Today, Feathered Quill reviewer Ephantus Muriuki is talking with Thomas J. Gebhardt III, author of Smiling Faceless Woman.
FQ: The book is packed with pop culture references, including Nintendo DS, MySpace, and emo music. Was this a deliberate choice to ground it in a specific time and place?
GEBHARDT: I noticed that before I start a novel, I tend to have a feeling of "missing" something. Like, things I appreciated and want to reminisce. With this book, it was interesting and nostalgic to explore college, in particular college in the 2000s, with flip phones and early social media and the beginnings of internet memes. Games were different. Music was different. Fashion was different. So, every easter egg mentioned is a precious time capsule.
FQ: This book is a wild ride and its pacing is relentless. It feels like something creepy is always around the corner. How do you keep that tension going without exhausting yourself?
GEBHARDT: You know, truth be told, it was a very difficult book to write. The draft for my first novel took like five months, so I was expecting something in that range. This novel took eleven months. Each phase of the story was such a slow burn and way more literary, borderline mystery in style. It is so jam packed with information, too. I really kind of felt like I said everything I had to say about ghosts.
FQ: How does this book connect to your other works, and can readers expect more creepy adventures in the future?
GEBHARDT: All of my books are intertwined in an expanded literary universe, in subtle ways. One of the characters is introduced in the aftermath of a church shooting, which ties to my debut novel about a school shooting. It is even name dropped in their convo. One of the other characters was actually included in a novella for my second book, a story collection. I'm working on a spin-off right now, which will be featured in a future story collection. And I also have plans to allude to these characters in a lot of other works.
FQ: Did you always know how Alex and April's arc would end, or did it evolve as you wrote?
GEBHARDT: From the start, I had a good grasp of who these characters were and how they would come together and generally, that it would build and build. In the earlier phases, the story follows them very close, but I always viewed her as a love interest that acted as part of his internal conflict. As the narrative shifts, and all of the paranormal action sequences, existential questions and plot twists begin to unfold and take over, there was naturally a gap and a tension between the characters. So, I ended up dissecting the different stages of relationships.
FQ: How did you come up with the SPIRAL crew, and who was the favorite to write?
GEBHARDT: Each of them came pretty naturally actually. I knew where I wanted the story to eventually go, and I needed this group, this crew. I was always a fan of those paranormal investigation shows so maybe that crept in there. I also spoke to a preacher as well as a paranormal investigator in my research, so that was an influence too. The different characters acted as windows or mirrors, some comic relief, while also creating contrast. As a whole, they are all so distinct and the chemistry between so magnetizing that I really loved writing them all.
FQ: Did you solely rely on research when writing the "choking ghost" scenes?
GEBHARDT: I did extensive research for this novel including interviews as I mentioned, talking to local experts and going to haunted locations by myself at night with nothing but a flashlight. Where I live, stories about the choking ghost and the faceless woman are fairly well known, along with countless others. I have many experiences I don't understand and I cannot explain, which I definitely poured into this novel.
FQ: Why did you choose not to give readers a tidy romantic resolution?
GEBHARDT: During the writing of my first novel, my editor had to encourage me to consider the happily-ever-after idea. So, I always had a tendency to be unconventional. I even revisited it in the sequel novella. For this book, I was interested in exploring "the one that got away" or "the one that slipped through your fingers" as a concept. Like, probably a majority of people have been with somebody that could have or should have been the so-called one, where it might have worked out but just didn't. Maybe they grew apart. Maybe it wasn't the best fit. Maybe it was the timing.
FQ: If readers take away one thing from Smiling Faceless Woman, what do you hope it is?
GEBHARDT: Just like with all my books, I aim to provide a roller coaster of emotion as well as cerebral depth. In the pages, I really want the reader to fall in love, to go back in time, be afraid, be excited, laugh, cry. But if I had to pinpoint one specific goal, I guess my intention is for the reader to have multiple various lingering questions to discuss, debate and dwell on like the growth of the character, the progression of the relationship, plus existential questions about life and possibly about the afterlife.
FQ: Lastly, what's next for your fans?
GEBHARDT: I am happy to announce I'm wrapping up research and brainstorming for my next novel, the second of my two planned back-to-back horror novels. Very excited to dive back in and face the blank page once more. This idea has been on my mind for a long time, and has grown and changed so drastically over the years. It is kind of radical and unique compared to my other works so I am fairly nervous. Yet at the same time, it is also my most ambitious work yet. I will be diving into deeper, darker territory, with everything on the line, taking huge swings.
For more information about Smiling Faceless Woman, please visit the author's website at: www.tjgiii.com/
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