* The trilogy is one continuous story with several subplots. About 440 single-spaced pages. About 200,000 words.
* Smoke on the Water was intended to be a stand-alone mystery novel that was inspired by actual events.
* I loved the characters so much I planned to write six to eight more books, and call it the Point Jove series.
* The first book was originally titled The Cabin. A quick search at the local library revealed 26 titles containing the word Cabin.
* I went through a dozen titles before going with Smoke on the Water.
* A TV docudrama about an arsonist inspired Fire Flicks. The title spawned the trilogy, ending the idea of an ongoing series.
* The title Ashes of Vengeance came from a 1920's movie.
* SOTW is a stand-alone. FF and AOV are not.
* Point Jove, Missouri is a fictitious place.
* Point Jove, Talon Ridge, Eagle Daze: Bird of Jove. Bird of prey. My antagonist.
* I can't say who the antagonist was modeled after without revealing the identity of the antagonist.
* Preston and Julie Terrace were named after the characters portrayed by Henry Fonda and Bette Davis in the movie Jezebel.
* Sheriff Joshua Wolfe could be the actor Sam Elliot at age 53.
* Paige Cole-Denham is someone close to me [but not me].
* Realtor Willard Wiley is a lot like the character Deputy Barney Fife.
* When I worked in retail I met a creepy, unsmiling, elderly couple named Drama and Dru [their names were on the personal check used to pay for their merchandise].
* The church in the movie Jeepers Creepers inspired the description of the church in Ashes of Vengeance.
* Degotoga is a Cherokee word that means, "standing together".
* The colors Gray, Red, and Black [smoke, fire, ash?] were accidentally used throughout the trilogy. I didn't catch it until the final readings.
* I am one of the characters in the trilogy. I'll never say which one.
* Peridot Past: Peridot is my birthstone.
* I used to have an English springer spaniel. Someone poisoned him. His memory lives on with this trilogy.
