Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: Nightscape
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1966
WEBSITE:
CITY: Hillsboro
STATE: OR
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
Former Democratic member of the Oregon House of Representatives, representing District 30 from 2007–2010.
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born 1966, in Las Vegas, NV; married; wife’s name, Michelle; children: two.
EDUCATION:University of Southern California, B.A., M.A.; University of Oregon, M.S.; also attended film school at University of Southern California.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Author, filmmaker, executive, and legislator. Representative, Oregon House of Representatives, 2007–10. Founder and former CEO, Zanthus (marketing research company) Portland, OR, beginning 2000; founder, Imperiad Entertainment (multimedia company), 2012–.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
David W. Edwards is a former Democratic politician turned moviemaker and author. “Hillsboro political leaders were surprised when Edwards … announced in 2010 he would not run for a third term in the state House of Representatives,” said Casey Parks in the Oregonian. “The Democrat had been a rising star in the Legislature, one of the youngest politicians to be appointed to the Joint Ways and Means Committee. Edwards left politics in part because his wife, who was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease … fell ill.” “Is it a cheat to describe myself as a Möbius strip–a novelist who makes films when viewed one way, and a filmmaker who writes novels when viewed another?,” the politician-turned-filmmaker and author said in a Social Bookshelves interview. “I suppose that’s a fancy way of saying I’m peripatetic.”
Edwards turned to filmmaking (he has degrees from the University of Southern California and attended USC’s film school), and in 2012 he released Nightscape, a supernatural horror film. Since then Edwards has released a series of books that use the same supernatural tropes as the film Nightscape, including The Dreams of Devils, Cynopolis, Nightscape Double Feature No. 1, and Early Darkness.
The Dreams of Devils “follows three high school seniors who gain unwanted paranormal powers,” Edwards explained in an interviewer David Njoku in Read Free.ly. “They must learn the source and purpose of their powers in order to prevent the collapse of all reality. Despite having teenage protagonists, the book isn’t a young adult novel. The book deals with heady mathematical concepts and mature themes in the context of a surreal, Lovecraftian apocalypse. Knowledge of the associated film isn’t necessary for enjoyment. The book serves as a standalone introduction to the Nightscape universe. Of course, the book and film complement each other in unexpected ways.”
Cynopolis is set in Detroit in the days of its decline and postulates a mad-scientist character who warps the poor and destitute citizens. “The book’s about a former counterculture radical who turns Detroit’s dogs feral and its underclass into a horde of jackal-headed beasts,” Edwards stated on the website Social Bookshelves. “The few remaining humans must find a way to elude the military blockade preventing their escape or defeat the thought-virus at its source, before government forces sacrifice them all. You can read it purely as bizarro entertainment or as an elaborate metaphor for the growing divide between the rich and the poor. The book’s power comes from the scope of its widescreen action and its ability to support multiple interpretations.” Cynopolis, explained a Kirkus Reviews contributor, “is a thinking man’s horror tale replete with associative memories, literary allusion, intellectual discourse, and references to Hegel, Plato, Malcolm X, Amiri Baraka, [Jean-Paul] Sartre, and Athanasius Kircher, to name a few.” “There is … a strong sense of world building here,” wrote Jessica Marie Baumgartner on the website Horror Zine. “The reader is introduced to a city that is not so far gone from what Detroit could become in the future, and there’s a lot to it. The real story doesn’t seem to start revealing itself until about the third chapter and from there, twists open up to offer unexpected insight.”
Nightscape Double Feature No. 1, a collection of novellas by Edwards and a couple of fellow writers, and Early Darkness continue to explore the world of Nightscape. “These novellas aren’t merely for fans, as they’re both completely accessible as action-adventure tales, squarely in the tradition of the pulps,” said a Kirkus Reviews contributor. “A richly rewarding, action-packed excursion into the classic pulp era.” Early Darkness‘s “pacing is pitch-perfect throughout, and the supernatural elements that reveal themselves later on in the story are smoothly integrated,” declared a Kirkus Reviews contributor. “Fans of contemporary horror-thrillers will be deeply satisfied by this latest Nightscape outing.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, November 15, 2015, review of Cynopolis; April 15, 2017, review of Nightscape Double Feature No. 1; January 1, 2018, review of Early Darkness.
ONLINE
Horror Zine, http://www.thehorrorzine.com/ (June 22, 2018), Jessica Marie Baumgartner, “Nightscape: Cynopolis.”
Internet Movie Database, https://www.imdb.com/ (June 22, 2018), author profile.
Nightscape Series Website, http://www.nightscapeseries.com/ (June 22, 2018), author profile.
Oregonian, http://www.oregonlive.com/ (August 18, 2011), Casey Parks, “Hillsboro Legislator-turned-director David Edwards Films His First Movie: ‘Nightscape.'”
