Landon Beach has been self-publishing a series of thrillers to be set on each of the Great Lakes. The Sail features the story of a last voyage on Lake Superior by a dying father and his teenage son, who at first does not know his father's condition. Paralleling their journey, and eventually violently intersecting with it, are the workings of some dangerous people. The plot is imbued with plenty of suspense and bold action. Landon, formerly of Michigan, now lives in Florida. Editor Konnie LeMay corresponded with him about his series and his work.
LSM: Where did you grow up … and do you powerboat or sail?
LANDON: I grew up on the sunrise side of Michigan about an hour away from East Tawas, and I enjoy both sailing and powerboating.
When I was 6 years old, I started sailing with my dad on Lake Huron in our Lightning, and when I attended the U.S. Naval Academy, I continued to sail. One adventure was a round trip from Maryland to Maine and back in a 44-foot sloop. There is nothing like sailing on the Great Lakes or on the ocean! After I graduated the Academy, I became a surface warfare officer and spent a lot of time on “big powerboats.” All that being said, I have certainly had my share of wipeouts while waterskiing and tubing.
LSM: How did you come to doing a series of thrillers using the Great Lakes as the backdrop?
LANDON: I have always thought that the Great Lakes region, beautiful and rich with history, would provide the perfect place to set stories. My approach for the five-book saga is to tell one story set on or around each Great Lake. As far as my first two novels, The Sail and The Wreck, the inspiration came from my childhood of summer visits to East Tawas, where my grandparents lived. Beyond my fascination with all things nautical, I admit that I used to don a mask and fins, row my three-person inflatable boat out about 20 yards off shore, anchor the boat with a gallon milk jug filled with sand attached to around 15 feet of line bought at the local hardware store, and search for treasure beneath the waves of Lake Huron. Never found a thing! But in my fiction …
LSM: Have you visited Lake Superior or sailed on it?
LANDON: I have visited Lake Superior – majestic and nothing quite like it – but have never sailed on it. I hope to one day.
LSM: I know you had some tidbits about Lake Superior and a few of the Lake's wrecks in the book, but was there anything else about the Lake that gave you a different scene-setting opportunity than on the other Great Lakes?
LANDON: One reason is that I love transporting readers to new locales, and, unless you have seen Lake Superior and the surrounding area, I don’t think most people know just how spectacular and awe-inspiring they are. Another reason that Lake Superior works well for The Sail is that long stretches of the shoreline are remote – perfect setting for mystery, suspense and mayhem to occur.
LSM: Without revealing the plot line, what is your personal favorite part of The Sail? Was there anything the characters did that surprised you … or do you have it well plotted before starting? I know you're a Dad, too, from your dedication … did that help to define the actions and character of the dad, Robin?
LANDON: My favorite part of writing The Sail was the night I reached the point where the two storylines converged – still remember hitting the keystrokes and smiling. Having written three screenplays and four novels now, I can wholeheartedly affirm that balancing storylines while keeping the book’s pace brisk while also maintaining tension/suspense is incredibly difficult to do, but I remain satisfied with how The Sail came together. And once those two storylines merge, the book takes off and is filled with non-stop suspense and thrills until the end.
I wouldn’t say that characters surprised me in this book (that definitely happened when I wrote The Cabin), but Robin Norris grew on me. I started the book in 2011, got stuck and set it aside for another project. Then, a few years ago, I had a health scare, which forced me to confront my mortality. Through the process, I thought about my two daughters and events I would miss and advice I hadn’t given to them yet. After discovering that my condition was not life-threatening, I was able to get back to writing, and I knew what was missing from The Sail. Of course, Robin is a fictional character who makes his own decisions and has his own voice, but I decided to weave in a few nuggets of hard-won wisdom that I’ve been fortunate to acquire over the years into his journal entries. Plus, I’ve always wanted to write a father-son book, so there was definitely some emotional energy behind the writing of this novel.
LSM: Tell me a little about self-publishing. Why did you choose that route for your books and, in a nutshell, what are the advantages and disadvantages?
LANDON: I did a lot of research about independently publishing my novels vs. having them traditionally published. If a traditional publisher becomes interested in my work, and the offer is right, I will certainly consider it, but I have found independent publishing to be a viable option. The advantages are having control over my release schedule and what I publish. That being said, each book requires a substantial investment: cover design, audiobook recording, production and distribution, advertising, having each book professionally edited, etc. One disadvantage of independently publishing a book is tied to the tremendous opportunity that Amazon has afforded authors by giving them a platform to launch and sell their work: It is a crowded field (there are millions of e-books available), highly competitive and difficult to make a living doing it. If you are considering releasing your work for a few friends and family members to enjoy, then it is cheap to publish your book on Amazon. If you are thinking about going the independent publishing route in an attempt to write full-time (with no guarantee of success) … get ready to spend some money.
LSM: Finally, what's next for you with the series – and what is the timeline?
LANDON: I am often asked, “Which book should I read first?” My answer is that it does not matter. I am not writing a traditional series. Sure, there will be familiar places and faces that show up now and again, but, for the most part, the books are stand alones. However, the chronological order is: The Sail, The Cabin, The Wreck.
Book #4, The Hike, is done and should be out soon; look for an announcement via social media later this spring. I am currently working on the first draft of Book #5 – probably a late 2021/early 2022 release. After that, I have plans for another stand-alone novel and then a traditional series that I’m excited about and itching to write.
I hope your fans enjoy the book. If your readers are interested in learning more about me and my novels, they can visit landonbeachbooks.com. Specifically, there are radio interviews for each book and a video interview about The Sail located under the ‘In the Media’ tab. Under the ‘Audiobooks’ tab, readers can listen to Hall of Fame Narrator Scott Brick perform a preview of each audiobook.
KON'S REVIEW:
The Sail
The Sail
by Landon Beach
LandonBeachBooks.com
$13.34 Softcover, available also in audio and digital versions
The Sail sets Landon's sea adventure on Lake Superior, providing a chance for a dying father to connect with his teenage son. But it turns into a life-and-death struggle punctuated by murder and abduction. It’s a tense thriller with brutality and dicey language that might not be everyone's cup of tea, but with lots of Lake views. It was a finalist in the Clive Cussler Adventure Writers Competition, and has received praise from the likes of New York Times best-selling authors Robin Burcell, Ted Bell, Dirk Cussler, Steve Berry and Thomas Perry. Another heads up for our readers is the mentioning of the Edmund Fitzgerald, which, for some, may still be too soon for fiction. In the book, Landon says this about that namedropping: "As far as The Sail, it's mostly fiction, my friends. However the Edmund Fitzgerald was a real ship with brave men who were lost in a major tragedy. If the Griffon is the holy grail of the Great Lakes, then the Edmund Fitzgerald is the most famous shipwreck … In fact, whenever I mention Lake Superior to someone, the Edmund Fitzgerald is usually one of the first topics we discuss. Even though the subject occupies only a few pages in this novel, I have tried to recount the tale in a factual and respectful manner."