My story Old Habits is one I’d been thinking about for years. Presented as a short story in the anthology, Twisted Tales, it is quite possible a novel length version may appear somewhere down the line. The main character, Gaunt Thibideaux, is one of the most compelling and disturbing I’ve created, in my opinion. He is even more worrisome than dear old Norma from the not so peaceful town of Riddle.
Much like Riddle, Gaunt’s hometown of Burkesville is a bucolic small town where people gossip behind closed doors and strange occurrences are often swept under the rug. But it’s what lies beneath that comfortable small town surface, bubbling and rotting, that makes the story come alive. Gaunt is just a small town boy who grows to manhood and old age, seemingly a stanchion of the community. It’s Gaunt’s old habits the story is named for. And as I have said, a habit born in his youth lives on as he ages because, as they say, “old habits die hard”.
Much like Riddle, Gaunt’s hometown of Burkesville is a bucolic small town where people gossip behind closed doors and strange occurrences are often swept under the rug. But it’s what lies beneath that comfortable small town surface, bubbling and rotting, that makes the story come alive. Gaunt is just a small town boy who grows to manhood and old age, seemingly a stanchion of the community. It’s Gaunt’s old habits the story is named for. And as I have said, a habit born in his youth lives on as he ages because, as they say, “old habits die hard”.
