Scott Semegran's Blog, page 4

MY PURPLE WRITER BRAIN: January 2024 Edition

New Year New Things, My Latest Book Review, an Excellent Author Interview, and More

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New Year New Things

Happy New Year! I hope you’re 2024 is an exceptional year and, if not, well give it your best. What more can we do, right? Anyway, you may have noticed my newsletter looks a little different. I made a switch from Substack to Mailchimp last month, mainly because the owners of Substack wouldn’t denounce the proliferation of Nazi and white-supremacist content on their platform or the fact they were making money off this disgusting content. You can read all about it here, if you’d like:

https://www.techpolicy.press/substack-founder-defends-commercial-relationships-with-nazis/

Now, I’m all for free speech, but there comes a time when a stance needs to be scrutinized and I morally can’t get behind a company who thinks it’s okay to take money from Nazis or white supremacist groups. As a person with fifty-percent Jewish heritage, I just can’t. I understand corporations are not perfect and the owners of Mailchimp, Intuit, may not be perfect as well, but I haven’t found any public comments from Intuit stating their cool with Nazis using their services. And so, for me, if someone asks me, “Are you cool being associated with a company that is okay with making money from Nazi content?” then my answer is a “hard NO.” It wasn’t a difficult decision for me to make.

But, it was a pain in the ass. Switching to a different newsletter service with great email features was not easy to do. It was quite time consuming and tedious. I had to update a ton of things on my website including CNAME references on my web host and all the links in my website menus and content. I’m having to use a different interface and, I have to admit, Substack’s was pretty nice. But Mailchimp’s is nice, too. Substack was more about “platform building” and connecting me with new readers. Mailchimp is more an email service rather than a platform builder. If all of this makes your head hurt, then—yeah, I get that. Nerd stuff and blah blah blah. Sorry.

The Theory of Light and Matter by Andrew Porter

The Theory of Light and Matter by Andrew Porter is a book of short stories categorized as literary fiction. The book description from the publisher describes it best: “These ten stories take us across the country—from rural Pennsylvania to Southern California to suburban Connecticut—and deep into characters struggling to find meaning in their day-to-day lives. The Theory of Light and Matter is a stunningly astute vision of contemporary American suburbia, full of tension, heartbreak, and emotional complexity—the work of an important new voice. Long Listed for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award.”

Earlier this year, I read the new collection The Disappeared by Andrew Porter and knew I’d have to dive into this earlier collection by the same author. There is a different cast of characters in this one, an array of disaffected yet searching narrators looking for meaning in their lives when they aren’t receiving answers from their loved ones or friends or neighbors. All of the stories are told in first-person and are intimate retellings of very personal situations and memories.

“Azul” is about a husband’s awkward relationship to a foreign exchange student—who is named Azul—and the close relationship the student has to the narrator’s wife. The narrator—Paul—is baffled by how close his wife becomes with Azul and often wonders why he’s tasked with driving Azul to his lover’s place. Paul often delights in observing Azul’s spats with his gay lover Ramón. When they break up, Paul unwittingly invites Ramón to a house party for Azul with unsettling results.

The Red-Headed Pilgrim by Kevin Maloney

The Red-Headed Pilgrim by Kevin Maloney is a humorous novel of literary autofiction. The book description from the publisher describes it best: “On a sunny day in a business park near Portland, Oregon, 42-year-old web developer Kevin Maloney is in the throes of an existential crisis that finds him shoeless in a field of Queen Anne's lace, reflecting on the tumultuous events that brought him to this moment. Thus begins a journey of hard-earned insights and sexual awakening that takes Kevin from angst-ridden Beaverton to the beaches of San Diego, a frontier-themed roadside attraction in Helena, Montana, and a hermetic shack on an organic lettuce farm. Everything changes when Kevin falls in love with Wendy. After a chance tarot reading lands them on the frigid coast of Maine, their lives are unsettled by the birth of their daughter, Zoë, whose sudden presence is oftentimes terrifying, frequently disturbing, and yet--miraculously--always wondrous. The Red-Headed Pilgrim is an irresistible novel of misadventure and new beginnings, of wanderlust and bad decisions, of parenthood and divorce, and of the heartfelt truths we unearth when we least expect it.”

