Here’s my dark secret about The Legend of Charlie Fish.

It’s a monster book, but the story’s not really about a monster.

It might have started out that way, but things change, you know? My big idea was to take one of my favorite monster types, the gill-man, and place him in an old west setting. Think, Creature from the Black Lagoon meets True Grit, and you’ll get what I was shooting for.

The Big Idea

Let me tell you about Nellie.

She’s a witch. A twelve-year-old orphan, with no family remaining apart from her gunslinging little brother, Hank. Nellie is unfailingly polite, wise beyond her years, and brave enough to face down scoundrels and befriend monsters with little concern for the consequences. Nellie is headstrong and anxious. She is often overcome by her own emotions.

But it’s not her fault. It’s all because of her whisper talk.

My Favorite Bit

Now, The Legend Of Charlie Fish sounds like it’s a stand-alone story. But you never know. Which is why I’m asking: Is it?

The Legend Of Charlie Fish exists in a universe of stories I’ve written that I think of as my Old Texas stories. Essentially these are all monster tales set in Texas between about 1830 and 1930. I have at least a half dozen short stories in this universe published so far, including “February Moon,” [which appears in his collection Fantastic Americana], “The Guadalupe Witch,” and “We Share Our Rage With The River.” The Legend Of Charlie Fish is the first longer work in this series, and while it doesn’t connect directly to these other stories, a couple of them are alluded to in the novel.

Right now, I’m working on what I hope will be the follow up novel to The Legend Of Charlie Fish. Not a sequel, and not tied very closely to Charlie Fish, but there might be a character or two who make an appearance in the new book. My plan is to keep growing this series, and finding more connections between stories and characters.

Paul Semel