I intended. 25. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PART? A: Hmmm…I'll choose something for each novel, but it's hardly definitive. NUMBING - Simon Green's death scene, so out of the blue…um, or maybe the tea scene. SEARCH - Karl Otter confronting Caroline Bixby about her plot in the ballroom office. TRAVELS - Alice Pravel trying to see if her husband John Falliher might recognize her in the Matten Resort lounge, or the bus murder. 26. IS THERE SIGNIFICANCE TO THE COLORS OF THE BOOK COVERS? A: Of course.
There is significance to everything. I will not tell you the answer here.
Readers who discover the meaning of the colors will know all, and I will
declare those special few - "Geniuses!"
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