Read Free.ly, http://www.indieauthorland.com/ (January 19, 2013), David Njoku, “Interview with David W. Edwards, Author of Nightscape: The Dreams of Devils.“
Social Bookshelves, http://socialbookshelves.com/ (October 24, 2015), Dane Cobain, “Quick Q&A with David W. Edwards, Author of Nightscape: Cynopolis.“
Vote Smart, https://votesmart.org/ (June 22, 2018), author profile.
David Edwards (Oregon politician)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
David Edwards
Member of the Oregon House of Representatives
from the 30th district
In office
2007–2010
Preceded by Derrick Kitts
Succeeded by Shawn Lindsay
Personal details
Born David W. Edwards
1966 (age 51–52)
Las Vegas, Nevada
Political party Democratic
Spouse(s) Michelle
Residence Hillsboro, Oregon
Alma mater University of Southern California, University of Oregon
Occupation Business owner
David W. Edwards (born 1966) is a former Democratic member of the Oregon House of Representatives, representing District 30 from 2007–2010. He graduated Hillsboro High School and earned bachelor's and master's degrees in English literature from the University of Southern California and a master's in public affairs from the University of Oregon.[1] Edwards attended the University of Southern California's film school and turned to filmmaking after leaving the legislature, writing, directing and producing a supernatural thriller, Nightscape.[2] He also produced a tie-in video game, Nightscape: Phantom Fast Racing, available via iTunes and an original Nightscape novel, Nightscape: The Dreams of Devils. Edwards is also the founder and former CEO of Zanthus, a high tech marketing research company in Portland, Oregon.[1]
David Edwards' Biography
PrintTrack This Politician
David Edwards
Contact Information
(+) Expand All (–) Collapse All
Personal
Full Name:
David Edwards
Gender:
Male
Family:
Wife: Michelle; 2 Children
Birth Date:
1966
Birth Place:
Las Vegas, NV
Home City:
Hillsboro, OR
Education
BA, English Literature, University of Southern California
MA, English Literature, University of Southern California
MS, Public Affairs, University of Oregon
Political Experience
Representative
Candidate, Oregon House of Representatives, District 30, 2010
Caucuses/Non-Legislative Committees
Experience, City of Hillsboro's 2020 Vision Task Force
Professional Experience
Founder/Chief Executive Officer, Zanthus, 2000-present
Legislative Analyst, Oregon Economic Development Department
Religious, Civic, and other Memberships
No organizational membership information on file.
Additional Information
Father's Occupation:
Division I Basketball Coach, Portland State University/West Texas A&M University.
Mother's Occupation:
Swim Coach, Hillsboro High School.
Hillsboro legislator-turned-director David Edwards films his first movie: 'Nightscape'
Updated Aug 18, 2011; Posted Aug 18, 2011
0
By Casey Parks comments@oregonlive.com
The Oregonian/OregonLive
David Edwards, a former state legislator from Hillsboro, is now directing his first movie, "Nightscape," in various Portland locations.
As his film crew waited for dark on Sauvie Island, David Edwards walked a dusty gravel road with a stunt driver, pointing to the bend where a beat-up 1963 Chevy El Camino would careen behind a 1962 Studebaker Gran Turismo Hawk later that night.
Wearing a leather jacket, black T-shirt and black kangol hat, Edwards looked nothing like the buttoned-up politician who represented Hillsboro in the state Legislature for four years. Now a year after leaving office, Edwards is writing, producing and directing a supernatural horror film series. Work on the first movie, "Nightscape," began in July. Shooting on the movie, which was filmed in Hillsboro, Banks and Sauvie Island, wraps Sunday.
Hillsboro political leaders were surprised when Edwards, 44, announced in 2010 he would not run for a third term in the state House of Representatives. The Democrat had been a rising star in the Legislature, one of the youngest politicians to be appointed to the Joint Ways and Means Committee. Edwards left politics in part because his wife, who was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease in 2006, fell ill. The couple has two teenage boys, and Edwards wanted more time to spend with them.
Director of Photography Patrick Neary, Director David Edwards and Associate Producer Keith Jones scout a location on Sauvie Island before shooting a car chase scene for the movie "Nightscape."
The free time also allowed him to rework and film a script he had written four years ago. "Nightscape" is about "an emotionally guarded drifter who comes across a phantom car responsible for a wave of supernatural violence," Edwards said. It's set in a modern yet timeless backwater. The main characters speak like cowboys. Their classic cars stand in for horses.
Though this is Edward's directorial debut, he graduated from film school at the University of Southern California. He worked with studios after school, he said, but never produced his own work.
"I've never been afraid to jump into areas in which I have no experience," he said. "Frankly, if you knew how much work it would be, you might not do it."
Last Sunday, Edwards looked unfazed by the previous week of 15-hour shoots. He'd been up past dawn the previous two nights, but he seemed collected and ready for another long night.
Though his new gig has little in common with his political past, Edwards does allow that his analytical, detail-oriented nature has been helpful in both. He spent most of the last year scouting locations, hiring the 40-person crew, mapping out every shot.
On set, Edwards does little talking. He's a calm, guiding presence. His directions are spare and soft-spoken. The associate producer, Southeast Portland resident Keith Jones, gives most of the commands.
