Not long before I started the Fort Black Thrillers, I was contemplating walking away from writing.
I’d hit a major creative roadblock. My backlist was entering freefall, I’d started the short story submission grind again. And even though my acceptance rates are above average, it’s a brutal gauntlet of rejection.
I’d had my Jeep stolen and Liam Neesoned it back into my life. The seed of the idea for a genre switch was germinating. It wasn’t until an author’s conference in Vegas that I scratched out a few notes.
But I trunked the idea. It felt too much like starting over. Again. Back on the treadmill going nowhere.
Then Hollywood called.
I have no idea the fate of that project. I finished my contributions to the early concepting and writing and then the whole town went on strike.
But that one call lit a fire. Pure, volcanic, raging validation. A rare thing in this lonely career.
From June to October 2022, I wrote book one, Devil’s Churn, while simultaneously working on the Hollywood project and juggling a script review gig. When I was done, I knew it was good. No, great. And I knew how the next three books would unfold.
The heart of Devil’s Churn is cribbed from a short story I couldn’t sell. A horror / noir detective story about an East meets West Van Helsing duo and their encounter with an ancient, native American spirit on the Oregon Coast.
Solid story, I thought, but with a dark ending. Maybe too dark, who knows?
But the imagery and concept were haunting. A great hook for an even bigger tale. I turned that idea into a modern thriller/detective story with a uniquely rustic protagonist, Kade Black.
In Devil’s Churn, I explore all of my nomadic haunts along the coast:
The jaw-dropping Cape Perpetua, a spit of fairy tale forest perched above an endless swell of sapphire and seafoam.
The cozy seaside town of Yachats (a name you’ll want to ask the locals how to pronounce before you embarrass yourself). No traffic lights, no big box stores, just a tiny grocery and a string of inns and rental cottages buffeted by the constant roar of the surf.
The Siuslaw National Forest, a wet, muddy paradise and a land of plenty. Where berries and mushrooms of all types grow along the mossy forest floor under dripping boughs of Sitka spruce.
Beautiful and deadly. Because the constant rain makes the ground prone to swallowing vehicles (don’t ask me how I know). Because as beautiful as the coast is, it isn’t a friendly, sunny beach. The water is cold and relentless, carving out the volcanic cliffs, the wind a steady gale. Early morning fog makes the roads slick. The turns hairpin tight. Visibility non-existent.
At the bottom of those cliffs lurks the Devils Churn, a natural crevice formed by the constant crush of the surf.
One of Kade’s acquaintances, a forest ranger named Mia describes it best:
An ancient history unfolds down there. A great making and unmaking. It’s this timeless chronology of the weather, the elements, the wearing away of the coast, all exposing a molten, volcanic past.
That stretch of coast is a testament to the deadly beauty of the natural world. A perfect place to set a pulse-pounding thriller. And a place a man like Kade Black could call home – if only he weren’t on the run from his destructive past…
I’m incredibly excited to share this series with you. A combination of my passion for travel and my love of the outdoors all rolled into an espionage thriller with a side of vigilante justice.
And there’s only ONE WEEK to go!
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Categories: Blog
RUSS LINTON 
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