Scott Semegran's Blog, page 9

Austin Liti Limits Episode 32 with RICHARD Z. SANTOS is Out Now

Austin Liti Limits Episode 32 with author RICHARD Z. SANTOS is now available! Watch my interview with Richard that we conducted remotely via Zoom because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Check it out now over at the Austin Liti Limits website. Or watch right here:

Richard Z Santos from Larry Brill on Vimeo.

True Grit by Charles Portis

True Grit by Charles Portis is the classic western novel narrated by protagonist Mattie Ross, first published in 1968, that was made into two classic movies (one starring John Wayne from 1969 and a second starring Jeff Bridges from 2010). The book description from the publisher describes it best: “True Grit tells the story of Mattie Ross, who is just fourteen when the coward Tom Chaney shoots her father down in Fort Smith, Arkansas, and robs him of his life, his horse, and $150 cash. Filled with an unwavering urge to avenge her father's blood, Mattie finds and, after some tenacious finagling, enlists one-eyed Rooster Cogburn, the meanest available U.S. Marshal, as her partner in pursuit, and they head off into Indian Territory after the killer. True Grit is essential reading, an undeniable American classic as eccentric, cool, funny, and unflinching as Mattie Ross herself.”

I read this novel immediately after reading another novel I loved by Portis: The Dog of the South. The two novels couldn’t be more different. The Dog of the South is irreverent, quirky, and takes place around the time of its publication (1979); True Grit is deadpan, an adventure of revenge with camaraderie between a ragtag crew, and takes place in 1878. Told by Mattie Ross as an old woman, recounting the time when she was 14 and sought retribution for the murder of her father by a scoundrel, Tom Chaney, her deadpan delivery probably springing more from her older perspective than the younger. But, it’s fun to envision this 14-year old speaking to codger Rooster Cogburn and a flashy Texas Ranger named LaBoeuf (pronounced La Beef) in her dry, matter-of-fact way. The story immediately begins with Mattie’s recounting of her father’s unfortunate murder by the hands of a drunken Tom Chaney, and she leaves home to procure a marshal to bring Chaney to justice in Arkansas. She desperately wants revenge and to see Chaney hung for his crime. After asking around to folks all too confused about a child commandeering a marshal, she picks Cogburn, as he’s described as the meanest of all the marshals, and the man she believes to have “true grit.” They reluctantly team up with LaBoeuf, who is also hunting Chaney.

THE BENEVOLENT LORDS OF SOMETIMES ISLAND is the First Place Winner for Middle-Grade/Young Adult Novel in the 2021 Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards

I'm happy to announce that my novel, THE BENEVOLENT LORDS OF SOMETIMES ISLAND, is the First Place winner for Middle-Grade/Young Adult novel in the 2021 Writer’s Digest Self-Published Book Awards. With over 1,600 entries total, I'm very honored.

Thank you to all my friends and fans who have read and loved this novel. It was a labor of love and I'm glad it's receiving this recognition!

More information to come from Writer's Digest.

For more information about this novel, read more on the book's page. It's available in paperback, hardcover, eBook, and audiobook.

The Dog of the South by Charles Portis

The Dog of the South by Charles Portis is a picaresque, humorous story of Ray Midge’s rambunctious journey to Central America to retrieve his stolen Ford Torino, and maybe win his wife back. It was first published in 1979. The book description from the publisher describes it best: “Ray Midge is waiting for his credit card bill to arrive. His wife, Norma, has run off with her ex-husband, taking Ray's cards, shotgun and car. But from the receipts, Ray can track where they've gone. He takes off after them, as does an irritatingly tenacious bail bondsman, both following the romantic couple's spending as far as Mexico. There Ray meets Dr Reo Symes, the seemingly down-on-his-luck and rather eccentric owner of a beaten up and broken down bus, who needs a ride to Belize. The further they drive, in a car held together by coat-hangers and excesses of oil, the wilder their journey gets. But they're not going to give up easily.”

A writer hero of mine mentioned that this book was his favorite road trip novel, and I can see why. Out of print for many years, this novel as well as Portis’ other books including NY Times Bestseller True Grit were lovingly brought back to life by The Overlook Press. Narrated by main character Ray Midge, he is quirky, deadpan, knowledgeable about all things history and science, and dead-set on retrieving his beloved Ford Torino and possibly his wife Norma, if she’ll have him back. Midge meets a variety of whacky characters on his way to Central America including Dr. Symes and his mother whom the locals call Meemaw, wayward Christine and her obnoxious son Victor, a boy named Webster who works as a “bell hop” at a hotel in Belize, and compatriot Jack Wilkie. The journey is irascible and rambling. That Midge even gets close to finding his wife and precious car is a miracle in itself. It’s been a long while since a novel made me burst out laughing and this novel delivers on the funny. There are several scenes of funny situational comedy as well as oddball conversations between Midge and so many characters. The laughs for me just kept coming. And Midge’s declarations. When something surprised or shocked him, he’d call them out. “The Sons of Pioneers!” “The strength of materials!” “California dopers!”

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies by Deesha Philyaw

A National Book Award Finalist, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies is an excellent book of short stories by Deesha Philyaw. A glowing starred-review in Kirkus Reviews proclaims, “these stories will sneak inside you and take root,” which I found to be true. The book description from the publisher describes it best: “The Secret Lives of Church Ladies explores the raw and tender places where Black women and girls dare to follow their desires and pursue a momentary reprieve from being good. The nine stories in this collection feature four generations of characters grappling with who they want to be in the world, caught as they are between the church's double standards and their own needs and passions. With their secret longings, new love, and forbidden affairs, these church ladies are as seductive as they want to be, as vulnerable as they need to be, as unfaithful and unrepentant as they care to be, and as free as they deserve to be.”

