Beasts of the Field: Behind the Story

A debrief of Judith's second mystery

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Just in case anyone needs to catch up:

Beasts of the Field - Table of Contents

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Beasts of the Field is complete! Literally the same day that I published the first episode, life started throwing curveballs my family’s way, and it hasn’t slowed down since. I’m so happy that I was able to finish this novella (with only one episode coming late!) and add a new chapter to Judith’s (and Tim’s and Orwell’s) story.

I had so much fun writing Beasts of the Field and getting to experience readers’ reactions to it in real time, particularly in regard to Orwell being a Very Good Boy and to Judith and Tim’s awkward-sweet-funny dynamic. It’s such a joy to write in this online space, and I’m not exaggerating when I say that sharing my stories on Substack has completely changed my writing life.

Background

As with Down in the Holler, Beasts of the Field was inspired by a real case. In 2020 Savannah Schneider¹, a young legally-blind woman from Wichita, Kansas, went missing, and two weeks later a search party found her body in a field that had already been searched by police. Eventually the police released a statement saying that homicide had been ruled out, but the results of the autopsy could not conclusively point to a specific cause of death.² The investigation stopped there.

I’m not suggesting that the plot of Beasts of the Field aligns with what actually happened to Savannah Schneider. I followed Savannah’s case at the time that it happened, and her story has stuck in my mind for the past several years. This novella wasn’t an attempt to sensationalize or come up with an explanation for Savannah’s tragic death, but it was, in a roundabout sense, a way for me to puzzle out an alternate (if very far-fetched and fictionalized) theory while also keeping alive the memory of someone who died far too young and whose death has never fully been understood.

Orwell

Orwell as a character has actually been in my head for longer than Judith. I didn’t yet know who he belonged to or what his name was, but when it came time to outline this season, I realized this was the perfect place for him.

While my own sweet puppy³, who is big and derpy and so, so patient with my ragamuffin children, did provide inspiration for Orwell, one other major inspiration for him is the story of Grigio, the mysterious gray dog that reportedly saved St. John Bosco, an Italian priest, from several assassination attempts.

During his years in ministry, various groups made attempts on John Bosco’s life - including an attempted shooting, a near-stabbing in a back alley, and several fake deathbed calls which were actually ambushes - and, according to the stories, on several occasions a large gray dog appeared as if from nowhere and walked with the priest through dangerous parts of town, sometimes even attacking the would-be assassins.

Due both to Grigio’s story and to my own experiences of witnessing my dog protect myself and my children⁴, Orwell’s history as an abandoned mutt with incredible protective instincts and a heart of gold is very close to my heart.

Resources

As with Judith’s previous adventure, the podcast Jimmy Akin’s Mysterious World played a huge role in my use of the theories and terminology common in paranormal circles (e.g., apparition vs. haunting).

If you’re interested in learning more about psychic detectives and paranormal investigators, the podcast does a phenomenal job of approaching these topics with a balanced perspective, and Jimmy Akin is very respectful and logical in his approach to the wide variety of subjects covered in the show.

While it’s not an exhaustive list of the paranormal topics covered on the podcast, here’s a list of some of the episodes that informed my portrayal of the paranormal in Beasts of the Field:

• Ep. 210: Haunted House of Marin County

• Ep. 264: Interview with Pam Coronado, Psychic Detective

• Ep. 306 and 307: After Death Communications

Casting

One of the questions I received about Beasts of the Field was who would play Judith and Tim in a movie/TV series adaptation of my stories. While the question got me so excited, I was…stumped.

I don’t usually have a particular actor/actress in mind when I first start writing my characters because I find that it’s easier for them to take on a life of their own if I’m not mentally constrained by the way their character model looks and acts. But Judith and Tim are robust enough as characters now that I don’t think it will cause problems to try to put faces to the names!

I had to call in help because I had absolutely no idea who I would choose for either of them. My lovely sister came through, and the very first suggestion she sent me for Judith seemed like a good fit. But Tim was harder. My sister threw out a few names, but, like a diva, I vetoed all of them for one reason or another. Finally I took the quandary to my husband, and within two minutes he pulled up a photo that made me say, “Oh! That’s actually pretty close to what I envisioned!”⁵

They’re not a 100% match to the characters. Their real-life ages don’t quite line up with Judith and Tim, and they would need to shrink or grow a few inches, respectively, to fit the descriptions in the stories. But they’re pretty close to my original character concepts, and I think each of them could pull off the right vibe for the role. Here is the consensus that I came to, with much help and deliberation:

Daisy Edgar-Jones as Judith

Shawn Ashmore as Tim

If this isn’t how you pictured Judith and Tim, please don’t worry! There is no TV miniseries deal in the works, so you are free to imagine them however you would like. This “casting” isn’t meant to constrain your imagination in any way. And if you have any different/additional casting suggestions, feel free to share them in the comments!

Thank you

Thank you so much to those who stuck through the cliffhangers and slow drip of clues on a weekly basis, as well as to those who binged the finished series in a single day! Getting to write stories and connect with people who love the characters as much as I do is literally a dream come true.

Thank you all for making this such a wonderful place to share serialized fiction!

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Season 3 Teaser

In preparation for an upcoming announcement, Down in the Holler will be going behind a paywall starting on Epiphany, January 6th. If you or someone you know would like to enjoy reading it before then, you can find it at the Navigation Page!

Here’s a little tidbit to hype up Season 3, which will come out in Spring 2025 [Side note: Orwell most certainly will be back, and you’ll get to see lots of him!]:

While recovering from the physical and emotional toll caused by her most recent case, Judith Temple decides to switch gears and take a stab at working as a paranormal investigator. When she receives a plea for help from a family who claims their house is haunted, Judith throws herself into the case, determined to get to the bottom of both the eerie happenings in the little home and also her own hopes and feelings regarding Sheriff Tim Morrissey.

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1. Samantha Scott’s initials, S.S., are a tribute to Savannah.

2. You can read an article detailing the case here.

3. He’s six years old and huge, so, okay, he’s not technically a puppy. But still, he’ll always be my puppy.

4. Often his protection is well-meaning but unnecessary, as when he tries to intervene in the kids’ giggling wrestling matches with their dad, but he has also kept us safe from loose dogs and suspicious-looking strangers.

5. There’s a reason I keep him around.😄