"All I do is say 'cut'," Edwards said, breaking his usual deadpan tone with a chuckle.
Stunt driver Alex Hill talks to stunt driver Cheryl Johnson before a car chase scene in "Nightscape."
The crew is shooting "Nightscape" using the RED ONE, a digital movie camera used for many Hollywood productions, and on a hand-cranked 35-millimeter camera. Edwards plans to screen "Nightscape" at film festivals such as Tribeca and South by Southwest before releasing it on DVD.
Edwards has already written a script for a sequel, and he has outlined plots for third and fourth movies for the series, which he describes as "Lovecraftian" after the author H.P. Lovecraft's bent toward horror based on the supernatural and unknown, rather than gore.
Last weekend, the crew loaded into an old white bus as dark fell. The Beatles' "A Day in the Life" played softly on the radio. The lyrics, "I saw a film today, oh boy," suddenly sounded creepy to Jones. The crew set up on the Sauvie Island bridge to film the El Camino fishtailing after the Studebaker.
In a week, they'd happily crash that El Camino over a ridge. But for now, they were in for a late night. The car chase would last until dawn.
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Interview with David W. Edwards, author of Nightscape: The Dreams of Devils
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By David Njoku / January 19, 2013 / Horror / No Comments
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Tell us about Nightscape: The Dreams of Devils
Nightscape: The Dreams of Devils is a companion piece to my recently completed feature film, Nightscape. It follows three high schools seniors who gain unwanted paranormal powers. They must learn the source and purpose of their powers in order to prevent the collapse of all reality. Despite having teenage protagonists, the book isn’t a young adult novel. The book deals with heady mathematical concepts and mature themes in the context of a surreal, Lovecraftian apocalypse. Knowledge of the associated film isn’t necessary for enjoyment. The book serves as a standalone introduction to the Nightscape universe. Of course, the book and film complement each other in unexpected ways.
Lovecraftian? What does that mean? We aren’t familiar with the term or who Lovecraft is.
H. P. Lovecraft‘s pulp-era stories of cosmic terror have had a considerable influence on the horror genre. Over dozens of shorts and one novel, he described a uniquely compelling pantheon of alien gods. To my mind, his mythology resonates today because it’s informed by a decidedly modern brand of existentialism. The alien gods of his imagination are wholly indifferent to humanity. In Lovecraft’s universe, the human race is not only alone in having moral compunctions, but subject to the whims of gods and other supernatural forces it can’t hope to understand.
Even if readers aren’t familiar with Lovecraft’s stories, they’re likely to have been exposed to some of his ideas through popular fiction, movies or games. The most popular film adaptation is arguably Gordon Stuarts seminal horror-comedy, Re-Animator, which is based on Lovecraft’s “Herbert West, Re-animator.” The dread god Cthulhu, the dangerous grimoire the Necronomicon, and other concepts endemic to Lovecraft’s work have been referenced in a wide variety of media. There’s a thriving cottage industry dedicated to augmenting his mythology in various forms. Some of it’s pure pastiche. But the best of it captures Lovecraft’s unsettling sense of the unknown.
Thanks for explaining that. What genre is your book?
Horror, or to be more precise, supernatural thriller.
We’ve never read a book where recipients of powers didn’t want them. Tell us a bit more.
The lead, for instance, develops ever-expanding telepathic powers which threaten to drive him mad. At first, he can read the minds of those only in the immediate vicinity. By the end, however, he’s capable of reading minds around the world in rapid succession. The escalation of his telepathic powers both terrifies and excites him.
What exactly is the relationship between the book and the film – is it the same story, a prequel or a sequel? When we go out and get both which should we read/watch first?
The book and the film are related by virtue of a shared cast and mythology. The book involves two characters from the film, but in a completely different context. How these characters can appear in both stories is explained by the book’s climactic twist.
I should mention that in addition to the novel, the book contains a bonus short, “Auto-da-Fe, American-style,” which serves as a ‘proper’ prequel to the film. This story–about a radical art group experimenting with ‘acid telepathy’–provides an origin for the supernatural threat in the film. (As an interesting aside, the film’s soundtrack includes a song featured in this story. The lyrics are referenced a few times throught the short. I co-wrote this retro-psychedelic song, “Save Yourself (Cuz No One Else Will),” with my lead actress, Emily Galash, who fronts the Portland, Oregon-based punk band Monster-Sized Monsters.)
You can read the book and watch the film in any order and still be surprised. The two complement each other without spoilers. That said, you’ll have a qualitatively different experience if you take in both.
So what kind of readers will it appeal to?
Readers of modern weird fiction by Laird Barron , Ramsey Campbell , Fred Chappell, T.E.D. Klein, Thomas Ligotti and Lisa Mannetti will hopefully find this a satisfying read. Character, atmosphere and ideas are privileged over what Lovecraft once derided as “mere physical fear or the mundanely gruesome.”
