Author of sci-fi/fantasy, horror and adventure/thriller fiction

Orbit to Release My Next Novel

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orbitI’m very excited to announce Orbit will publish my next novel, ONE OF US.

ONE OF US is a Southern Gothic literary dark fantasy. In the 1970s, a disease produces a generation of monsters that 14 years later are living in rundown orphanages in the rural South. As the plague generation grows up poor and oppressed, its children begin to develop extraordinary abilities that allow them to rebel and claim their birthright. The novel delves into themes of prejudice, generational conflict, and what makes a monster a monster. Written in the Southern Gothic style, it features elements such as complex characters, rural decay, and the grotesque. Picture TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD with monsters.

Publishing about 60 titles each year, Orbit U.S. is the sci-fi/fantasy imprint at Hachette Book Group U.S.A., with authors including M.R. Carey, Joe Abercrombie and Iain M. Banks. Plans for ONE OF US are still preliminary, but the intent right now is to publish it in hardcover, likely in 2018, and then trade paperback. It’s the biggest deal I’ve ever gotten for a published work, and I couldn’t be happier to work with a quality company like Orbit.

THE LONG PATROL by Chris Glatte

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long patrolChris Glatte’s THE LONG PATROL tells the story of a squad fighting during the Battle of Guadalcanal during WW2. When intelligence produces an opportunity to go behind enemy lines and make contact with native guerillas, the squad ends up on a dangerous and bloody mission that may change the course of the battle and the war.

The Battle of Guadalcanal was fought to prevent the Japanese from securing capability to launch aircraft against Australia and the USA’s lifeline to that country. It followed up on the Battle of Midway with the USA taking the initiative by penetrating the Japanese Empire’s outer defensive ring. For months, American and Japanese planes fought over the island while ships skirmished and fought at sea. On the island itself, Americans fought tooth and nail to hold Henderson Airfield against ongoing Japanese assaults. The entire time, the outcome of the war hung in the balance.

Glatte’s story is a solid war novel, gritty and bloody. The plot and pacing never flag, punctuated by violence and the occasional ridiculous twist that occurs in war, such as a devastating friendly fire incident. The soldiers are heroic but realistically so. Glatte does a good job making them stand out as strong characters we care about. He also seems to avoid the usual pro- or anti-war message by simply describing a patrol and its influence on the outcome of the Battle of Guadalcanal.

Recommended if you like WW2 novels.

ELEANOR by Johnny Worthen

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eleanorWhile attending Stokercon in Los Angeles, I picked up ELEANOR by Johnny Worthen at a dealer’s table. I picked it up for the cover but stayed for the premise. Writing a short synopsis is an art in itself, and I showed it to several author friends as an example of very strong back cover copy.

It was a gamble for Eleanor to rejoin humanity, but she was driven to it. She’d been too successful forgetting. The last vestiges of her family hung by a thread in her transformed brain and drove her to be reckless.

Ten years later, Eleanor hides in plain sight. She is an average girl getting average grades in a small Wyoming town: poor but happy, lonely but loved. Her mother, Tabitha, is there for her and that’s all she’s ever needed. But now her mother is sick and David has returned. The only friend she’d ever had, the only other person who knows her secret, is back. And Eleanor again becomes reckless.

Eleanor is a modest girl, unremarkable but extraordinary, young but old, malleable but fixed. She is scared and confused. She is a liar and a thief. Eleanor is not what she appears to be.

ELEANOR goes deep into the mind of an old creature living in a teenage girl’s body. It’s a slow, character-driven story–not my usual cup of tea, but I found myself pulled along by Eleanor’s challenges and Worthen’s very strong and crisp writing. The premise is terrific–the idea of a girl hiding in plain sight, gifted with amazing abilities but finding them more a curse than a gift, a source of isolation turning a time in life when people feel most isolated and uncertain.

B&N Names SUFFER THE CHILDREN to Apocalyptic Top 10 List

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SUFFER THE CHILDREN by Craig DiLouieBarnes and Noble recently published a Top 10 list of zombie apocalypse stories. I was proud to see SUFFER THE CHILDREN on the list alongside works by great authors like Peter Clines, M.R. Carey, Max Brooks, Isaac Marion, Colson Whitehead and others.

