“My head’s often off in La-La Land – many confessing that they would not like to be inside of it… sometimes I don’t even want to be inside of it!”
These are the words of Dave Neuman, and after reading his award-winning debut novel, Kaleidoscopic Shades, it’s not hard to see why people might prefer to stay away from the mind that concocted such a wonderfully terrifying story.
Dealing heavily with matters of unspeakable horrors lurking just beyond the veil and worlds beyond our own, alongside the equally terrifying prospect of harm coming to one’s own child, the story follows Bob Triplow as he is forced to take his son, Joshua, on a harrowing journey to his past. While Bob is forced to face the sanity-shredding brutality of times gone, young Joshua will find himself with the fate of six billion individuals resting in his hands.
It’s a book of great volume, insight and intrigue, and we managed to open a window into the debut author’s delightfully twisted mind in this Q&A.
Q: Why did you begin writing and what kept you writing?
A: I’m not sure when it began – perhaps in another lifetime – but one significant event sticks in mind: when in year six or seven, the teacher asked the class to write an essay on a topic of their choice, much to the student’s mortal objections, except for goody two-shoes. I wrote about a tree in a field and described it to the inch degree. And – ta-da! – received top marks. Whether it be a tree or shadows lurking within other dimensions, the urge to present folks a doorway in which to escape remains my driving force. Kaleidoscopic Shades, however, remained mothballed for a decade until a lovely ex-hippy, ex-school principal and all-round good guy – Hi there, Brian Harris! – suggested that I get off my butt and do something about it.
Q: How did you choose the setting and each paranormal event?
A: That question raises all kinds of visions for me. I think to best wrap it up is to describe it as an excitement in what lies beyond the thinnest of veils within the invisible spectrum, stalking our very own homes and neighborhoods, where the potential to accidentally punch a hole between our familiar landscapes into that world unleashes things not content to sit idly by but rather chase us through the passageways of our minds. Suburban and rural settings become emotional and cognitive decongestants, purging us of our fanciful notions of safety and comfort. In that way, the very bedrooms in which we sleep, to the streets we walk and that derelict mansion in the boondocks are all equal contenders.
Q: Do you have a personal favorite scene or character?
A: From the moment the book opens on old Ruby Jenkins flying up through her roof, surrounded by a bunch of cackling balloons, leaving behind a house in utter shambles, each character breathes life into a multitude of unsettling episodes. For me, the raw innocence of children impart a special power into scenes of horror and, without exception, one of the main protagonists, eleven-year-old Joshua, shows us what it is to react and behave in a very grown-up manner unique to children. This rationalizing of unexplainable terrors is exploited, yet again, when Joshua enters a doorway far removed from this world in a desperate search for a lost friend and encounters a galaxy of school desks, lifeless people and clocks that have been ticking away for eons.
Q: What was a particularly challenging aspect of this writing experience?
A: Hours and hours. And – hours. Yep – lots of hours. Fortunately, writing is as much of an escape for me as I sincerely hope it is for the reader. Since my head’s often off in La-La Land – many confessing that they would not like to be inside of it… sometimes I don’t even want to be inside of it! – storylines proliferate as rough diamonds. The challenge is to hone and polish each of them into their many facets. This requires modifications here and there as well as a bit of remodelling and, whilst sticking to its theme and, generally, its progressive unravelling, each story often builds its own tailings of discarded material. What remains is a diamond and its multiple looking-glass faces that beckon us to come ever closer until we find ourselves fully immersed.
Q: Have you learned anything surprising from your exploration of the paranormal and fantastic?
A: Part of my childhood was spent in a house where unseen guests strutted about, opening and closing doors and windows and even going as far as rescuing me, if not the entire family, from potential disaster. Awakening one morning, freezing cold – as my folks had made the mind-numbing decision of us living in the Adelaide hills where night temperatures plummeted year round – I was greeted by several oddities 1.) My electric blanket had caught alight during the night and had burned a patch in the bed sheets and mattress and 2.) The electrical cords feeding the blanket had been unplugged and pulled from the socket. The rest of the family were still sleeping blissfully unaware when this discovery was made. Oh – and by the way, it’s not true, you know? The dead… they can hurt you just as easily. And badly.
Q: What kind of reactions are you getting from readers so far about the book?
A: I am humbled, quite frankly, by the consistency of sentiments from those across the industry as well as outside of it who’ve read or worked on Kaleidoscopic Shades. This cross-section of people would have to be separated by continents and completely unknown to one another, yet they are similarly captivated by the ‘reality’ and the ‘connections’ they find in the story and characters. Other strong threads relate to the story’s flow, its enveloping atmosphere and the compulsion one feels to become thoroughly drawn in. I am thrilled that people are finding that the horror we find here seems to be next level and has them questioning the very heart and soul of reality: just where is that blend-line between here and somewhere else? At 566 pages, it’s astounding that people are saying they wished it could have continued.
Q: Do you have another writing project on the horizon?
A: A second novel is well advanced. It’s loosely a sequel to Kaleidoscopic Shades and, hopefully, breaks the stereotypical rules of sequels in that it explores far greater avenues without becoming lost in its own importance or merely running over trodden grounds. The Penny Arcade is a thriller/horror that carries a hint of psychological-thriller. It’s primarily set in rural surroundings and focuses on Solemn Street. Situated on the very outskirts of a little township, it has a playground with a nasty reputation. The only visitors that roam it now are bloodless and don’t particularly care for the slippery dips and swings, leaving them as sad, abandoned relics, in preference for exacting revenge. Whilst a hitch-hiker from Earth’s beginning once again rises to the surface to satisfy its dark needs.
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About Dave Neuman:
You’ve heard of the slow-burner? David A. Neuman epitomizes the very definition, having first become involved in the escapism of creative writing some 30 years ago. During that period, he wrote Kaleidoscopic Shades: Where Black Eternity Begins (yet to be published in preference to the sequel). He then went on to complete Kaleidoscopic Shades: Within Black Eternity, which has been garnering acclaim through reviews that can be found on Amazon, Goodreads and, of course, here at BookTrib.
Having devoted several decades to assisting others in the paramedical field, Neuman easily slip-streamed into the paranormal after experiences he had when just a child — experiences that fueled his mind and opened him up to the very real possibility of existences beyond the front doors through which we walk nonchalantly as part of our daily affairs.
Living in a city among the one million people of South Australia, Australia, and surrounded by his faithful companions, three four-legged girls named Saffron, Cinnamon and Ginger, Neuman understands the cohabitation they share.