You say the book deals with heady mathematical theories – what do you mean? Should those of us who are a little scared of mathematics steer clear?
The lead protagonist, Case Tannahill, is a 16-year-old math prodigy obsessed by the concept of infinity and its paradoxes. His mathematical pursuits provide clues about the nature of the supernatural threat he faces, and potentially, how to undermine, if not defeat it. I tried to integrate the relevant math concepts into the dramatic action as smoothly as possible. (My model in this regard was Don Delilo’s The Names.) I kept the descriptions relatively simple and any necessary examples are drawn from the narrative. You certainly don’t have to be math-savvy in order to enjoy the book any more than you need to be a forensic scientist to enjoy CSI. You just have to be sufficiently curious about the world.
How long did it take to write?
Writing the book occupied me for about 18 months on and off, as I wrote, shot and completed my film during the same period.
What was the most challenging part of your creative process?
One of the main challenges was mastering the book’s unique narrative mode. After the main protagonist gains telepathic powers, the story is told in what can only be called first-person omniscient.
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I attended the University of Southern California’s prestigious screenwriting program in the late-1980s, earning a bachelor’s degree in English Literature. I went on to receive a master’s in English Literature from USC and a second master’s in Public Affairs from the University of Oregon. After founding a successful high-tech market research firm and serving two terms in the Oregon House of Representatives, I completed my first feature film as writer and director, the supernatural thriller, Nightscape. I reside in my hometown of Hillsboro, Oregon with my wife and two sons.
So a re you a novelist who makes films or a filmmaker who writes novels?
Is it a cheat to describe myself as a moebius strip–a novelist who makes films when viewed one way, and a filmmaker who writes novels when viewed another? I suppose that’s a fancy way of saying I’m peripatetic. That’s how one of my former bosses described my tendency to seize on one interest then another.
Have you got a blog where readers can keep up with your work?
Visit nightscapemovie.com to get the latest scoop on the Nightscape universe.
And how can we follow you on Facebook and/or Twitter?
You can follow me via the Nightscape Facebook page or Twitter account (@nightscapefan).
Where can we buy your book?
The book is available from Amazon ( US, UK) , Barnes & Noble and other fine retailers.
What’s next?
I’m hard at work on the next entry in the series, tentatively titled Nightscape: Cynopolis. This book will put a supernatural twist on Detroit’s stray dog epidemic. I’m also revising the script to the film’s sequel and hope to start principal photography in 2014.
formats
Quick Q&A with David W. Edwards, Author of Nightscape: Cynopolis
Published on October 24, 2015 by danecobain+ in Author Interviews
Hi, folks! Today, we’re continuing our Quick Q&A series by speaking to David W. Edwards, the author of Nightscape: Cynopolis. Read on to find out what happened…
David W. Edwards - Nightscape: Cynopolis
David W. Edwards – Nightscape: Cynopolis
Tell us a little bit about your upcoming release – what’s it about, and why should we read it?
The book’s about a former counterculture radical who turns Detroit’s dogs feral and its underclass into a horde of jackal-headed beasts. The few remaining humans must find a way to elude the military blockade preventing their escape or defeat the thought-virus at its source, before government forces sacrifice them all. You can read it purely as bizarro entertainment or as an elaborate metaphor for the growing divide between the rich and the poor. The book’s power comes from the scope of its widescreen action and its ability to support multiple interpretations.
Is the book self-published, or is it being released by a publisher? Could you tell us a little more about the publication process?
I launched my own transmedia company/small press, Imperiad Entertainment, in 2012 as a way to better control my publication schedule and the associated marketing. I’m about to publish the first book written by someone other than me — a double novella in the style of the old Ace Doubles. The book features two stories set in the Nightscape universe. The first, The Thousand-Eyed Fear, is set near the end of World War One. It’s about a ragtag group of teen soldiers tasked with infiltrating a secret German base that harbours a terrible supernatural threat. The second, The Blood Canvas, is a pre-World War Two murder-mystery featuring a female French detective who uses surrealist art techniques to uncover clues. Credit goes to genre veterans Derrick Ferguson and Sean Taylor for their exceptional work on these stories. I’m now editing the book to length in preparation for a February 2016 release.
Are there any recurring themes in your writing, or specific subjects that you like to investigate? If so, can you tell us a little more about them?
One of the recurring themes in my work is an elaboration of Richard Dawkins’ thesis that all living things are mere hosts for genes. In the Nightscape universe, the premise is that humanity is of accidental use to supernatural forces as a carrier of unusual viruses or as a psychic power source. Sometimes this theme is fairly subtle, as in the first Nightscape book, The Dreams of Devils. Other times, as in the case of the thought-virus behind the jackal-headed monsters in Cynopolis, it’s more overt. This idea fits perfectly with the series’ depiction of the universe as indifferent and mechanistic in its operation.
David W. Edwards
David W. Edwards
How long does it take you to get a book out from start to finish? What are all of the different steps, and which is your favourite?
