About CONFLUENCE by James W. Hawk
The CONFLUENCE ebook will be available free on Amazon.com on Saturday, August 26 and Sunday, August 27, 2023.
CONFLUENCE takes us deep into the lives of its troubled main characters, Lilith and Jacob, who may appear normal on the outside but who are struggling mightily to deal with their torturous pasts. Our emotions switch from suspicion to anger to sorrow and finally to head-shaking incredulity as CONFLUENCE draws us in for what appears to be a sensational serial killer mystery, only to expose a complicated web of deep secrets in the story’s final, shocking reveal. Nothing is ever as it seems with CONFLUENCE, so hold on to your seat and enjoy the ride.
The storytelling is very cinematic, and that is a reflection of the work Hawk does in film. Everything is very visual and visceral. It is very tight chronologically, as a film director would insist it be. If someone picks up a coffee mug, they put it down. They don’t just write with a pen but with a Montblanc. Hawk also has a natural penchant for dialogue, which isn’t easy to write. Portraying conversation in a natural tone, without it being too literal or forced, is a gift that he has. Many people try to force characters to say too much, and they sound like they’re doing a Shakespearean soliloquy! Hawk lets the conversations flow naturally and enables the story to unfold patiently. Again, that shows maturity and discipline in storytelling. The short chapters help with pacing. JK Rowling’s Harry Potter series is the best example of that structure. The dialogue is quick. There is enough detail to convey and capture a scene without drenching the reader. Hawk keeps things moving. It is really, really well done, and the storytelling is seamless, and that’s hard with the extremely complicated narrative web he weaves. Most of all, I must comment on the creativity and structure of the story itself. The character building and storytelling are seamless, and that’s hard with the extremely complicated narrative web he weaves. Hawk did a great job building suspense and engagement with the story-within-a-story structure of the two children walking in the snow-covered field. As a reader, you sense that the tale will have meaning, but you have no idea how much meaning until the end. All of Hawk’s tales have an element of the unexpected, the hints within the story that there may be more to what the reader sees than meets the eye. But this tale elevates that structure to its finest level. When I first started reading, I expected another murder mystery about a serial killer, which is fine if done well. But Hawk’s story provided the added pleasure of complicated character building and background layers. I knew there might be a twist, but I did not expect what happened. That was brilliantly done, and it took a lot of thought (and work!) to make it happen and make sense. Hawk’s work reminds me of H.P. Lovecraft to some degree, who’s. stories can be kind of far out there, but they are masterfully told.
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Author Bio:
James W. Hawk is an author, filmmaker, and photographic artist. He graduated from Cleveland State University with a Mechanical Engineering degree. His early writing experience was corporate-oriented. In recent times, he is the author of CONFLUENCE, WILLARD’S FUNDAMENTAL FORCE, TO beta-VANVERDEN AND BACK, and FAILURE (from the Aleph to Taw Chronicles). He is a filmmaker and the principal of HawkMedia Studios, HawkFilme, OldMan Hawk Film, and Aleph to Taw. He has written more than 35 movie scripts. He is a literature and filmmaker colleague of the USVAA (United States Veteran’s Artist Alliance.) Hawk is currently working on several new print projects for the Aleph to Taw Chronicles.
AWARD-WINNING FILMMAKER – FILM EXHIBITED AT ROME, ITALY ART EXHIBITION -4 FILMS FILM FESTIVALS SEMI-FINALISTS – FILMS SCREENED AT 57 FILM FESTIVALS/VENUES WORLDWIDE WITH 105 FILMS SCREENED – 150 IMDB CREDITS Born in New Eagle, PA of German, Irish, Scottish, & Native American (Seneca) descent. Attended Ohio U in Architecture and Cleveland State U in Mechanical Engineering
First Indy film – 2-hour cinema verite called Old School Roadster aired on CT TV
Worked for the Connecticut Film Industry Training Program for 3 years as Associate Producer & Director of behind-the-scenes film
TV interviews regarding his filmmaking
Top IMDb lifetime contributor
Colleague of U S Veteran’s Artist Alliance
Jan Harlan gave Hawk’s work high marks. Dr. Raymond Foery (Professor Emeritus Quinnipiac U. Film, Television, and Media Arts) said of Hawk, "A truly imaginative filmmaker with a highly sophisticated sense of cinematic acuity. His projects also reveal the mind of an artist grappling with the eternal philosophical dilemmas of our existence. In short, Jim’s work forces us to think as well as to look."