Two dogs "generally" slept at my feet, a fire in the wood stove kept the house comfy and wet snowflakes continuously fell outside as I turned page after page and finished Keith Lee Morris' latest book Travelers Rest.
A deadline of sorts has loomed over me, relating to this mysterious, spell binding story set in a small town just off the freeway in Northern Idaho.
Keith, a Clemson University English professor, will be coming west from his home in South Carolina next month to promote the novel.
He has asked me to help with the media coverage of events scheduled thus far---Moscow, Wallace and Sandpoint.
More venues, including Aunties in Spokane, may be added to his itinerary.
For now, I know for certain that he will be in Sandpoint Friday, Jan. 15, 2016, venue yet to be finalized.
After reading the last page of the novel, I looked out the window to see that the snow had stopped as it did finally after several days nonstop at Goodnight, Idaho, in the final pages of Travelers Rest.
Ironic timing, for sure, but it's the never-ending snow that contributes to the "blur" from one event to the next and one character to the next in Keith's story. There's a whole lot more, though.
His strategy in this book for developing his characters is both supreme and surreal as we switch from one character and from one era to another in each chapter. Moreover, Keith's ability, through his unique writing style, pulls the reader in to feeling almost like a participant in whole chain of frustrating weird happenings in very snowy Goodnight, Idaho.
I found myself wanting to scream at times when I thought surely a resolution was imminent. Then I imagined how the characters must feel, each trying over and over to escape this never-ending mysterious maze.
In my mind, Keith has produced a literary masterpiece with Travelers Rest. True, he is a former student and a Sandpoint High grad (Class of 1981).
I'm very proud of all of his writing achievements, which include a good share of recognition in the literary world. At this point in his journey as an author, however, I believe he has reached a pinnacle.
That's just my humble opinion, and I'm anxious to see how this novel is viewed by the experts.
Below, you'll see a summary of the book (release on Jan. 6) from www.amazon.com.
The Addisons-Julia and Tonio, ten-year-old Dewey, and derelict Uncle Robbie-are driving home, cross-country, after collecting Robbie from yet another trip to rehab.
When a terrifying blizzard strikes outside the town of Good Night, Idaho, they seek refuge in the town at the Travelers Rest, a formerly opulent but now crumbling and eerie hotel where the physical laws of the universe are bent.
Once inside the hotel, the family is separated. As Julia and Tonio drift through the maze of the hotel's spectral interiors, struggling to make sense of the building's alluring powers, Dewey ventures outward to a secret-filled diner across the street.
Meanwhile, a desperate Robbie quickly succumbs to his old vices, drifting ever further from the ones who love him most. With each passing hour, dreams and memories blur, tearing a hole in the fabric of our perceived reality and leaving the Addisons in a ceaseless search for one another.
At each turn a mysterious force prevents them from reuniting, until at last Julia is faced with an impossible choice. Can this mother save her family from the fate of becoming Souvenirs-those citizens trapped forever in magnetic Good Night-or, worse, from disappearing entirely?
With the fearsome intensity of a ghost story, the magical spark of a fairy tale, and the emotional depth of the finest family sagas, Keith Lee Morris takes us on a journey beyond the realm of the known.
Featuring prose as dizzyingly beautiful as the mystical world Morris creates, Travelers Rest is both a mind-altering meditation on the nature of consciousness and a heartbreaking story of a family on the brink of survival.
I also know that his stories have appeared in several publications, including Blood and Tacos, a quarterly magazine featuring crime writers and action heroes.
Nick Slosser is the son of one of my longtime friend and SHS classmate, Joan Andrews Thompson. She sent me a copy of his book a couple of months ago. I have had time to read a couple of chapters and intend to continue on.
From what I've read in this book so far, Nick, like Keith, knows how to tell a good story, providing details in such a way that makes one want to read on.
The Cipher is his first novel. I have a feeling his name will appear on many books to come. Good luck, Nick.
Summary of The Cipher: A society lady has been poisoned to death at her own party, and a search of the body has turned up a mysterious enciphered message.
The press speculates about spies and atomic secrets, and the police need the code broken before a Red Scare sets in.
So they go to Professor Leland Truffault. Haunted by his wartime experiences as a cryptographer at Bletchley Park, he now hides in academia at Laurelhurst University.
But the secret message draws him out...as does the hunt for a sly and ruthless killer. Racing against time as police close in on the wrong suspect--one he dearly wants to keep safe--Truffault risks it all to take part in a deadly game.
But the professor knows a thing or two about how a game is played, and he won't quit before the last move. The Cypher is available at www.amazon.com.
Another book note: I understand that local film maker and my longtime friend, Erik Daarstad has produced an autobiography, highlighting his extensive career of traveling the world with his cameras for National Geographic and for Hollywood film studios.
Through the Lens of History: The Life Journey of a Cinematographer will have its official unveiling Tuesday, Dec. 15 from 4:30-6:30 p.m. at Keokee Publishing (405 Church Street in Sandpoint), which produced the 586-page, illustrated hard-cover book.
According to the Daily Bee, the book is also available at Vanderford's and The Corner Bookstore, as well as www.amazon.com.
Good luck to Erik in his latest impressive enterprise!
Lots of book stuff happening with a local twist. Fun to see these people's works.
Happy Friday.
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