I’m trying to release two books a year through Imperiad—one by yours truly and one Nightscape Double Feature . Cynopolis took exactly two years from start to finish due to its length and my fairly demanding day job as a market research based business consultant. The first draft of the novel was over 150,000 words. Under the guidance of my fabulous editor, Sarah Kishpaugh, I cut about 26,000 words. It was a painful but instructive process and the book is all the better for it.
My favourite part of the writing process is the conceptual stage. In this stage, the book seems to be a classic in the making. The act of writing invariably narrows your choices and reveals the limitations of your ideas.
Tell us about your writing routine – how do you get things done?
I tend to think and work best in the early morning, so I try to get in an hour or two prior to work against a goal of 500 words per day. I usually spend time with my wife in the evenings, but if she’s busy with her own work, I’ll take some time to edit that day’s output or to add to it. Weekends are when I make my greatest strides. I usually write between 1,500 and 3,000 words each weekend day. I take the occasional day off, but only if compelled to by unusual circumstances. I consider writing to be a craft that calls for sticking to a set schedule.
How do you get the word out about your books?
Cynopolis marks the first time I’ve developed a comprehensive marketing plan. I’m experimenting with a variety of outreach efforts, including: press releases to both genre and mainstream press; print advertising in magazines like Fangoria and Shock Cinema; banner ads on websites like Hellnotes and Horror Reviews; and giveaways via targeted Facebook ads. Following this initial experiment, I hope to have a better sense of what’s effective and to refine my approach for the next release.
Nightscape Banner
Nightscape Banner
What was the last book that you read and what did you think of it?
Curiously enough, I tend to read more mainstream literary fiction than horror. The last book I read was Jonathan Franzen’s Purity. I’ll resist the temptation to go into a longwinded review. Suffice it to say that the book was more enjoyable than Freedom, which I loathed for its simpering characters and snarky editorializing, but it ultimately left me wanting. The intermittent critiques of modern life, specifically, the internet and the politics of information, seemed too easy to have much emotional impact. And the ending came across as woefully contrived.
How did you get into writing? Do you remember the first thing that you wrote?
I got into writing through reading. I started reading at age four and was reading adult science fiction and mainstream literature almost exclusively by nine years old. I wrote my first ‘book’ in the third grade. It was about a grasshopper with the power to channel electricity through its antennae — basically, an insect precursor to Surge from Marvel’s New Mutants. My teacher helped me send the manuscript to a book publisher I selected from an old copy of the Writer’s Market I’d found in the school library. Unfortunately, the publisher turned out to specialize in sports books.
What have you got planned for the future? What can we expect to see?
Beyond Nightscape Double Feature No. 1, I’m working on a concept album in the vein of Rush and Black Sabbath, which will hopefully be released in June 2016, and, of course, the next Nightscape novel. The latter is a two-part giallo or supernatural murder-mystery called Among the Unsaved. The first part is like a demonic version of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None as written by Dostoevsky and the second is a crazy mash-up of Cormac McCarthy and the B-movie Pumpkinhead.
Agatha Christie - And Then There Were None
Agatha Christie – And Then There Were None
How would you categorise your work? Do you think it fits under a genre?
I wish bookstores and libraries had ‘weird fiction’ sections, as that’s my preferred genre tag. I’m prone to bringing a literary sensibility to the genre so ‘literary horror’ might also work, but it has an unwanted air of pretension. When forced to use standard genre nomenclature, I typically go with ‘supernatural thriller’ or straight up ‘horror.’ Cynopolis has the added complication of qualifying under the popular ‘urban horror’ banner, but the rest of the series doesn’t fit that description.
What advice would you give to an up-and-coming writer?
If you’re in this field for the long-haul, focus on honing your craft. The ease of self-publishing has made many writers impatient with the prospect of spending several months or more editing their first drafts. Just because it’s a cliché, it doesn’t make it any less true: writing is re-writing. I have a day job that pays the bills, so I’m not compelled to write four to six hastily written 40,000 word ‘novels’ a year to supplement my income. My aim is to write a series of twenty-plus books that stands out for its literary aspirations, if not for its quality. I’d rather try for posterity and fail than do less than my best in order to satisfy an adolescent need for immediate gratification. I’d encourage any serious writer to do the same.
What effect do you think the internet is having on the world of literature?
Well, there’s the effect of the internet on the business of literature and there’s its effect on literature itself. In terms of the latter, the internet offers up the potential for new forms of the novel. Ian Pears’ experimental app/print novel, Arcadia, is a prime example of what can be accomplished when you’re willing to rethink what literature means in the light of technology. I’ve come up with an idea for a book structured somewhat like Nabokov’s Pale Fire that might best exist as an app or as a type of web-based software. I’m likely to explore the concept further as the Nightscape series gradually morphs into a melange of horror, action-adventure and science fiction.
Vladimir Nabokov - Pale Fire
Vladimir Nabokov – Pale Fire
What’s the biggest trend in the writing world right now, in your opinion?
