Interview - JP Behrens

An accomplished author equally adept with collections or standalone releases, JP Behrens has worked his way into the current scene with his collection of work, taking him along in his career. Now, in honor of the upcoming release of his novel 'Murder in the Monashee Mountains,' I talk with him about the setup of the book, his process of writing it, and the connections with his previous book 'Missing in Miskatonic.'

Me: Hello and thank you for taking the time to do this. Now, your latest novel is called “Murder in the Monashee Mountains,” a follow-up to your earlier release, “Missing in Miskatonic.” What can you tell us about the book? Were there any unique stories about its conception?

JP Behrens: Well, this book sees our cranky hero, Travis Daniels, on the run after the events of Miskatonic when he stumbles on a murder. The crime threatens a truce held between Canadian sasquatch and Native American werewolves in the Pacific Northwest. The hostilities threaten the safety of local towns, and Travis is forced to try and solve the murder to avoid an all-out war in the region. This is the first book I’ve written that uses real-world towns and cultures. Most of the time, I try to keep my locations generic enough that it can be something that could happen anywhere. This time, I picked a real location and an Indigenous tribe to focus the action around. The research into the town dating back to 1929 took some time and required a great deal of help from a local historical society. Learning about the specific tribe represented in the book was a little easier with the help of the Internet and the massive number of historical documents that had been uploaded by various groups in the region. The werewolf lore is all me. Getting their language, nsylixcen, correct took months of back and forth with a leading expert in the field, Michele Johnson. I would have had to abandon that element of the narrative without her tireless assistance.

Me: Where did the inspiration for this come from? As it was a sequel, what did you do to connect the stories and characters between the books?

JPB: The inspiration is rather multi-faceted. I have a deep love for hard-boiled fiction and movies. Something about the environmental cynicism mixed with a reluctant hero who can’t turn his back on those glimmers of hope and innocence surviving in a dank, unfeeling world really interests me. I decided that the best way to introduce hard-boiled crime and the supernatural was to use Lovecraft’s oeuvre, which melds extremely well with the shared narrative tones. I also really love the shows Supernatural and Carnivale. Building a series preceding the Great Depression and Dust Bowl era America, combined with supernatural crime, felt like a really fun way to explore all these common tropes, but in a new and unexpected way. How would supernatural creatures manage during the Great Depression? How will a private detective on the run avoid capture while also trying to keep gas in the tank to stay on the move when no one has the money to hire him? Things like that seemed a fertile ground to grow an expansive world out of.

The connection is chronological. The hero is dealing with the aftermath and fallout of the previous book when he stumbles onto a different crime. He needs to solve the mystery before a lot of people die, and those who are tracking him catch up. Each book ends with a coda that leads into the next one.

Me: Having worked with this style of Lovecraftian horror before on the earlier novella, did that allow for an easier time writing in that tone and approach on “Monashee Mountains?”

JPB: Not really, because while Miskatonic is very much drowning in Lovecraftian elements, Monashee Mountains is expanding the world a little more by bringing a different kind of supernatural power into the mix. There are some subtle references to Lovecraftian lore, but this one delves more into cryptozoology, shamanistic lore, and a murder mystery involving a greedy lumber baron.

My goal with these first few books is to not only provide entertaining mysteries steeped in the supernatural, but to help define the wider parameters of the larger world I’m hoping to depict. First and foremost, these are hard-boiled detective series. The supernatural elements are my way of adding a little of the unexpected into the mystery and adventure. I love a good mash-up.

Me: What went into settling on the plot for the novel that tied into the first book but would also allow it to be enjoyed for those who haven’t read that yet?

JPB: A lot of brainstorming. I came up with a lot of different ideas that will feed into future books, but I needed something that could help expand the world, would remain within the hard-boiled sensibilities, and present Travis Daniels with the opportunity to develop as a character more fully. He’s new to all this supernatural stuff and absolutely hates it. His instinct is to run, but when innocent people are threatened, he’s forced by his own conscience to stay and face the extreme dangers.

