The author commentary for Spectral Advocate continues with a look at the strange paranormal angle used in the book. Here is your warning for spoilers!

Diving into the paranormal

The DSA was designed to handle scientific anomalies. That has always been the basis of the series, and when I look to build a new book that is where I start. With Spectral Advocate, I wanted to upend the board to do something completely different.

Why? A few reasons, really.

The first was discussed last week when talking about Cal Cooper and the potential spinoff available to tell his tale. I didn’t want to work on a second series dealing with something the DSA should be handling. It needed to be unique to justify its existence.

Another reason was to take the series out of its comfort zone. Tossing characters into new situations is fun and exciting. It creates a level of tension that maybe you haven’t been able to generate or builds a new layer into the character.

That was the angle I took with Ben being thrown into this ghost hunt/murder mystery. He is a cop at heart, using logic to handle problems. How can he do any of that when dealing with the dead? Tossing Ben into the deep end of a new world was an absolute selling point to me for that very reason. Seeing how he had to justify actions taken by the dead made the book for me.

The final and best reason? I really like ghost stories. Which is strange, since scary movies frighten the hell out of me and I can’t watch them. But something about that world speaks to me. I really hope to dive deeper into it with Cal someday.

Was it too much?

I always worry about this. True, the final decisions are mine to make, but I am always looking at the series from a reader’s perspective. Was the paranormal nature of the story too far from the beaten path? Absolutely. Was that the point of the book for Ben and for Cal? Absolutely.

Ben’s choice over all others.

It came down to Ben, as it should. He could have walked away and let the police handle things. He could have told Cal to get the hell away from him. Instead, he looked to solve the murder of a woman who was spying on him. That really helped define Ben for me. His drive for answers despite knowing NOTHING about anything (seriously, ever) makes him so relatable. He simply tries to help because he can.

The truth about the title

I love the title. It might be the best one I’ve ever managed to come up with. Was it always Spectral Advocate?

Nope.

It was… WAIT FOR IT…

Ghosts.

Super original, right? So glad I took another stab at it.

The author commentary for Spectral Advocate continues! This installment takes a closer look at the newest addition to the DSA’s world: Cal Cooper. SPOILER WARNING is in effect!

Who is Cal Cooper?

I love guest stars. Watching television dramas growing up, it was always a treat when the main character(s) were able to play off someone new–some guest to their world who brought with them a unique problem to be solved.

Cal Cooper was my attempt to really sell the wider world to the reader. With all the focus on scientific anomalies and government conspiracies, Spectral Advocate allowed me to open the doors to new ideas and more bizarre threats.

Cal is the Spectral Advocate, a lawyer with the uncanny ability to look through the veil to see the ghostly plane. That dichotomy really sold the character for me. Here was a guy working firmly in the natural world. He’s rational, believing firmly in the law, yet there’s this other side of things. He can see ghosts and interact with them.

The first potential spin-off

When I originally put together my plan for the DSA, I did so with the intention of creating a broader universe of stories. DSA was the spine for this shared universe. Each season I hoped to introduce some element that might spin out from the DSA into something new.

Cal Cooper, Spectral Advocate, was the first. His story may start here (what will eventually – hopefully – be considered Book 0 of his tale) but there is so much more to tell.

What other spin-off’s are in the works? Look no further than Season Two, Book Three. (Hint, hint)

One of my favorite characters

I tell people all the time about my love for Cal Cooper. His story has been locked in my brain for almost a decade now. One of these days I’m going to get the chance to write it all down.

Why haven’t I?

Not enough people have reached out. I swore I would not write the first Spectral Advocate novel until a certain number of people demanded more.

Six books of his series are scripted, if you can believe that. They have been since 2016. Every once in a while, I get the itch and read through them. They still hold up, even after all these years.

Maybe someday I’ll be able to bring his world back and finish his story. You tell me if that’s something you would enjoy.

Welcome to the author commentary for Spectral Advocate, the fourth book in the DSA series. I love giving background info on my books, so if there is ever anything you want covered, please don’t hesitate to reach out. SPOILER WARNING is in effect, as I will be discussing what happens in the book.

Let the author commentary begin!

The opening sequence

I’m going to be honest right now. Looking back through Spectral Advocate over the last few days, I did not remember the opening chapter. AT ALL. It actually surprised me that it was there. I always thought the story opened with the scream from Abigail Winslow’s apartment. There’s a reason for that:

That was how the book started in the original draft.

Ben’s childhood, his fear of ghosts, did not exist in that original rendition of the story. Even most of the second chapter didn’t, as the scream was the initial line in the book, and everything ran from there.

So where did the flashback scene come from and why keep it?

If you’ve read the book, you are no doubt aware of the role Ben’s father plays in the background. The big reveal at the end, where Cal Cooper has been seeing Ben’s father this whole time repeating the same phrase of “I’m sorry” over and over again doesn’t get the impact it deserves without the opening sequence.

Symmetry gets thrown around a lot when putting together a novel. Circling back to the beginning definitely strengthens a narrative on a thematic level. That was the reason behind the childhood flashback. Not only would it introduce Ben’s fear of ghosts, something he would have to face in the climax of the novel, but it also played on the dynamic between Ben and his father.

Kenneth Riley has been a figure mentioned briefly previously. This was a chance to build on that, and also foreshadow the revelations to come in Dark Impulses. Even Ben’s conversation with Cal in Chapter Sixteen doesn’t play the same without the flashback at the start of the novel, so that was why it came about and why it stayed.

“I’m sorry.”

I love this moment. It’s nice and ambiguous, leaving the reader to draw their own conclusions about what Kenneth is apologizing for. What has he done to his son that he now haunts him with nothing but regret?

The answers might be in Dark Impulses, or is there something more to it? I’m not saying anything on that front. You’ll have to wait and see.

The better opening

This is something I’ve been thinking about since revisiting the book for this commentary. Overall, I think the original opening focusing strictly on the scream and the situation was probably stronger. Could the flashback have been included somewhere else? Maybe while Ben is waiting for his coffee across from his apartment?

These are the kinds of questions that keep me up at night. I could second guess myself to death over every detail included, or erased, or revised, from the books, but then nothing would ever get published.

The flashback served a purpose and set the tone of the novel. That held its own importance, and I’m glad to have it in the book.

Next up: Cal Cooper!