The self-publishing trend is now a permanent part of the industry landscape. I suspect that the major publishing houses will be ever-more aggressive in co-opting it, treating the self-publishing field much like record companies treat YouTube — as a proving ground for potential stars.
If you could have dinner with any three authors, living or dead, which three authors would you pick?
This would be quite a mix: Immanuel Kant (I re-read his Groundwork of the Metaphysic of Morals every few years); Saul Bellow, who I regard as the greatest writer of the 20th century; and H.P. Lovecraft, in part, for the opportunity to understand where he would have taken the mythos had he lived longer.
Who does the cover design on your books? And what’s the design process like?
I’ve been lucky to work with a pair of talented artists. My regular cover artist is the incomparable Argentine artist, Santiago Caruso. He’s a favourite in the horror field because of his unique ability to capture the essence of a work in a single oneiric image. I typically give Santiago two or three cover ideas and he comes back with a couple of sketches. On Cynopolis, he gave me a preliminary sketch that gave me pause because it had distracting sexual connotations. But we talked through the issue and he delivered a masterful cover per usual.
My go-to cover designer is Ryan Peinhardt, who has a fabulous eye for composition. He does both cover and interior design work. I’d put his interior layouts against any book published by the major presses.
As a self-published author, it’s important for my books to have a professional fit and finish. These artists make that happen.
David W. Edwards
David W. Edwards
Thanks again to David W. Edwards for stopping by SocialBookshelves.com! You can find him on Facebook and Twitter, or you can click here to check out Nightscape: Cynopolis on Amazon.
David W. Edwards is the visionary creator of the Nightscape series of supernatural thrillers, which so far includes a feature film, several novels, a comic book, a play and a concept album. He attended the University of Southern California’s prestigious screenwriting program and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English Literature while working for a variety of Hollywood production companies. He’s the founder and former CEO of a successful high-tech market research firm, and a former two-term state representative. He currently lives in Oregon with his family.
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Photo courtesy of Tatiana Wills
Photo courtesy of Tatiana Wills
David W. Edwards is the writer, director and producer of the feature film Nightscape and author of the novels Nightscape: The Dreams of Devils and Nightscape: Cynopolis. He attended the University of Southern California’s prestigious screenwriting program and earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in English Literature while working for a variety of Hollywood production companies. He’s the founder and former CEO of a successful high-tech market research firm, and a former two-term state representative. He currently lives in Hillsboro, Oregon with his family.
Q&A
What’s your main inspiration for the Nightscape series?
The most obvious influence on my work is H.P. Lovecraft’s pulp-era stories of cosmic terror. His mythology resonates today because it’s informed by a decidedly modern (or even post-modern) brand of existentialism. The alien gods of his imagination are wholly indifferent to humanity. In Lovecraft’s universe, the human race is both alone in having moral compunctions and subject to the whims of gods and other supernatural forces it can’t hope to understand. The Nightscape mythology involves a similarly abstract pantheon but for wholly different ends. At the risk of sounding pretentious, the series is intended to dramatize the evolution of human consciousness. Saying much more than that would risk spoiling future narrative developments.
Should I experience entries in the Nightscape series in any particular order?
Each entry in the series—book, comic, film, album or whatnot—is designed to stand alone. Provided I’ve done my job properly, you can enjoy them in any order and more importantly, on their own merits. Experience with the series, however, will be amply rewarded. For instance, Nightscape: The Dreams of Devils contains a bonus short story that serves as a prequel to the film. This story—about a radical puppetry group and its experiments in ‘acid telepathy’—offers an origin for the film’s supernatural threat. The story and the film complement each other without spoilers. But you’ll have a qualitatively different experience if you take in both.
Are you a novelist who makes films or a filmmaker who writes novels?
Is it a cheat to describe myself as a Möbius strip–a novelist who makes films when viewed one way, and a filmmaker who writes novels when viewed another? I suppose that’s a fancy way of saying I’m peripatetic. That’s how one of my former bosses described my tendency to seize on one interest after another. Don’t worry: Nightscape is forever, natch.
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Print Marked Items
Edwards, David W.: NIGHTSCAPE
Kirkus Reviews.
(Jan. 1, 2018):
COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Edwards, David W. NIGHTSCAPE Imperiad Entertainment (Indie Fiction) $11.99 9, 22 ISBN: 978-0-
9897487-4-2
A South Pacific thriller that mixes a good deal of Robert Louis Stevenson with a dash of H.P. Lovecraft.
Edwards' (Nightscape: Cynopolis, 2015, etc.) third Nightscape novel opens with a desperate emergency--
and it rarely slows down after that. Six passengers are enjoying a pleasure cruise aboard a luxury 58-foot
cruising yacht near the Solomon Islands when sudden disaster strikes: their anchor comes loose during the
night and their yacht strikes a coral reef, fatally gashing the hull. Everyone is forced to abandon ship and
swim in the darkness to the nearest atoll. The six castaways are 26-year-old Atlanta Journal-Constitution
journalist Ridge Dantley; his fiancee, Mira; his old friend and former schoolmate at Choate, Aaron; U.S.
