The Back Story of Murder Under a Mystic Moon

 

In the Pacific Northwest, we have a lot of local legends—many of which predate colonization times. The legend of Sasquatch (or Bigfoot as he is also known), has always fascinated me. Sightings and legends regarding the creature exist long before white settlers came to this area. Sasquatch has roots in Native American lore. I actually know several people who have caught a glimpse of him, and over on the Olympic Peninsula, I’ve sensed him out there.

So when I first thought about what I wanted out of this book, I started to play with the idea of what Bigfoot might be. I thought, what if there are variations on Sasquatch? What if I let Bigfoot remain the enigma he is, but create a cousin for him?

There’s certainly enough wild space around here for him to exist. The mountains here are volatile, and the energy wild and primal. We live in a volcanic area, and the Cascades are still quite active. Mount St. Helens blew her top in 1980—I was here for that, and Mt. Rainier is considered one of the most potentially deadly volcanoes in the lower 48 states.

At the same time that I was playing with thoughts about Sasquatch and the wild untamed mountains we live around, the more I began thinking about history of the area. The geological history. The history of the land. The history of the Native Americans who lived here first. The history of everything that has gone into making the Pacific Northwest what it is.

At one point the thought struck me, what if there’s a Watcher? A lore-keeper who acts as an historian and keeps track of everything that happens in the area? What if Sasquatch has a gentle cousin who is a peaceful guardian, whose only job is to record events? What if he slumbers in the mountains, waking only when something big happens?

Then what if some greedy idiot, skeptical of the Watcher, tries to use this legend as a weapon, not realizing that the Watcher actually exists? I began expanding on the idea.

What if the actions of this person enmeshes the Watcher in events he’s supposed to be standing outside of? Would he become vulnerable, once yanked out of his protective and elusive state? And given his importance, and his gentle nature, it made sense that he would have guardians that would naturally rise to his defense. And thus the Warriors of the Mountain were born.

I played with all these ideas as the plot began to gel.

The Klakatat Monster is actually named after an area in Washington—the Klickitat Valley (mostly because I love the sound of the name). I took poetic license with some of the descriptions of the caverns. Cave systems around here usually aren’t the limestone wonders like I described, but as a fantasy/paranormal novelist, that’s my prerogative. Writers enhance and bend reality. We make it real, yet give it a touch of fantasy to bring shivers and chills to the reader.

In the end, Murder Under a Mystic Moon actually became an anthem for the area in which I live. My environment affects me. It touches every aspect of my life, my work, my world view. This area is still untamed and powerful, and I love it so much that I have to weave it into my stories—to make the setting a character in itself. That’s one reason I write regionally-based series. I know the energy here. I know the land. And I like bringing it to life for my readers.

So, does the Klakatat Monster exist? Well, only within the confines of this book. Does Sasquatch exist? I believe so, but that’s something you’ll have to decide for yourself. (But come visit the area before you say no… the energy—Sasquatch’s energy—is so engrained in the mountains here that I think… perhaps… you might just change your mind).