Damon Lamorea was born in Guelph, Ontario Canada, and still currently lives there with his wife and daughter. He went to school achieving a bachelor’s degree in Psychology and has worked in management in warehouse distribution and supply chain.
Always being an avid reader, he began working on a rough draft of his own book, which spawned his first novel, Special Delivery. His second novel, Pieces, will be available in the summer of 2024.
TBE: What was the initial inspiration behind the chilling premise of a killer exploiting food delivery services during a pandemic lockdown?
Damon Lamorea: I began writing this in 2021, right when the pandemic was really at it’s peak. I remember going to a grocery store to get some groceries, and many of the shelves were bare. As I went to line up to check out, two men were arguing quite loudly about their distance between each other. Everyone was on edge, and I began to ponder the idea of how the pandemic was changing people and what it could make someone do. That is truly what inspired my story.
TBE: Your novel takes an unflinching look at the darker side of human nature when societal norms break down. What made you want to explore that moral complexity?
Damon Lamorea: Well, I have a degree in psychology, so I’ve always been fascinated with human nature and what lengths we will go to for self-preservation. I think both of the characters are doing this to a certain degree.
TBE: Detective Garrison Grant has to grapple with some weighty ethical dilemmas over the course of the investigation. How much of your own philosophical perspectives made their way into his internal struggles?
Damon Lamorea: When I began writing this, I actually had a different ending in mind. One in which Grant takes more of the outcome in his hands, so to speak. But I can understand both characters. What would I do if I were in Roger’s shoes, and what would I do in Garrison Grant’s? As the writer I tried not to judge the characters or influence them with my own views, but rather just ask the questions, what would the average human do in these circumstances, or what are they capable of?
TBE: The pandemic backdrop and lockdowns are rendered in such visceral, atmospheric detail. How did your own experiences during COVID’s peak inform your writing?
Damon Lamorea: I found myself quite anxious during the pandemic’s peak. I was working in a role as a manager, having to manage 40+ people’s fear. In a way that influenced the writing. Having access to many different presentations of what fear, hopeless, or anxiety looked like and how people coped.
TBE: For a debut novelist, the plot is incredibly intricate with its layered reveals and twists. How did you approach structuring such a labyrinthine mystery?
Damon Lamorea: I think the timeline the book follows was the hardest part to navigate, especially in terms of continuity. Given that I actually wrote this over almost three years, picking it up and putting it down again, it was tough to keep the timeline in the story clean. Luckily, I worked with a copyeditor who helped point out a few continuity aspects to make it what it has become.
TBE: Food delivery apps were such a lifeline for so many during lockdowns, which made their weaponization in the novel deeply unsettling. Was providing that cultural counterpoint something you had in mind?
Damon Lamorea: Yes, being locked away from society in our homes and using a tool like a food delivery app, which seemed like the only thing that was safe anymore, I wanted to shake that feeling of safety up a little bit.
TBE: The novel walks a fine tightrope between thrilling entertainment and philosophical rumination. How did you strike that balance between the visceral and the cerebral?
Damon Lamorea: I always write for myself in the sense that, what would I like to read and how would I like it to read. Again, being interested in human behaviour, I tried to paint a picture of the hopeless feeling the pandemic had but also walk the reader into the mind of the characters struggling; what they were feeling, thinking, etc.
TBE: Garrison Grant is an incredibly nuanced protagonist audiences can really empathize with on an emotional level. What was your process for developing his character arc?
Damon Lamorea: Without giving too much away, I knew that the character of Roger had a lot at stake given the pandemic and what it was doing to his life. Because of this, I wanted Grant’s character to have just as much at stake; both as a best friend and as a lead detective.
TBE: While a work of fiction, the novel seems to make some searing indictments about institutional failings over the course of the pandemic. Was that social commentary an intentional underlying thread?
Damon Lamorea: During the pandemic, we were all aware of the lack of planning that society had for such an impact to our way of living. We were all told of the lack of resources in hospitals and how it was affecting care. I wanted to highlight that a bit, but bring some light into another area that the lack of planning and resources could influence and how. This was intentional.
TBE: What are you most looking forward to tackling in your next novel? Anything you can tease?
Damon Lamorea: I am actually just finishing up my second novel, which will be called Pieces, which will be available likely by the end of the summer. In terms of a teaser, sure, here is the blurb:
It has just been over two years since Marc’s wife, Melissa’s mother, Judy, has passed away suddenly from an aggressive cancer but he found solace in his work as a real estate agent. Feeling her dad’s absence, Melissa is promised a long overdue daughter-daddy day doing all of the fun things they enjoy doing together. While driving home from their adventure together fate deals a cruel blow; a tragic car accident leaving Marc in a coma.
Upon waking, Marc remembers nothing of the accident or the events leading up to it and is presented with his new shattered reality. As his brain begins to heal, Marc grapples with the fragments of his memory and struggles to piece together the elements of the crash. But as these pieces surface, he begins to see unsettling inconsistencies between what his brain is telling him and what the people around him are. Determined to unravel the truth and seek justice, Marc embarks on a journey through the labyrinth of his own memories. With each revelation, he inches closer to the answers hidden deep in his unconscious.
TBE: For aspiring writers, what advice would you give about persevering through the creative process and getting that first novel published and out into the world?
Damon Lamorea: I have had a few people say to me, “Wow you wrote a book, I could never do that,” and I reply, “Of course you can, all you have to do is start.” Just sit down and write whatever comes into your head. That is my process. I know where I want to get to and have some ideas along the way, but really, I just sit down and write. Getting it out is the most important. If you are stuck, put it down and pick it up later. The only timeline you have is in your head, it isn’t a race.