Sen. Bryant Neeland of Georgia; his chief of staff, Kenny; and Kenny's latest "flirtation," Boston Brahmin
Paige. They all (barely) make it to the atoll--except for Aaron, who disappears into the night. A grieving
Ridge decides to swim to a much bigger island in the distance in hopes of finding a settlement or some fresh
water. Instead, he finds a nightmare: an outlaw camp run by a sadistic tyrant named Tarrant who forces his
own men, the native Melanesians, and now Ridge, to mine for gold. But from Ridge, he wants one other
task: editing a strange work of philosophy that Tarrant's been writing. Edwards very skillfully intersperses
tense action scenes among engaging elaborations of his characters--most interestingly, the aforementioned
disillusioned senator, who thinks "with growing vehemence" about the decay of the American dream. The
prose can be melodramatic at times, as in this line, during the boating mishap: "From his perspective, high
above the water, his friends appeared the hapless victims of some vast Manichean struggle." However, the
pacing is pitch-perfect throughout, and the supernatural elements that reveal themselves later on in the story
are smoothly integrated. Also, new readers need not read the earlier volumes in the series to enjoy this one.
Fans of contemporary horror-thrillers will be deeply satisfied by this latest Nightscape outing.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Edwards, David W.: NIGHTSCAPE." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Jan. 2018. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A520735554/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=c6d1247e.
Accessed 17 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A520735554
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Edwards, David W.: NIGHTSCAPE
Kirkus Reviews.
(Apr. 15, 2017):
COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Edwards, David W. NIGHTSCAPE Imperiad Entertainment (Indie Fiction) $11.99 12, 7 ISBN: 978-0-692-
78737-3
Two novellas set in the world of the 2012 Nightscape movie. Both tales in this dual-novella package are set
in a supernaturally tinged world that's provided the basis for a 2012 feature film (written, produced, and
directed by Edwards), comic books, short stories, novels, and even an album. However, these novellas aren't
merely for fans, as they're both completely accessible as action-adventure tales, squarely in the tradition of
the pulps. The Thousand-Eyed Fear by Derrick Ferguson (Search for the Beast, 2016, etc.) and Edwards
(Nightscape: Cynopolis, 2015, etc.) is the more successful of the two; it centers on the unlikely partnership
between Capt. William Davenport of the British Third Army, a hardheaded Anglican realist, and the Lost
Boys, a group of teenage soldiers who are self-professed masters of the arcane. It's 1917, and their goal is to
find and destroy a diabolical new weapon that the Germans are developing to bring the war to a cataclysmic
end. The second story, The Q for Damnation, by debut author Arlen M. Todd, is set on the eve of World
War II, with the Nazis on the brink of a breakthrough in dark magic--this time, in the form of a classic
painting with supernatural potential. Opposing them is the young Frenchwoman Monteau, who's depicted as
a fascinating blend of resistance fighter and Batman-like superhero. As in its predecessor, the narrative in
this tale relies heavily on breakneck pacing and a rapid-fire succession of plot twists. In both novellas, the
authors offer plenty of engaging examples of full-throated pastiche, including moments of high-fantasy
overwriting that might have had Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan the Barbarian, grinning with pride:
"All of his brother monks had degenerated into bestial dreamshapes. They stirred about, driven by blind
instinct or vestigial habit, pursuing the swimmy visions in their heads." A richly rewarding, action-packed
excursion into the classic pulp era, delivering a combination of eldritch villains and overmatched but valiant
heroes.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Edwards, David W.: NIGHTSCAPE." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Apr. 2017. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A489268374/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=e4d8ed3f.
Accessed 17 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A489268374
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Edwards, David W.: Nightscape:
Cynopolis
Kirkus Reviews.
(Nov. 15, 2015):
COPYRIGHT 2015 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Edwards, David W. NIGHTSCAPE: CYNOPOLIS Imperiad Entertainment (Indie Fiction) $14.99 10, 20
ISBN: 978-0-9897487-3-5
Through contact with interdimensional beings, a former Black Power activist releases a "thought-virus" that
turns dogs wild and people into jackal-headed creatures resembling the ancient Egyptian god Anubis.
