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”
Tag Archives: book-review
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”
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”
Ben Lucas 