Main character “Kevin Maloney” is a fictionalized version of author Kevin Maloney and the book opens with him wondering how he fossilized into the day-job that was only supposed to last for a short time, but stretched into twelve years. What he really wanted to do was see the world or join a monastery or live in the woods shunning modern society and bellowing a “barbaric yawp.” Kevin wonders what happened? He recounts his younger years through his twenties with the verve and idiocy of Bukowski’s Hank Chinaski ala Walt Whitman ala Allen Ginsberg ala Burrough’s William Lee. He quotes Jung and listens to the Red Hot Chili Peppers and asks young women if he can stick his penis in their vaginas (literally). His adventures lead him to a weird, codependent relationship with Wendy which spawns a child named Zoë.

Norwood by Charles Portis

Norwood by Charles Portis is a humorous novel that is a picaresque road trip story. The book description from the publisher describes it best: “Out of the American Neon Desert of Roller Dromes, chili parlors, The Grand Ole Opry, and girls who want "to live in a trailer and play records all night" comes ex-marine and troubadour Norwood Pratt. Sent on a mission to New York by Grady Fring, the Kredit King, Norwood has visions of "speeding across the country in a late model car, seeing all the sights." Instead, he gets involved in a wild journey that takes him in and out of stolen cars, freight trains, and buses. By the time he returns home to Ralph, Texas, Norwood has met his true love, Rita Lee, on a Trailways bus; befriended Edmund B. Ratner, the second shortest midget in show business and "the world's smallest perfect fat man"; and helped Joann, "the chicken with a college education," realize her true potential in life.”

Norwood is Portis’s first novel and another book lovingly brought back to life by The Overlook Press along with classics True Grit and Dog of the South (another picaresque novel and a stronger one at that). Norwood Pratt is sent home to check on his sister Vernell after their father died, as it’s claimed she’s unable to look after herself. He helps her get a job and she quickly meets an older suitor who she marries. Finding himself now sharing their father’s house with his sister and her grumpy husband, Norwood happily accepts a “job” from Grady Fring, the Kredit King, where he’s tasked with driving a pair of cars to New York along with a beautiful yet pissed off performer, Miss Phillips. And the adventure begins. Norwood confesses his dream of becoming a country singer, Miss Phillips steals one of the cars and drives away to Chicago, and Norwood trips from one strange situation to another.

MY PURPLE WRITER BRAIN: November 2023 Edition

I usually steer away from too much self-promotion in this newsletter because I want it to be enjoyable and informative to writers and readers and book lovers, not a constant sales pitch for me. BUT, this issue will be an exception because I have some good news about my new novel THE CODGER AND THE SPARROW, which will be published by TCU Press on March 22, 2024.

COVER REVEAL! That’s the beautiful cover up there for my new book. I’m so excited to finally be sharing this cover. TCU Press will be releasing the paperback and eBook. For more information about this book, please go to my website.

AUDIOBOOK DEAL! The audiobook for THE CODGER AND THE SPARROW will be released by Vibrance Press! Hopefully, it’ll be released on the same day. Vibrance Press is currently auditioning narrators and will hopefully be in production soon. For more information about the audiobook, please go to my website. Here’s the audiobook deal announcement:

Read the rest on Substack. Please subscribe to my newsletter there to receive my latest posts directly in your email inbox.

MY PURPLE WRITER BRAIN: November 2023 Edition

The Disappeared by Andrew Porter

The Disappeared by Andrew Porter is a book of short stories categorized as literary fiction. The book description from the publisher describes it best: “A husband and wife hear a mysterious bump in the night. A father mourns the closeness he has lost with his son. A friendship with a married couple turns into a dangerous codependency. With gorgeous sensitivity, assurance, and a propulsive sense of menace, these stories center on disappearances both literal and figurative--lives and loves that are cut short, the vanishing of one's youthful self. From San Antonio to Austin, from the clamor of a crowded restaurant to the cigarette at a lonely kitchen table, Andrew Porter captures each of these relationships mid-flight, every individual life punctuated by loss and beauty and need. The Disappeared reaffirms the undeniable artistry of a contemporary master of the form.”

Fifteen stories are told in this collection, most taking place between San Antonio, Texas to Austin and back. There are a few intriguing questions that run through this collection. What happened to who I used to be? What ever happened to the interesting people I used to hang out with when I was younger? What happened to those weird neighbors I used to live next door to at that shabby apartment complex? If there is a theme song for this book, then it would be “Somebody That I Used to Know.”

For instance, in the first story “Austin,” the narrator begins the story at a party where some old college buddies are hanging out and getting drunk. They’re reminiscing and telling stories, although the narrator feels disconnected from them. One friend tells a story about an acquaintance who killed a home invader and asks the narrator if he was justified in doing it. Instead of answering this moral dilemma, the narrator simply leaves the party; he disappears. At home, his wife worries about a possible intruder in their own laundry room. Late one night as he stays up worrying, he muses:

“Outside I could hear the occasional sound of a car passing, young people shouting things into the air. When did I become the person who listened to such sounds and not the person who made them?”

