This is the Foreword to Trick of the Light, Stephen’s first inspirational novel.
This novel was originally written in 1988.
Though the book was extremely well reviewed, and optioned by Hemdale Film Corporation (Best Picture Academy Awards for “Platoon,” and “Last Emperor of China”), sales were disappointing.
As a novelist I am known mainly as a psychological thriller writer. After writing Trick of the Light, I went on to write most of my bestselling novels, including Black Butterfly, Pacific Coast Highway, Pacific Blues and others. I also wrote and directed feature films, including “Street Crimes,” starring Dennis Farina.
In the back of my mind I always wanted to do a follow-up to Trick of the Light. In 2011, Cathedral of the Senses was published. It took so long between books because I believed Trick of the Light was such an original piece of metaphysical/philosophical fiction that I wanted to follow it up with something very special. I believe Cathedral of the Senses is that book.
Like Trick of the Light, Cathedral of the Senses has its own soundtrack. In fact, I believe that it was the first novel with its own embedded music soundtrack (for the iPad). Like Trick of the Light, it is available in three different versions: softcover, eBook (iPad, Kindle, et al.), and multimedia eBook (iPad). As more eReaders become multimedia capable, we will make the enhanced versions of all the novels available for those readers as well.
When I was twenty, I had a life-changing “spiritual” experience. Soon afterward, I decided to write something entertaining based on that experience. My first attempt was a rock opera called “White Light Train.”
With this novel, Trick of the Light, I believe I finally got it right. As I read the book again in 2012, I enjoyed it so much that I not only proofed it for eBook and multimedia eBook versions, I decided to do a full edit and republish the book.
For those who enjoy this kind of novel, you might want to give Cathedral of the Senses a try. As a special bonus in this 2012 edition of Trick of the Light, I have included the first eight chapters of Cathedral of the Senses.
At the same time Trick of the Light was re-released, my third metaphysical/philosophical novel, I, Walt Whitman, was published. Like the other two, it has its own soundtrack. The novel and the soundtrack are available in the same formats as the other novels.
Finally, as you can glean from reading these notes, I not only enjoy writing novels, I also enjoy writing and playing music. Therefore, it will come as no surprise that I regularly perform Storyteller Evenings. These shows allow me to read from my novels and play songs from the books. If you are interested in attending or booking a Storyteller Evening, you can contact me by clicking here.
Stephen Smoke,
July 7, 2012