In the wasteland of commercial culture that is future America, police are operated not by government but by private companies.
In Seattle, that role is filled by Civil Protection, and Daniel Gray is a detective in Homicide Solutions. What used to be considered an important - even glamorous - department for public police is very different for the corporate species, and Gray finds himself stuck in a dead end job. That is, until the Spine Thief arrives.
When a serial killer begins harvesting the spinal tissue of corporate employees all over the city, Detective Gray finds himself plunged into the first truly major case of his career. Caught in a dangerous mix of murder, betrayal and conflicting corporate interest, Gray will find himself not only matching wits with a diabolical murderer but grapple with his growing doubt toward his employers in the dawning months of the American tricentennial.
A thrilling mystery set in the same world as the Wonderland Cycle, Bone Wires is a grim trip into the streets of the empty future.
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INTERVIEW:
Give me the blurb for the book in 140 characters or less:
An ambitious homicide detective in a corporate-ruled future pursues a spine-harvesting murderer, falls afoul of corporate politics and a mysterious stripper.
Do you have a favorite character? Why is he/she your favorite?
Everyone’s been pretty fun to write (and twisted as well, hurrah!) Other than the protagonist, Daniel Gray, my favorite character would have to be James Black-Eyes, an First Nations gangster who Gray has to deal with to further his case. Black-Eyes is this horrible monstrosity of a killer who has a certain dubious code of honor that ends up coming to Gray’s assistance, but makes him wish he’d never had anything to do with him (such as these things tend to go).
What do you hope readers will get from your book?
Well I hope they think about the potential evils of privatized police and other government agencies, but if they just get a story that they enjoy, can share with their friends and want to follow my work in the future, I’ll be a happy guy.
About the Author:
What/Who inspires you?
People who let the dark stuff come out to play in their work. My earlier influences were people like William Gibson (hence the genre I write in) and crime novelists such as James Ellroy, but also authors like H.P. Lovecraft and Clark Ashton Smith. Recently I’ve been reading a lot of Cormac McCarthy, though, and that’s taught me a lot about depicting the horror inherent to everyday human beings.
Hardest aspect of writing? Best/Easiest?
Time, time, time! As long as I have time, man, I can get this sucker done. It’s just a matter of having the time to do it between a busy dayjob and my life in general. But you make the time, and you push it through. That’s what you have to do.
Who is your writing hero?
Everyone who’s ever written a work of fiction and gotten it out there. This isn’t for the faint of heart - if you can sit down and write one piece and share it with the world, I will always applaud you. I might talk smack about the content, but that doesn’t mean I won’t respect the hell out of you.
About the Future:
What’s next for you?
Books, books, more books. I’m about to finish my third novel, and then once that’s in the can I have something like eleven more that need to be written. Sleep? What’s that?
One outrageous goal for the future?
To do this for a living. That’s what I want to do. To do this for a living, be a success, and share my stories with an interested public.
Do you have any advice you'd like to share with other aspiring writers?
Write. Write every day. 500 words will do. I know I say this a lot in interviews, but it’s never been proven wrong yet: writers are like sharks. If you don’t write, you die, just like sharks drown if they don’t swim. Make it happen every day!
Randomness:
Sweet or salty?
Sweet.
Beach, plains or mountains?
Mountains.
Online, letters or in person?
Online and in person.
Ebook or print?
Both, which is kind of a copout - but I love reading ebooks during my commute and then break out the paper lovelies when I’m at home.
About the Author:
Michael Shean was born amongst the sleepy hills and coal mines of southern West Virginia in 1978. Taught to read by his parents at a very early age, he has had a great love of the written word since the very beginning of his life. Growing up, he was often plagued with feelings of isolation and loneliness; he began writing off and on to help deflect this, though these themes are often explored in his work as a consequence. At the age of 16, Michael began to experience a chain of vivid nightmares that has continued to this day; it is from these aberrant dreams that he draws inspiration. In 2001 Michael left West Virginia to pursue a career in the tech industry, and he settled in the Washington, DC area as a web designer and graphic artist. As a result his writing was put aside and not revisited until five years later. In 2006 he met his current fiancee, who urged him to pick up his writing once more. Several years of work and experimentation yielded the core of what would become his first novel, Shadow of a Dead Star (2011). Michael is currently signed with Curiosity Quills Press, who has overtaken publication of Shadow of a Dead Star and the other books of his Wonderland Cycle.
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