Three Days in Hell follows a morally compromised Bible salesman sent to a dying town where corruption, violence, and temptation turn a punishment assignment into a fight for survival. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

The original inspiration came from church. In Christian belief, when he died, Jesus went to hell for three days, being resurrected on the third day. The first genesis of the story was trying to have a Jesus like figure and what that experience was like. But the more Bobby Santos developed as a character, I realized he was not a savior at all. So I abandoned trying to put a religious spin to the story and just let the characters speak for themselves and drive the story where it had to go. I often find if I get out of the way of my characters speaking and interacting with one another, it usually works best for me and the story.

Helman feels less like a backdrop and more like a trap; how did you approach building the town’s atmosphere and moral decay?​

I’ve been fascinated with ghost towns and small towns that are barely hanging on by a thread. I think they have a strong sense of history and local and regional culture. When I was creating this story, I researched a lot about these types of towns and the environment that surrounds them. I always like the idea that towns and places are another character of a story and deserve the equivalent care and development as any other person in the book. And because the town in this story is prominent to what goes on, the more details and personification I could provide, the more the town became a living, breathing entity.

Bobby is cynical, funny, wounded, and often frustrating. How did you balance making him flawed while still keeping readers invested in his journey?​

Like I said before, originally he was intended to be a Christ-like figure. But the more I tried to go in that direction, the more fake and forced it became. So, I scrapped that and decided to focus on what made this character interesting to begin with. Character flaws are what make the individuals so accessible. We all have our own idiosyncrasies, and I think when we recognize them in characters in fiction or movies, we are drawn to them and their journeys. If successful, readers go along with the main character and think what they would do in the character’s position. I love doing that when I’m attached to a character, and am usually surprised to see that many of my decisions follow the ones that the main character has chosen.

What drew you to crime noir as the right style for telling this particular story?​

I grew up reading pulp fiction books and have a lot of respect and admiration for writers like Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammet, James M. Cain, Mickey Spillane, Cornell Woolrich, and especially Jim Thompson. I enjoy the stories and the characters that live in the worlds they create. Although I don’t always write in this genre, when I was in the development process of this story, I just thought the location and style was best suited for crime fiction. When I re-read sections of Three Days in Hell, I am convinced that this was the right vehicle for the story.

Author Links: GoodReads | X | Facebook