Strange they picked SUFFER THE CHILDREN, which is basically a vampire undead story, over my zombie books, but hey, I’m not complaining. B&N.com writes:

Technically the children in DiLouie’s book are vampires, but stay with us here. After an epidemic sweeps the globe, killing all the children in the world, there’s a moment of dizzy joy when the kids all come back. Except, they’re still dead, just reanimated—and hungry for blood. Once they’ve fed, they become normal again, just like they were. But it wears off, leading parents all over the world to face the question: how far will you go to feed your children—your children—human blood in order to keep them (more or less) alive? Examining the battle between parental love and the horror of the scenario is pure genius.

Thanks, Barnes and Noble!

Check out the complete list here.

AMERICAN WAR by Omar El Akkad

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american warAMERICAN WAR, a debut novel by Canadian journalist Omar El Akkad, is a beautifully written portrait of a Southern family affected by, and then affecting, a future civil war between the Northern and Southern United States.

In 2074, rising sea levels due to global warming have wiped out the coasts, pushing millions of refugees inland, and the lands near the equator have grown nearly too hot for human habitation. After the President signs into law a complete prohibition on fossil fuels, several Southern states declare independence, which ignites a second Civil War.

The story focuses on the Chestnut family living in Louisiana when war breaks out, chronicling them losing everything, and the commitment of Sarat, one of the Chestnut daughters, to fighting the North to the bitter end to gain revenge for her family’s suffering.

The novel has been hailed as being prescient and a cautionary tale for our times, but for me, it widely missed that mark. The story reads more like the old Civil War was lifted out of history and placed in the future, with fossil fuels instead of slavery being the issue that ignites the war. Artifacts such as short articles and transcripts punctuate the chapters, providing background on the war, but while they add somewhat to the setting, they don’t really get into the key political and cultural roots of the conflict. Despite the rising sea levels and use of vehicles and modern weaponry such as drones, the novel really feels like the last Civil War being refought. In my view, the result misses the real divide in the USA, which is more about class versus class, rural versus urban, and Red versus Blue tribal worldviews. So for me, I hard a hard time connecting El Akkad’s world with the one I live in.

The real strength of the novel isn’t its ideas but its execution. The setting is beautifully rendered and lived-in, the characters and dialogue natural and engaging. It’s a literary civil war, one that’s a joy to read purely for its narrative prose. There isn’t a lot of action, so it’s this prose and general intrigue with the war itself that keeps it moving. Instead, the rich and deep setting is front and center in the book, and for me made AMERICAN WAR worth reading.

Recommended for readers who enjoy literary dystopian fiction.

THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER by Carson McCullers

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heart is a lonely hunterPublished in 1940, Carson McCullers’s first novel, THE HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER, provides a fascinating character study of misfits in a Southern town during the 1930s, making it a standout in the Southern Gothic genre. These people include John Singer, a deaf-mute; Mick Kelly, a tomboyish and intelligent girl with aspirations to become a famous musician; Jake Blount, a tormented drifter who wants to be a labor agitator; Biff Brannon, who runs a local diner; and Dr. Benedict Copeland, a Black doctor who wants more for his race.

The story meanders without a unifying plot, portraying these people’s lives and their intersections, notably the special relationship they have with the deaf-mute Singer. They connect with him in a deep way because he is a good listener, making them feel like he understands their dreams and torments in a uniquely empathetic way. All of them are smart and see things differently than most people, which creates a source of suffering. Mick wants to be an artist in a town where nobody seems to appreciate it, Jake wants to fight capitalist exploitation in a town where everybody more or less accepts it, and Copeland wants the Blacks in town to better themselves and gain opportunity and rights, though they don’t fight for it the way he thinks they should. These people are not complacent about mistreatment and oppression, but they live in a complacent world.

McCullers wrote HEART at 23, and it’s quite a literary achievement, beautifully written and capturing human nature, particularly the nature of those who don’t fit in, perfectly. Strangely, though there is hardly a plot, the writing and characters suck you in and keep you turning pages. The book rocketed to become a bestseller in 1940 and was adapted to film in 1968.

A deep dive for readers who enjoy Southern Gothic or are looking for interesting character-driven literary fiction.