In preparing for an upcoming speaking engagement I’ve been thinking a lot about writing novels and short fiction. A question that often comes up relates to theme. “What’s your book about?” someone asks. The easy answer is the plot—this happens and then this happens, but identifying the theme is a whole different ball game.

As a writer, I find I rarely have a sense of a book’s theme until the book is written. Maybe some writers know their theme before they start writing, but that’s not my process. Instead, I have to have faith my subconscious is inserting theme into the book even though I may not realize it until late in the writing or after the book is finished. Though I’ve written a fair number of books, writing the Phoebe Clay Mysteries has made me more aware of theme. All of the books deal with environmental issues, so I suppose that’s the overarching theme of the series, but each book also has a much more personal theme.

In Through Dark Water, the theme was redemption, while the second, Beneath Malabar Nets, dealt with the personal price we pay for the safety of our loved ones. Book three, In Angkor Shadows, relates to the importance of connections to place and family.

The fourth book in the series Trapped on Cedar Trails came out September 30, 2022. It, too, deals with environmental issues, but I feel like two themes intertwine in this story. One theme is how, when faced with evil, everyone has to make a choice to either look away and ignore the evil, or alternatively they must take action to right the wrong. The second theme is how, to live well, people need to identify what ‘fills them up’.

Both of these themes snuck up on me and it was the characters themselves that brought them to my attention. In both cases a secondary character said or did something that led to either healing or an uncomfortable revelation for the protagonist. I can already see where they could lead the character and myself (as writer) for the next book.

And that’s the wonderful thing about writing—the discovery that happens along the way. As a writer these little revelations make me lift my fingers from the keys, sit back in my chair, and go “huh.” Hopefully, for the reader, the revelations don’t stop them reading, but do make them think about the book after they’re finished the novel

West coast author K.L. Abrahamson writes mystery, fantasy and romance. Her latest short fiction can be found in Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and the anthology ‘Cold Canadian Crime’, and in upcoming issues of Mystery Magazine and Black Cat Mystery Magazine. Her short fiction has been shortlisted for the Derringer and the Crime Writers of Canada Award of Excellence. Find out more about her at www.karenlabrahamson.com

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