The Run Downs: The Young Years (Book 1)
Author Interview with Paul Flanagan
Q: Tell us is a little about the book.
A: ‘The Run Downs’ is about three fourteen-year-old kids who are trapped in a run down trailer park in the 1970’s. They’re called ‘Run Downs’ because they’re foster kids. The only people who take them in is bad people who want to State money to buy alcohol and drugs. The Run Downs decide to run away to Los Angeles, but end up in Phoenix.
They jump a train carrying cars and hide in the back of a Station Wagon. The train is destined for Phoenix. On the way two fourteen-year-old girls running away from the Ghetto in Chicago jump the train. The five form a bond.
When they arrive in Phoenix they hit the streets. But on the same day a kind preacher and his wife take them in. But they find out the sharp blades of the past don’t forget. Blood is spilled and the dark shadows that tortured them before they ran away threaten to return.
Q: Sounds intense. What made you write this book?
A: The book is based on personal experiences I faced growing up. I guess you can say I know what it feels like to be a ‘Run Down’. I wanted to write this book to dive into the sharp blades of the past that cut deep and without mercy.
Q: Your book is considered a Young Adult book with a Christian theme. Talk about the Christian aspect some.
A: What can save five lost fourteen-year-old kids who have nothing? No hope. No chance. No nothing except the blades they carry in their pockets. When the preacher and his wife take them in they all start to learn that JESUS loves them and GOD has always been there for them. They start to learn that it’s okay to have faith and that faith can sometimes be just as sharp as a blade. It’s not a ‘Happily Ever After’ type situation where they all say: Oh, I get it. Great!
These kids have to fight to even smile let alone have faith. They’re battle in book one is only the beginning.
Q: Why did you turn ‘The Run Downs’ into a series?
A: Each book will be 80K words long—about five books. Each book will follow the Rundowns from the age of fourteen up until their early twenties. Each book will focus on their lives, growth, challenges, personal battles and so on. For instance: In Book 2 the Run Downs have to start school. The preacher’s wife wants to homeschool them but they end up having to go to a public school. Fight happens. Progress starts to fall back—one step forward, two steps back. One of the Run Downs gets into trouble with the law and so does one of the girls. But through it all they keep fighting the blade.
Q: Why did you start the book off in the early 1970’s?
A: I wanted to start off in a period that was rough on a lot of kids—also a period where there weren’t any cellphones, game systems and so on. I wanted to touch on the raw emotions and get rid of today’s technology that seems to truly deprive kids of what I had growing up. Kids were far different in the early 1970’s than they are today. I wanted to show that and bring out that untouched treasure.
Q: You were born in seventies right?
A: I was born in 1978 and came to age in the 80’s and early 90’s. I grew up in a rough neighborhood. My parents were extremely dysfunctional. A lot of drinking, fighting, moving around. I made the best of what I could. I didn’t grow up with a cellphone in my hand and a computer in front of my face.
Q: You lived in bad places like in the book, right?
A: Sure. I lived in the Projects in Macon, GA. I lived in two trailer parks, roach motels, the front of a van, been homeless— a lot bad places. I know what it feels like to want decent clothes and a soft bed and what it feels like to be a Run Down. When you’re ‘Nothing’ you know it.
Q: But you turned out okay, right?
A: Because of my faith in GOD through JESUS my LORD. I didn’t come to true faith until my early 30’s. That’s how hard being a ‘Run Down’ growing up cut me. You always fight and get one foot forward and then you fall and take two steps back. It wasn’t until I reached out to JESUS with all my heart that my path finally leveled out and I was able to keep walking without falling.
Q: Do you think ‘The Run Downs’ will help other young adults who face the same challenges you did and the challenges the characters in the book face?
A: I pray so. ‘The Run Downs’ is dedicated to everyone who has ever been hurt growing up and faced the sharp end of the blade. ‘The Run Downs’ is in GOD’s loving Hands. Whether the book does good or fails isn’t in my hands. I have to have faith GOD will use ‘The Run Downs’ for HIS Glory.
Q: What will you say to anyone who reads ‘The Run Downs’?
A: Be prepared to become a ‘Run Down’ yourself for a while. Dare to walk as a ‘Run Down’ in your heart as you read the books. Then you’ll know what it means to walk on the underside of a sharp blade like the Run Downs in the books.
CONVERSATION