#389 Inside the Emotion of Fiction THE SKELETON THEORY, published on February 10, 2026 by Wicked House Publishing, a division of Aethon.
https://wickedhouse.com/book/the-skeleton-theory/
What is the date you began writing this piece of fiction and the date when you finished the piece of fiction?
This one falls under a bizarre timeline, process … inception? I signed the contract with Wicked House Publishing based on a premise, which was a first for me, to “sell” a book on spec. But the owner of the house (at the time, because the house has since been sold), Patrick Reuman had been a long-time fan and advocate of my writing, and he trusted me. Although the story I came up with for The Skeleton Theory is radically different than the pitch I sold him. Basically, I started writing that book, but then this one, a completely different narrative, one took over. Just a whirlwind chaotic draft thrown against the canvas during what was, looking back, a magnificent mess of a life. I don’t like the writerly lexicon of “my characters” and whatnot, as in, “I don’t write. My characters speak to me,” as if I, the author, had no say in the matter. That said? If I’m ever going to fall back on blaming “my characters took over,” this would be the book.
https://www.facebook.com/patrick.reuman.9
Where did you do most of your writing for this fiction work? And please describe in detail.
This was my divorce novel. Meaning, I was in the middle of going through a divorce, sleeping on my soon-to-be ex-wife’s couch, waking at odd hours, trying to get a draft ASAP so I could go back to the book I was supposed to be working on, all the while trying to neatly tie off the last 15 years of my life. But that’s what makes being a writer such a wacky and fun career! You live half the time, trapped by your own brain, which may be in a giving mood that day. Or not. Life’s going on all around you. With this story, I explore my biggest fear: losing a child. Which I know I couldn’t live with, which got me thinking, Well, how do you get around that? In reality? It would take me out. But my MC in this one, Jericho “Echo” Keane, possesses the better parts of my resolve. But to literally change the past? The DeLorean has already been done. I’m not going all Terminator on this. Doing research on time travel (as much as one can research something so esoteric as the quantum realm), The Mandela Effect latched on and wouldn’t let go. Quantum mechanics provided perhaps my favorite anecdote during the writing of The Skeleton Theory. Because, as I say, I was mid-divorce. My ex was being more than accommodating. I was trying her patience. I was trying to buy a house, which as a writer, with no real income, proved a tricky one. She was, like, “Rent. Figure out the how to buy a house part later.” But at 54 years old, I couldn’t stomach the idea of a sad, divorced dad apartment. But I remember there was one moment: I’m looking at houses and there’s all the math going on. I say the divorce was amicable, but of course she’s looking to get on with her life. We have two kids together; plus the small farm she was raising inside the house. Seriously, the woman has never met an animal she didn’t want to raise! But she walks by my pile o’ books on the coffee table, and she’s, like, “Are you trying to learn about quantum physics right now?!” Which, in hindsight, was a very fair question to ask, given the circumstances.
https://quantumquirks.com/quantum-physics-esoteric-traditions/
https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-the-mandela-effect-4589394
What were your writing habits while writing this work- did you drink something as you wrote, listen to music, write in pen and paper, directly on laptop; specific time of day?
Good question! Until this book I would’ve said I had to have environs … just so. And I am a creature of habit. Y’know, we writers and our neuroses. I would’ve sworn I could do this but never that. But after writing a book (The Lakehouse) in between events in Italy on high-speed trains, I found out: when the book is ready to come out, ain’t nothing stopping it.
https://www.michaelconnelly.com/
Please include just one excerpt and include page numbers as reference. This one excerpt can be as short or as long as you prefer.
For once, I’ll go with brevity! It’s the first line of the book, and one I can only hope is evocative and intriguing enough to hook them in.
When Jericho Keane was younger, he watched his girlfriend die and come back to life.
Why is this excerpt so emotional for you as a writer to write? And can you describe your own emotional experience of writing this specific excerpt? This emotional moment must not be from the character’s emotion but from your emotion as a writer.
I’ve been thinking about this one a lot lately. Not the specific question, which I am just reading now, but moreover this idea of what it even takes to be a writer. To live on planet Earth, we all must provide a service that is of value to others. You have carpentry skills, you find a good job with a licensed contractor, and you make a trade. In exchange for this skill, you are given cold, hard cash. It’s a move and motivation that makes sense, right? People need houses and buildings. And we need money. It’s not so simple with the arts though, is it? One must make a bold claim to even attempt. This, my interpretation of reality, is what I am offering to trade for money. For rent, a mortgage, gas. Food. Who wouldn’t pick that trade over, say, roofing, breathing in bubbling tar fumes in the hot summer months? To be a writer is an honor and a privilege, and I take that opportunity very seriously.
That said… It was this idea of writer as creator, of a writer as, in many ways, a god. This theme of being in charge of what happens—who lives, who dies, who succeeds, who suffers—had become very Twilight Zone for me. I’d say the last half of my work, and certainly with the Say My Name series, I’ve grappled with what is and what is not within my power.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Twilight_Zone
https://www.fastslang.com/say-my-name
Like me, Echo … has a dubious moral code. I mean, I wrote a book about this, Junkie Love, because my time as a hobo was not without its life lessons. Being homeless, you expect misery. But there’s still beauty to be found. In fact, you can sell just about anything. And anything that can be sold, can be stolen. Death is a non-starter. The turn Echo’s life eventually takes forced me to answer how far I’d be willing to go to save my child, my children—my family. Which wrinkles this answer, don’t it? I’m writing a book about a family falling apart, as I’m literally watching my own family fall apart. And if we’ve learned anything from the ’80s, it’s never doubt the occasional profundity of .38 Special: Hold on loosely!
Were there any deletions from this excerpt that you can share with us? And can you please include a photo of your marked up rough drafts of this excerpt.
I think I’ve proven I am seldom at a loss talking about myself! If I haven’t sounded pretentious enough yet … my life and my art are inseparable. The more I do this, the deeper I dig in my heels. I will not retreat. I will not back down. Thrown in another Tom Petty lyric. Very, very few folks can make their living off art. I do. Sorta? It’s not in a straight line, though, that’s for sure. Which leaves us with a truth that both is both simply and admittedly pompous: my life and art are works in progress, forever intertwined.
https://www.facebook.com/joe.clifford.7545
