Casting Shadows Everywhere
By L. T. Vargus
If the opening of Ms. Vargus’ story doesn’t get your attention, nothing will. The cover design suggest a noir novel, and in a way it is, but not in the traditional sense. The book defies genre: it could be noir, or young adult, or coming of age, or romance, or all of that wrapped into one. Regardless, it’s a great tale and worth reading.
The reader is informed of the action by a journal kept by the protagonist, Jake, a 15 year-old high school student and part-time college student. The tone, and his character, will remind some readers of J. D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. Jake comes off as a contemporary Holden Caulfield (angry, confused, self-esteem issues, filled with angst) albeit a Holden Caulfield on steroids.
On one level, Jake is simply the story of a boy trying to find his place in the hierarchy of adolescence. But in a very subtle way, Ms. Vargus takes the reader to fundamentally deeper psychological and philosophical levels. Jake’s journey goes into the world of bullying, bulimia, peer influence, adolescent love, and self-hatred.
While much of this is pretty heavy stuff there is still a lot of entertainment value, thanks to Jake’s narration. There are some very funny lines, and Ms. Vargus’ use of similes and metaphors are original and refreshing. However, there came a time in the book that frightened me, and not many writers can do that to me. L. T. Vargus is very good, and I look forward to more from her in the future.
Interview with L. T. Vargus, Author of
Casting Shadows Everywhere
All I can tell you about Ms. Vargus right now is that she is a cat lady. No, not the one from Batman, but a lover of cats, she lives in Michigan with three of them. However, her debut novel, Casting Shadows Everywhere, is winning rave reviews from readers on Amazon and GoodReads.
Let’s see what we can find out about the talented and secretive Ms. Vargus, and her exciting novel.
MJT: LT, I’m teasing you about your bio because so many authors (myself included) tend to ramble endlessly about how they wrote their first short story at age 2, where they went to grade school, how their 6 year-old son is their muse, but you are a minimalist. I know 3 things about you: 1. You live in Michigan, 2. You live with 3 cats, 3. You are an awesome writer. So, tell our readers all about yourself, like what you do when you are not writing, and maybe even of your some secrets.
LTV: Outside of writing, my interests include being mysterious and brevity.
MJT: The title of your novel, Casting Shadows Everywhere, is very unusual. How do you relate it to the story?
LTV: Well, it’s open for interpretation, but I thought of shadows in terms of the archetype. Nick teaches Jake about the dark side of humanity, casting his shadow on him. In the process of teaching, he talks about how this idea of morality not being real is all around us in the way corporations and governments behave, and the way humans treat each other and other beings in general. To me, that is the shadow being cast everywhere.
MJT: How did you come up with the idea for this story? Did you know a Jake, or a Beth, or a Nick?
LTV: For years I had this fragment of a story in mind. I knew how I wanted the mood and voice to be. I had some images in mind and a vague notion of the situation the main character was in, but that was it as far as the plot. So that simmered in my imagination for a long time before I committed to a specific storyline. I did know people a lot like Jake, Beth and Nick, though in the final product they’re jumbled together into composites of many people.
MJT: You managed to weave into your story a lot of very relevant and contemporary issues. What were some of the important points that you wanted to get across to your reader?
LTV: It’s interesting to me to read the wide variety of interpretations in reviews and on twitter. It almost makes me reluctant to talk too much about my intent as I like the idea of people arriving at their own meaning. So without going too far into detail, I’ll say that to me the story is about self examination and moral ambiguity.
MJT: This is your first novel, but your skill level says you are not an amateur. What has been your writing history?
LTV: Well, I’ve always written a lot. I got serious about it in 2006 or 2007, I think. I completed a novel and a couple of scripts that got rejected by a slew of agencies. I always got a lot of positive feedback from the agents, though, which heartened me enough to keep going. In fact, I had serious talks with a manager in Hollywood, but when he explained the reality of what my life would entail, I knew writing movies wasn’t for me after all. I would have had to move to Los Angeles, go to tons of meetings with executives to pitch ideas, get jobs rewriting other people’s scripts, and everything I wrote would have to adhere to a specific beat sheet. It was basically telling the same story over and over again with different details. This just didn’t fit my dream vision of writing enough to drop everything for the still fairly slim chance it would all work out.
I went back to novels and wrote Casting Shadows Everywhere. I didn’t realize how viable self publishing was until April of 2013. Within a month, I’d self published my book.
MJT: Based on reader reviews on Amazon and GoodReads, your book has been a marketing success as well as a literary success. What are some of your most successful marking actions?
LTV: This is probably the best way to sum it up: Before I made my book free, it got 13 Amazon reviews over the course of 4 and a half months. Since I made it free 4 and a half months ago, it’s gotten 89 additional Amazon reviews. (It was actually 90, but someone deleted their review during this interview. Jerk!)
Right now, there is a great opportunity for a self-published writer to reach tens of thousands of readers and build a fan base with free promotions. With e-books, this costs nothing. It’s awesome.
MJT: What is your typical day like? When do you write? What do you do when you don’t write? Do your cats help you with your research?
LTV: Lately I’ve been writing first thing in the morning. I adopted a dog a few months ago, and he demands to sit on my lap while I’m at the computer. When I’m not writing, I’m bemoaning the fact that my dog has really terrible breath. The only thing the cats are interested in researching is how many things they need to knock off my desk before I’ll get up to feed them.
MJT: Can you give us a summary of what your next project is about? Do you have a title for it?
LTV: I’ll just say that it’s part mystery, part magic realism and part horror story.
MJT: What is your website address and what would readers find there?
LTV: My website is http://ltvargus.com and there are a few book reviews posted there. I’ve started working on some blog posts about writing and promoting that I haven’t put up yet. So I guess there will be more to check out pretty soon.
MJT: Where can readers go to buy a copy of Casting Shadows Everywhere?
LTV: Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Casting-Shadows-Everywhere-L-T-Vargus-ebook/dp/B00CR0T70U
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/casting-shadows-everywhere-lt-vargus/1116782454?ean=2940045231893
