Murder Most Saurian follows a group searching for living dinosaurs who chase a new lead straight into a Welsh mystery of vanishing locals, questionable evidence, and the question of whether it’s a hoax, a monster, or a serial killer. What was the inspiration for the setup of your story?

Actually, there was a convergence of inspirations for this story’s setup that can be seen as a fuse lit by a match. 

For starters, my wife is a big fan of murder mysteries, especially British television murder mysteries.  As a result, I’d been on the lookout for an opportunity to put a unique spin on that genre. 

Then there was a trip to Wales that turned utterly magical, tracing my great-grandfather’s footsteps as described in his autobiographical pamphlet published in 1940.  Nothing about dragons or dinosaurs, but a series of amazing events in the course of a few hours led to an encounter with previously unknown relatives.  Might as well have stumbled across a grazing Stegosaurus!

The match that got tossed on these and other highly flammable inspirations consisted of a 1980s report from Barmouth, Wales, of schoolgirls spotting an odd creature with a long neck and tail descending into the sea.  Ka-boom!  Came to me in a flash, how the Eclipso story arc would benefit massively from a wee little side trip to Pembrokeshire!   

Augie and his companions feel like a group of lovable misfits. How did you build such a distinct ensemble?

Augie and his companions share an abiding fascination with the cryptozoological search for animals that might or might not exist, especially of the dinosaur persuasion!  I imagined them from diverse backgrounds, bringing a variety of crucial skills to bear.  Stephen Feldman, for example, is a hardened skeptic of anything off the beaten trail.  Especially with hoaxers on the loose, he is a persistent, if often irritating, reminder that things are not always what one might wish for. 

The joy I hope these and other characters’ quirkiness brings to the reader is meant to be a celebration of the joy brought to me by the special, unique people in my own life, rather than laughing at anyone.  And this is not to ignore or minimize the many serious issues hinted at throughout the Eclipso story arc.  One Welsh character’s state of constant inebriation sets up many comical situations, but serious drinking issues in the U.K. are certainly no laughing matter.  Rather than pound that into the ground with a very dark narrative about where excessive drinking leads, however, I challenged myself to have that character find a way out of his addiction by connecting with his happy place.  Which gets at an important double meaning of the series title, Eclipso’s Happy Quest.  Happiness describes the quest itself.  But there is also the quest for happiness that every precious creature makes.

My fondest hope is that this series will most appropriately provide many hours of amusement, alongside lots of think about.    

This book mixes science fiction, mystery, and comedy so freely. How did you approach balancing those genres?

Shakespearean tragedies were known for including comical bits, while his comedies were notable for working in tragic aspects.  It is in that spirit that I have approached this nine-book story arc. 

My favorite music mashes up folk, rock, classical and jazz from round the world in something often referred to as progressive rock.  What appeals to me so much about that aesthetic is trying to grasp the interconnectedness of everything, which I believe is what a truly loving universe calls for.  And so it goes that I have striven for years to likewise bring together various fiction genres rather than building walls between them.  While my main “jam” is definitely science fiction, I favor the approach of someone like Ray Bradbury, who in The Martian Chronicles moved freely between chapters describing Martian colonization, and a civil rights drama.

As this is Book IV, how does this installment expand or deepen the Happy Quest series?

Book IV sees Eclipso’s team trying to evade the hoaxes that plagued their research across the first three books.  While something (or rather someone) totally unanticipated frustrates that effort, they still add significantly to their understanding of what they might be dealing with, assuming it really does constitute evidence of non-avian dinosaur survival to the present day. 

At the same time, from Book Two onward, Eclipso’s crew have found themselves accompanied by three people who claim to have arrived from the future to tamper with history.  If they can be believed, their spaceship has gotten stuck inside a black hole, unable to retrieve them for their next past-altering mission.  There’s progress on that front as well.

Another sidebar story involves Augie’s wife, who teaches at a public elementary school.  To the eternal disgruntlement of her curriculum adviser, she has used the dinosaur search as a motivational tool for her students, and made a mockery wherever possible of standardized testing.  Will Vicky Copplestone be able to keep thumbing her nose at pedagogical convention to continue offering her students the most unique experiences imaginable?  Read on, and find out!  

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