If you haven’t read WHERE WOLF Chapter Nine: “Proof’s in the Pudding,” you better have one damn good excuse - like, for example, you took a road trip to College Station to check out the WHERE WOLF billboard that was recently erected on Texas Parkway!
Okay, so technically the billboard is in Bryan, not College Station. But look at that thing! Do you think they’ll let me keep it when it’s replaced with a billboard promoting Bryan’s third most popular vape store at the end of the month?
There are only three more chapters left in WHERE WOLF and, as promised, fur is about to hit the fan. Chapter Nine is a relatively shorter chapter in which the majority of the time is spent with Larry Chaney, who was mostly absent from Chapter Eight, as he is interrogated by Detective Barbara Atkins.
Yes, Detective Barbara Atkins is named after the incredibly nice Barbara Crampton and the loveably grumpy Tom Atkins.
I really enjoyed writing the scene between Atkins and Larry - it’s probably the closest I come to leaning into the Gregory Mcdonald-style of dialogue that inspired me to write the book in the first place. I’m sure Mcdonald would have the strength to avoid using the terrible puns that I choose to relish in. What can I say? I’m a weaker man than the author of FLETCH.
I can’t remember if I intended for Larry to still be wearing the mascot costume by this point in the story, but I love the fact that Debora drew him in it during the entire scene. Look at that tail!
I was talking with a friend this past weekend about the evolution of Gwen Reed’s character from the original novel version of WHERE WOLF that I wrote in 2020. This scene - in which Larry visits Gwen in the hospital - is the biggest signifier of how much Gwen’s character and motivation changed during the time I spent adapting WHERE WOLF first into a podcast and then a comic book. In the original story, I’m ashamed to admit, Gwen forgives Larry during this scene and, essentially, takes him back. It’s awful and unearned and just all-and-all embarrassing. I tried to give Gwen and Larry’s story a happy ending and so many of the people I shared early versions of the story with called me out on my bullshit. It was my friend Meagan Navarro who really helped me sort out the direction I needed to take Gwen’s story when she remarked that Larry and Gwen are both good people (in Larry’s case, mostly good) but are terrible for each other.
Yes, Sophia lives! At one point, I did intend to kill Sophia off when she was hit by a truck but, as I kept writing the story, I surprised myself by including a scene in which Sophia and Larry reunite in the hospital. Subconsciously, I knew that I was not ready to stop writing Sophia. And it was worth it too, if only for this cliffhanger:
True story - I shared this book with my parents as I would finish each chapter. Most people would be embarrassed to send their parents something they wrote with the phrase “cum gutters” used multiple times but I guess my parents didn’t raise me to have the requisite amount of shame. So really, it’s kind of their fault when you think about it. My mom once asked if the letterer was the one who came up with what the characters said and, thinking about all the foul language I had written into WHERE WOLF, I quickly said “yes.” Am I sorry to throw Jack under the bus like that? Only a little.
Head to FANGORIA.com tomorrow for a new chapter of WHERE WOLF. It’s another short chapter, I’ll admit right now, but it sets up the carnage that’s to come in the final two installments. See you in a week!