Trust Me by Richard Z. Santos

Trust Me is the debut suspense thriller from Richard Z. Santos with dueling stories of two men affected by the discovery of a mysterious skeleton on a construction site in New Mexico. The book description from the publisher describes it best: “Charles O'Connell is riding an epic losing streak. An unexpected offer to work in Santa Fe, New Mexico, doing public relations for a firm building the city's new airport feels like an opportunity to start fresh and make connections with powerful people out west. But when the construction crew unearths a skeleton, Charles' fresh start turns into another disaster. Gabriel Luna, one of the laborers present when the skeleton is unearthed, is willing to do just about anything to reconnect with his teenage son. Surrounded by deception on all fronts, including his own lies to himself and his wife, Charles falls into a whirlwind of fraud, betrayal and double crosses.”

The parallel stories involving Charles and Gabriel are both initiated with the surprise discovery of a mysterious skeleton at the construction site (maybe it’s the legendary Geronimo?), but Gabriel’s more compelling storyline has real stakes to sink your teeth into. It’s hard not to root for a guy who wants and tries to be a good father, even when life continually beats him down. He tries his best with the limited options he has even though most of those options are unmistakably bad choices. Charles, on the other hand, is just another rat on the corrupt vessel of Cody Branch’s duplicitous city “project.” It’s hard to feel sorry for him when he’s almost just as corrupt as the people he works for.

Summerlong by Dean Bakopoulos

Summerlong is the latest book by Dean Bakopoulos, a humorous yet thoughtful and dreamlike novel about the disintegration of a marriage intertwined with other folks in a small college town. The book description from the publisher describes it best: “A deft and hilarious exploration of the simmering tensions beneath the surface of a contented marriage that explode in the bedrooms and backyards of a small town over the course of a long, hot summer. In the sweltering heat of one summer in a small Midwestern town, Claire and Don Lowry discover that married life isn't quite what they'd predicted. Award-winning writer Dean Bakopoulos delivers a brutally honest and incredibly funny novel about the strange and tenuous ties that bind us, and the strange and unlikely places we find connection. Full of mirth, melancholy, and redemption, Summerlong explores what happens when life goes awry.”

In addition to Claire and Don, we are also introduced to a wayward actor named Charlie who seduces Claire, a decrepit and stoned matriarch named Ruth, her beautiful yet suicidal caretaker named ABC who befriends Don, and the actor’s philandering father Gil—now an invalid in a nursing home. Don tries to mend his marriage. Claire tries to run from Don. Charlie and ABC willfully get entangled in their marriage. Gil’s narcissistic façade is uncovered, and Ruth gleefully watches everyone while getting stoned yet has a morbid plan of her own. From a high level, this all seems like first-world problems or the drama of the well to-do in the Midwest, where the people who fear bankruptcy or foreclosure suddenly receive a free house or a check for $25,000. But Bakopoulos masterfully weaves a hypnotizing story with pathos and thought-provoking insight into the struggles of a couple bound within stupefying routine and the doldrums dished out slowly over time.

On the Business of Self-Publishing: Claiming Power Over Your Novel

I was interviewed by AJ Wells for this three-part series for Writer's Digest titled "On the Business of Self-Publishing: Claiming Power Over Your Novel." Read now!

On the Business of Self-Publishing: Claiming Power Over Your Novel

The Benevolent Lords of Sometimes Island is a Finalist for the 2021 Page Turner Book Awards

The Benevolent Lords of Sometimes Island is a Finalist for the 2021 Page Turner Book Awards. The category winners will be announced in October 2021. I would like to congratulate the other finalists and good luck to everyone!

Go here for the list of 2021 Page Turner Book Award Finalists: https://pageturnerawards.com/2021-book-award-finalists

Go here for more information about the Page Turner Awards.

For more info about The Benevolent Lords of Sometimes Island. Available in paperback, hardcover, eBook, and audiobook.

Memorial by Bryan Washington

Memorial is the latest novel from award-winning Texas writer Bryan Washington, a dramedy about two young guys who live together in Houston. Mike is a Japanese American chef at a Mexican restaurant and Benson's a Black day care teacher. They've been together for a while, but now they're not sure why they're still a couple. When Mike’s mother arrives from Japan and tells him his father is dying from cancer, Mike bolts for Japan, leaving reluctant Benson to live in an odd-couple situation with Mike’s acerbic mother, Mitsuko. Benson and Mitsuko learn to tolerate each other while Mike learns more about his father than he ever thought he could while helping him run his bar in Osaka.

This entertaining and heartfelt novel is told in three parts: a first-person section told by Benson, another first-person section told by Mike, and a final section told by Benson again. Both characters give funny and insightful takes about their families and their relationship to each other as well as the other partners that come into their lives while they are apart. Mike and Benson both come from damaged families and that damage is what keeps them from communicating to the fullest extent with each other, each still protecting their own hearts even after a few years of being together. Mike’s part about going to Japan to be with his dying father was especially affecting, their relationship examined and kneaded into something resembling forgiveness, truths mined from feelings hardened through the loss of time. When Mike and Benson’s two stories come back together in the end, there is at least a hopeful possibility that their love for each other will continue while their families attempt to mend their damaged lives.