There’s a moment every writer hits when the story you’re trying to tell becomes bigger than the people in it. It’s not about the detective anymore, or the criminal, or the man who’s lost everything. It’s about where they live. The streets they walk. The places they hide. The secrets buried deep beneath the surfaceContinue reading “Hillfort: A Small Town with Big Secrets”
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The Smoke Eater: Oil Patch and Underworld
When you hit “publish” on a book, it’s not just a button click—it’s the exhale of years of imagining, drafting, tearing pages apart, and piecing them back together again. My new novel, The Smoke Eater, has finally stepped out into the world, and honestly? It feels like sending a kid to their first day ofContinue reading “The Smoke Eater: Oil Patch and Underworld”
Writing Violence with Purpose: Why Every Bullet Matters in The Smoke Eater
When I started writing The Smoke Eater, I knew the story wasn’t going to shy away from violence. You can’t write a crime novel about a fire chief, a police department on edge, and a town being quietly swallowed by outside forces without dealing with the physical realities of danger. But I also knew IContinue reading “Writing Violence with Purpose: Why Every Bullet Matters in The Smoke Eater”
The Line Between Hero and Monster: What The Smoke Eater Says About Power
When I first started writing The Smoke Eater, I thought it was going to be a straight-ahead thriller about a fire chief, a small town, and the kind of gritty emergencies that keep first responders up at night. Fires. Accidents. Criminals. All the chaos that demands courage and order. But somewhere along the line, theContinue reading “The Line Between Hero and Monster: What The Smoke Eater Says About Power”
Would You Survive Hillfort? (The Bold Reader’s Challenge)
If you’ve been following my posts about the town of Hillfort, (imagined for The Smoke Eater), you already know it’s not the kind of place you find on a tourist brochure. This isn’t your sleepy, small-town postcard—it’s a place where loyalties shift, secrets run deep, and a bad decision can get you a funeral beforeContinue reading “Would You Survive Hillfort? (The Bold Reader’s Challenge)”
Villains Who Think They’re the Hero: Building Elijah’s Character
By Ben Lucas Writing a villain is easy. Writing a good villain—one that stays with the reader, unsettles them, maybe even makes them nod in agreement before recoiling—that’s where the fun begins. And if that villain happens to think he’s the hero? You’ve got the foundation for something special. That’s where Elijah came from. InContinue reading “Villains Who Think They’re the Hero: Building Elijah’s Character”
How The Smoke Eater Was Forged from Real Life, Grit, and Imagination
You could say The Smoke Eater was thirty years in the making. But that’s only part of the story. (Oh, the book is coming out on Amazon at the end of September, 2025). I’ve spent the better part of my life working in oil and gas—wander the grounds across Canada and the U.S., and evenContinue reading “How The Smoke Eater Was Forged from Real Life, Grit, and Imagination”
The Psychology of Small-Town Secrets: Writing the Shadows of Hillfort
There’s something peculiar about small towns. It’s not just the quiet streets or the coffee shop that closes at 6. It’s not the fact that everyone waves to each other—or knows what you paid for your new siding. It’s the invisible weight pressing behind smiles. The silences that stretch too long in the grocery aisle.Continue reading “The Psychology of Small-Town Secrets: Writing the Shadows of Hillfort”
The Real Fires Behind The Fiction: What Inspired The Smoke Eater
There’s a certain point in writing a novel where the story becomes real—at least to you. You start hearing the voices of your characters in the shower. You wonder how they’d handle a situation in the news. And before long, the lines blur between imagination and lived experience. That’s exactly how it happened with TheContinue reading “The Real Fires Behind The Fiction: What Inspired The Smoke Eater”
Five Characters You’ll Meet in The Smoke Eater
(and Why You’ll Remember Them) Some stories are about plot. Others are about place. But the stories that stick—the ones that crawl under your skin and don’t leave—are the ones where the characters live and breathe. That’s what I set out to do in The Smoke Eater. Build a world where people don’t just playContinue reading “Five Characters You’ll Meet in The Smoke Eater”
Ben Lucas 