Edwards' (The Dreams of Devils, 2012, etc.) second installment of the Nightscape series is a thinking man's
horror tale replete with associative memories, literary allusion, intellectual discourse, and references to
Hegel, Plato, Malcolm X, Amiri Baraka, Sartre, and Athanasius Kircher, to name a few. Unlike some runof-the-mill
zombie apocalypses, this well-written, multilayered tale has depth and complexity; when people
transform into monsters, it feels more like Ionesco's Rhinoceros than Night of the Living Dead. The
narrative begins by introducing various groups of characters, from cops to gangsters, dogcatchers to street
people, all crafted into empathetic personalities, each ultimately facing the catastrophe. Sick and dying,
Gaston, aka "Mister," spends much of his time in a dream state in which he claims to communicate with
telepathic aliens from the Sirius star system. Though even Mister doubts his own sanity, he hopes to trick
the aliens and use their powers for some kind of race revolution, a plan he discusses with Khonsu, a street
person who dispenses cerebral books to various inhabitants of the inner city. Meanwhile, as Detroit
descends into a seething hellscape a la Hieronymus Bosch and the military begins shooting everyone on
sight via drones, a supersecret black ops team with extensive knowledge of alien and interdimensional
goings-on is working to remedy the situation while other cognoscenti attempt to foil them. Ultimately, from
all this confusion and mayhem, an unlikely hero emerges. Edwards is a master of character building, and as
random people morph into beasts, those left behind tend to ponder their inner landscapes as much as their
outrageous circumstances. The intriguing, sometimes-confusing highbrow discourse adds a shade of
believability to the pseudo-scientific psychobabble used to explain the unfolding chaos. By turns
entertaining, poignant, and heady, a thoroughly enjoyable thrill ride powered by jolts of philosophy.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Edwards, David W.: Nightscape: Cynopolis." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Nov. 2015. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A434352183/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=929026de.
Accessed 17 May 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A434352183
Nightscape: Cynopolis
by David W. Edwards
Series: Nightscape (Book 2)
Paperback: 362 pages
Publisher: Imperiad Entertainment (October 4, 2015)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0989748731
ISBN-13: 978-0989748735
nightscape
Nightscape: Cynopolis
By David W. Edwards
Review by Jessica Marie Baumgartner
David W Edwards’ wild ride of insanity whisks the reader through a lot of ups and downs. This novel takes place in the slums of Detroit and offers a wide range of characters to give us a feel for how corrupt and broken down things have gotten. From the very start the reader can sense that something is not quite right here.
I have to say, The Eye of Hermanubis sections were my favorite part. The unsettled feeling of being left in the dark for the first part of the story is slightly eased by these sections that change the flow of the story, and offer a different tone between breaks. It’s something unique, written directly for the reader to connect with.
There is also strong sense of world building here. The reader is introduced to a city that is not so far gone from what Detroit could become in the future, and there’s a lot to it. The real story doesn’t seem to start revealing itself until about the third chapter and from there, twists open up to offer unexpected insight.
Some philosophical undertones round the story out, which I thought were a nice touch. I especially appreciated the line, “I’m convinced the first step in a real revolution is chaos.” Beautifully written and true in many cases. That line will stay with me and I always appreciate memorable lines like that.
Unfortunately I had trouble enjoying the entirety of the novel. There was a lack of characterization in the beginning that made it difficult for me to relate to any of the characters. There were so many different people thrown into a mix-up of scenes that there seemed to be a few narrative issues which could have been cleaned up.
Mainly, there were a few more head hopping issues than I prefer to deal with when enjoying a good novel. Especially at the beginning. Each scene needs to have a clear, well written main character. Edwards gave us some intriguing people who could have been that if he flushed them out a bit more.
Separating them out would have also offered a better flow. It was difficult to follow the variety of story lines because there was no real order to them. Each section starts off reading like short stories that tie together as perspective shifts and events take place. This can work, but some of the characters in Nightscape: Cynopolis took over for longer than others, and they switched around without much fluidity. That may have been a stylistic choice to instill a sense of chaos erupting everywhere in the book, but when a tale is filled with so much high powered destruction at random intervals, a good pattern makes for better balance and is easier on the reader.
I went into this expecting a Lovecraftian wonder and came out a little disappointed. There seemed to be a lack of horror and dark fantasy elements at first with way too many crammed into the end. After the first few chapters, I stopped wondering when things would pick up. I settled into the more modern literature style that seemed to be carrying the story. From that standpoint, I found myself baffled at dialogue issues as I waited for things to come together.
Having grown up and lived in diverse areas for most of my life, I enjoyed the portrayal of the rougher side of the streets, but came to question the authenticity of the characters when they were using slang/Ebonics terms. The language spoken gave the story a nice early 90s feels, but then someone referenced Kanye West and I had to stop and rethink the time frame. It completely pulled me out of the story. The dialogue has to sync up with the entirety of the situation, and it did not here.
With that issue and some drag in the storyline I began to wonder if maybe some scenes could be cut. Once I passed the halfway point, the tension did grow. And it built nicely at first, but then so many things were thrown in at once that the storyline seemed cluttered. I love a good climax, but this erupted with so many elements after dragging without giving me a reason to care, that I had to fight to focus. And it became downright annoying with mutants, feral dogs, aliens, a giant squid, and government issues.
There could be a great voice to this story if it were smoothed out a little more. Edwards makes some valid conclusions at the end. He uses the atrocity of confining people to destruction as a way to impress the importance of “greater sympathetic imagination” on the reader.
Honestly, I feel that this particular tale would make a better movie. The author is noted as a Director and Producer and I think that may be his specialty. I would love to watch everything that happened in this book to unfold on the big screen, but reading it just didn’t do it for me and I’m a person that prefers books to movies. Still, this story has heart and would grow better through a visual medium.