All at the same time, this is very much a self-contained story. There is a definite beginning, middle, and end. There are some elements of the book that will ruin a couple of the surprises and twists of Miskatonic, but it won’t ruin it. I try to approach each book as an episode of a television show that is enjoyable on its own, but if you watch the whole season (read the whole series), there will be an overarching plot that will reward those in it for the long haul. I’ve always enjoyed shows like Doctor Who and Babylon 5, where each episode is entertaining on its own, but when you get to the end or rewatch it, you can find hints and clues to the larger story unfolding. I’m trying to do that for my readers.

Me: Was there any special significance to making the characters encounter more realistic creatures instead of more typical Lovecraftian monstrosities?

JPB: Not really. I think a good mix is more interesting. Having Lovecraftian monstrosities roaming around for no apparent reason is great, but when you are writing a crime series, you need some kind of mind behind the horror who is hoping to profit in some way. Lovecraftian monsters don’t care about profit, or much of anything, really. So, in order to create a narrative with clues that lead Travis down a path, there needs to be something at least semi-human behind everything. That isn’t to say I won’t find a way to use that very notion to subvert reader expectations.

Me: Was there anything else while writing the characters that you were surprised by in telling the story?

JPB: I’m addicted to plotting. I’m not as hard-core as some, but I hate pantsing. I’m currently pantsing a weird thriller on my Patreon for subscribers, and it is super odd. I like going into a project with a rough map of plot points. I compare it to mapping out a road trip. I know where I’m booked to stop for the night, but how I get there is open to discovery. One way or another, I’m getting to my established plot point, but the details can change. My characters are normally pretty well thought out, so how they respond to those details is never surprising. On occasion, I’ll come up with an interesting detail or event that I hadn’t thought of until the moment arrived, but how my characters react is always based on who they are at that specific point in their personal journey. All our decisions are based on past experience. Our characters should be the same. It can be inconvenient sometimes, but that is part of the process and helps build more complex characters, conflicts, and action.

Me: Are there any other future plans for the series that you can share at this time?

JPB: Nope! Stay tuned.

Actually, sure. The Great Depression, the Dust Bowl era America, and general crankiness from Travis Daniels.

Me: Once it was finally written, what was the process for having it published?

JPB: Ok, fair warning… DON’T DO THIS!

I had worked with Joe Myndhardt on a short story for an anthology he was putting together. A mutual friend, Nick Roberts, offered me a reference, which was insanely generous of him. Joe liked the story I submitted, and I was in the anthology, To Hell and Back.

I had finished Missing in Miskatonic and really wanted to have it published for Necronomicon 2024 in Providence, Rhode Island. The problem was that the show was something like 10 months out, and the vast majority of publishers can’t manage that kind of timeline. Most publishers have their publishing schedules locked in one to two years in advance. I contacted Joe and floated the idea past him. Shockingly, he asked to see the book. I sent it along, and he liked it.

Once the contract was signed, Crystal Lake did a phenomenal job of getting the book together on a truncated timeline while still working on publishing the books they already had on their schedule.

How this series got picked up is an anomaly, and I would NOT recommend trying to replicate my approach. I asked out of desperation not to self-publish it or wait until 2026 for the next Necronomicon. I could have easily burned all my bridges at Crystal Lake in the same fashion. The team at Crystal Lake deserves all the credit for getting these books together.

Me: Lastly, what else are you working on that you'd like to share with our readers? Thank you again for your time!

JPB: I always have a lot of plates spinning. Right now, I am publishing twice a week on my Patreon. Free members get a weekly and monthly check-in post that details what I’ve been up to regarding writing. For $5 a month, Patron Wannabes get a monthly short story, opinion article, or personal essay, a chapter in an ongoing exclusive novel I’m pantsing, and a craft article. I try to maintain posting on Mondays and Wednesdays. Occasionally, when I design new merch, I will send out free samples to my paid US subscribers. The first thing I did was a notebook with the words “Write or Die” on the front with one of my logos. I’m working on getting the same logo and an enamel pin, which will go out to subscribers when I have them. They can join my Patreon at patreon.com/JPBehrens.

I’m also trimming a Young Adult Fantasy novel that’s a mix of The Chronicles of Narnia and The NeverEnding Story, I just finished the rough draft of an Urban Fantasy that is a world hopping adventure with all sorts of cryptids and folklore creatures, and I’m working on Travis Daniels 3, which should further define the world, but also give readers more of an idea of the large story to come.

Turns out that if you write 1400 words a day, intending to eventually hit 2000, you can write a lot of material.