Audiobook deal for THE CODGER AND THE SPARROW

Audiobook deal announcement! 📢

I'm so happy to be working with MMB Media and their imprint Vibrance Press to release the audiobook for THE CODGER AND THE SPARROW! I love audiobooks and can't wait to hear my characters come to life. Thank you to my literary agent Mark Falkin at Falkin Literary.

Read more about the audiobook for THE CODGER AND THE SPARROW here: https://scottsemegran.com/audiobooks/the-codger-and-the-sparrow.html

The Pathless Sky by Chaitali Sen

The Pathless Sky by Chaitali Sen is a book of literary fiction. The book description from the publisher describes it best: “In the "exquisitely written" The Pathless Sky, Chaitali Sen conjures a world in which a nation's political turmoil, its secret history, and growing social unrest turn life into a fragile and capricious thing and love into a necessary refuge to be defended at all costs. A world not unlike the one we live in. Though they fell in love in college, life has conspired to keep John and Mariam apart for years. But a day comes when, across a great distance, both realize they have always loved each other. During the intervening years, however, the troubles in their country have reached a critical impasse. Government crimes have been white-washed, personal liberty is deeply compromised, a resistance movement has emerged from the underground to take the fight for freedom to the streets, and the government militia employs increasingly draconian measures in an attempt to maintain control. When Mariam is implicated in the latest spell of anti-government actions and arrested without appeal, the consequences of her and John's love will prove potentially dire for both.”

John and Miriam meet in college and although there is an unexplainable attraction, they don’t consummate their relationship for years. The journey toward marriage is long, but is compelling, nonetheless. John joins the military and is deployed, then goes to grad school. Miriam gets a job as a librarian. They keep in touch through letters (!!!), but the distance between them is vast until John realizes he’s in love with Miriam and goes to great lengths to get back to her. Once married, family secrets are revealed that conspire to keep them bound to Miriam’s hometown, but John is determined to get them out at all costs.

Cover Reveal for THE CODGER AND THE SPARROW

Here’s the cover for my new novel THE CODGER AND THE SPARROW from TCU Press. Release date is 3/22/2024 and it will be available in paperback and eBook everywhere you buy books. The front cover features a blurb from New York Times bestselling author Kevin Wilson. "Wondrous... told with such an abundance of both humor and tenderness.

I’d like to thank all of the authors who wrote blurbs and will also be featured on the back cover as well as inside of the book: Annie Hartnett, James Wade, Stacey Swann, Aaron Burch, Thomas H. McNeely, C. Matthew Smith, Johnnie Bernhard, Ran Walker, Philip Elliott, Brian Kindall, and Rick Treon! Thank you all for taking the time to read my new novel and write such wonderful things about it. My heart is full!

I’m so excited to be releasing this book into the world with a rambunctious story about an unusual friendship stretching across the generations, filled with humor and a bit of grace. I hope everyone falls in love with this special friendship between Hank the “codger” and Luis the “sparrow.” And thank y’all for reading all these words about my new book. It means a lot to me.

Read more about the book here: https://scottsemegran.com/books/the-codger-and-the-sparrow.html

Cover Reveal for THE CODGER AND THE SPARROW

Here’s the cover for my new novel THE CODGER AND THE SPARROW from TCU Press. Release date is 3/22/2024 and it will be available in paperback and eBook everywhere you buy books. The front cover features a blurb from New York Times bestselling author Kevin Wilson. "Wondrous... told with such an abundance of both humor and tenderness.

I’d like to thank all of the authors who wrote blurbs and will also be featured on the back cover as well as inside of the book: Annie Hartnett, James Wade, Stacey Swann, Aaron Burch, Thomas H. McNeely, C. Matthew Smith, Johnnie Bernhard, Ran Walker, Philip Elliott, Brian Kindall, and Rick Treon! Thank you all for taking the time to read my new novel and write such wonderful things about it. My heart is full!

I’m so excited to be releasing this book into the world with a rambunctious story about an unusual friendship stretching across the generations, filled with humor and a bit of grace. I hope everyone falls in love with this special friendship between Hank the “codger” and Luis the “sparrow.” And thank y’all for reading all these words about my new book. It means a lot to me.

Read more about the book here: https://scottsemegran.com/books/the-codger-and-the-sparrow.html