Verlin Darrow

Verlin Darrow is a psychotherapist who lives with his psychotherapist wife in the woods near the Monterey Bay in northern California. They diagnose each other as necessary. Darrow is a former professional volleyball player (in Italy), unsuccessful country-western singer/songwriter, import store owner, and assistant guru in a small, benign spiritual organization.

His new novel is The Brighter the Light, the Darker the Shadow.

My Q&A with the author:

How much work does your title do to take readers into the story?

First of all, I need to confess that I stole my title—The Brighter the Light, the Darker the Shadow—from Carl Jung. I paraphrased the actual quote (not on purpose) because I remembered it incorrectly. Then I realized my version was more appropriate for the book.

In psychological terms, it means that the more rational we are in our conscious minds, the stronger the activity of our subconscious. In literary terms, I hope it implies the two sides of a character that might pertain to a murder mystery. Which part of us drives criminal behavior? I’m guessing that the title will only fully make sense to the reader at the resolution stage of the twisty plot.

Also, I just thought my title sounded cool.

What's in a name?

I “chose” Kade Tobin as my protagonist’s name à la the above answer—from my subconscious. It bubbled up when I first had to come up with a name. Often, I choose names that are easy to type, which is kind of dumb since all I need to do is use the “find” function to replace any name later. I finally stepped away from that method here.

I don’t know of anyone named Kade, which fits the character since he is a rare breed. My only association with Tobin was a bully who lived near us when I was a kid. This makes some sense again—in hindsight—because at at some point the reader wonders whether Kade is a good guy or a bad guy. Of course, I’m probably the only one who associates the name Tobin with villainy, but tell that to my subconscious.

Do you find it harder to write beginnings or endings? Which do you change more?

I always find it easy to get rolling and write the first few chapters, based on a concept that intrigues me and a main character. I almost always have to invert the first and second chapter to begin with action, or at least something that isn’t the exposition that falls out of me first.

As the plot and character development proceed, these early sections become inconsistent with what follows, and always require significant revision. Maybe I made my protagonist tall when later he needs to be short to make a plot point work. Perhaps the setting doesn’t support his motivation—do monks really carry assault rifles in order to subdue murderers?

The endings are always challenging since I’m not a planner. I usually don’t know “who done it” until late in my mysteries, and by then I’ve often painted myself in a corner with the plot, necessitating a major twist to work my characters out of it. Surprisingly, this has worked out every time.

Do you see much of yourself in your characters? Do they have any connection to your personality, or are they a world apart?

The reason I picked Kade to be the leader of a small spiritual community is actually the write-about-what-you-know principle. Many years ago, I co-founded and co-led a similar group, replete with the sort of Eastern philosophy my protagonist sometimes shares. (Don’t worry—it’s not heavy- handed).

At any rate, Kade is committed to teaching, kindness, and helping others—features that, ironically, don’t always serve him in the book. I like to think of myself as trying to operate by those same priorities, and like my character, it doesn’t always work out for me in the real world, either.

The quirky members of the community are drawn from the ones who were in our spiritual group, as well as some of the more eccentric patients I’ve worked with.

What non-literary inspirations have influenced your writing?

The latter part of The Brighter the Light, the Darker the Shadow is an extended murder trial. My middle name is Clarence and my last name is Darrow. Propelled by my family’s adoration of Clarence Darrow (to each his own) I wanted to be a lawyer when I grew up. I watched Perry Mason (I’m dating myself here) and any other courtroom drama I could find. Since my family’s main hobby was arguing, I thought I’d found my niche.

Once I realized what lawyers actually do, I moved on to other aspirations—pro athlete, singer-songwriter, traditionally published author, etc. I find it odd that I actually achieved all of these. (This is irrelevant to the question, but my ego likes to work it in).

My background as a psychotherapist—my understanding of how and why people change—has guided me, as well. Characters need to go through adversity and be changed by it. Otherwise, there’s an unsatisfying static quality to a book. I think my years of helping people get unstuck have proven to be invaluable in my writing career.

Visit Verlin Darrow's website.

Writers Read: Verlin Darrow (May 2023).

My Book, The Movie: Murder for Liar.

The Page 69 Test: Murder for Liar.

The Page 69 Test: The Not Quite Enlightened Sleuth.

Writers Read: Verlin Darrow (April 2024).

My Book, The Movie: The Not Quite Enlightened Sleuth.

My Book, The Movie: The Brighter the Light, the Darker the Shadow.

--Marshal Zeringue