On a novel extract
From that novel Ill Will by Dan Chaon a few years back
“But now, with my eyes opened in the dark, the clicks and hums of the house settling, the radiators stirring, the appliances doing their secret nighttime work, with my heart beating in an uncomfortably noticeable way, I couldn’t help but think: What if the dots are connected?” —page 233
The novel is about a psychologist in the Mid-West dealing with a number of people involved in a killing spree from the late-20th century and an apparent case of repressed memory in at least one person or communal cover-up.
Everyone has some memory problems, and it can be more convenient sometimes to block painful memories.
I find writing basic plot to be easier than describing setting in fiction. I suppose writing about an environment is like being a designer trying to decorate a home in good taste.
Describing a place and possibly ethos can be difficult. “And place is always and only place.” –T.S. Eliot