My friend Robert Hernandez is a big Dan Brown fan and he recently sent me a link to the illustrated edition of The DaVinci Code. This got me to thinking. What if there were an illustrated version of PORT CITY SHAKEDOWN? Dan Brown has paintings. I’ve got pictures.
I’ll let you in on a research trick of the trade. Most of my settings are loosely based on real places. A real house. A real restaurant. A real marina. A real boat. When I’m writing, I look at the pix to capture the feel of the place. So when I describe Brandon’s marina, I’m looking at something like this:
And when I write a scene involving Brandon’s boat, Bay Witch, I try to keep a photo of that particular model in front of me.
When Mia and Brandon are on the boat, I refer to photos like this.You get the idea. But is that too much reality? When you read fiction do you prefer to imagine? Would an illustrated novel limit the reader’s imagination, the ability to lose oneself in an imaginary world? I wonder. What do you think?
In PORT CITY SHAKEDOWN, the first Brandon Blake novel, Brandon gets a full dose of bad guys. A brawl in a funeral home introduces him to Joel Fuller, a sociopathic hustler. Fuller is fresh out of jail and determined to take Brandon out—after Fuller and his sidekick Kelvin shake him down.
Rocky isn’t a tough guy. He’s a skinny little kid with crooked glasses, and he shouldn’t be homeless in Portland, Maine. When McMorrow and Roxanne pluck him from under the stomping feet of a gang of street kids, Rocky latches onto McMorrow–and drags him into a world of murder, both old and new. Why is McMorrow protecting Rocky? The cops want to know. Why is Rocky on the run? McMorrow wants to know. Why does death follow in Rocky’s wake? Jack and Roxanne need to find out before they’re added to the list. 
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Pictures would be superfluous for your books! First, the joy of reading involves using imagination to visualize the setting, the appearance of the characters, the ambience. Second, one of your greatest strengths is your ability to evoke the complete atmosphere for your stories, from the tensions in the air to the salient physical attributes of the setting. Your descriptive prose is unrivaled. You know every side of Maine with your heart and you are able to bring it to life with sensitivity. Pictures? Don’t even think about it! Good literature, such as your writing, thrives and grows in the mind of the reader.