Something Weird for Christmas
Here's a strange book for you.
It's a novel I've been fiddling with off and on for a couple of years -- a family-friendly, quasi-historical freak show of a fantasy, a coming-of-age story with headlamps and monsters, for which I am pleased to blame Thomas Jefferson, spelunker in chief.
As some wag says in the promotional copy:
Eighteen-year-old Hoyt MacKenna — friends and family call him Mack — was born a Low Lord in Cumberland, Tennessee. That makes him part of a secret society founded by statesman and inveterate caver Thomas Jefferson. Low Lords are cavern minders, each group a family unit. The clans rotate to new sites every eight years or so and, as much as possible, live apart from the general population so as to devote themselves to their sole duty of keeping what’s under down.
What’s under? Alabastards — an ancient blend of humanoid and reptile built for cavern living and increasingly determined to get out into the light.
Low Lords is a peculiar beast for sure and will be on offer through the holidays at the bargain price of $1.99 (Amazon ebook).
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N1O7P6A
There's a paperback edition as well ($9.99). I'm trying Amazon's paperback beta, which seems pretty buggy. Here's the page -- live now with free shipping for Prime members.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1520104049
Since I've had several requests, I'll put First In Flight in paperback shortly.
It's a novel I've been fiddling with off and on for a couple of years -- a family-friendly, quasi-historical freak show of a fantasy, a coming-of-age story with headlamps and monsters, for which I am pleased to blame Thomas Jefferson, spelunker in chief.
As some wag says in the promotional copy:
Eighteen-year-old Hoyt MacKenna — friends and family call him Mack — was born a Low Lord in Cumberland, Tennessee. That makes him part of a secret society founded by statesman and inveterate caver Thomas Jefferson. Low Lords are cavern minders, each group a family unit. The clans rotate to new sites every eight years or so and, as much as possible, live apart from the general population so as to devote themselves to their sole duty of keeping what’s under down.
What’s under? Alabastards — an ancient blend of humanoid and reptile built for cavern living and increasingly determined to get out into the light.
Low Lords is a peculiar beast for sure and will be on offer through the holidays at the bargain price of $1.99 (Amazon ebook).
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N1O7P6A
There's a paperback edition as well ($9.99). I'm trying Amazon's paperback beta, which seems pretty buggy. Here's the page -- live now with free shipping for Prime members.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/1520104049
Since I've had several requests, I'll put First In Flight in paperback shortly.
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Meg
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Dec 04, 2016 05:01AM
Thanks!
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You're very welcome. While this book is a bit of a departure, I do like it quite a lot, and I think it's pretty funny.
You had me at "freak show", ha. I like books that are a bit ... askew.
My first thought was "I don't think so." Then I remembered how much I enjoyed that other reptilian effort by Pearson, "Red Scare." So I'll give it a try.
This is a much meatier book than Red Scare because it was conceived of as a novel while RS was a novelized script. I like Red Scare, but it was hobbled a bit by its origins, and I consider it an experiment that only half worked.
Well, this is a fun surprise. Given the altered reality we are currently experiencing as a nation, this description: "a family-friendly, quasi-historical freak show of a fantasy, a coming-of-age story with headlamps and monsters, for which I am pleased to blame Thomas Jefferson, spelunker in chief" seems reassuringly normal.
!!! Thanks!! You just made this a much cheerier day!
You're welcome. I do what I can (usually by accident).
Thanks TR. I look forward to reading this in the next week or so. Nice to have you back!
Thanks, Steve. I hope you enjoy it. I'm just finishing up another much more regular novel (well, within limits), so there's more to come.
Hi T.R.,I don't log in here regularly anymore, so I'm just now seeing this post. Just ordered your new book for my Kindle. Looking forward to reading it!
Best regards,
R.L.
Hi R.L.,I've kind of been away myself. Good to hear from you, and I hope you enjoy the book. It's an odd one.
Your condition sounds . . .uh . . . complicated. Glad to help (if that's what I'm doing). Enjoy.
Just finished it, and I REALLY liked it, Which is saying something, since caves bring out my claustrophobia and I would rather not have any surprising encounters with reptiles, whether underground or not. And then there's the dog thing. No matter. It was quite enjoyable on all fronts.
Hi, Bruce,I'm delighted to hear you enjoyed Low Lords. With a story like this, it's hard to know how it'll come across. And I very much appreciate your Amazon review, though Mr. Forster is probably rotating in his mausoleum. Ha!
Just wanted to say, I LOVED this! Despite it making me very jumpy around random grates. Also thinking moving to the Mammoth Cave area may not be as good an idea as it seemed last spring after I first visited. Now I know what all those sinkholes really mean. It was not at all what I expected, and I couldn't put it down. I'm hoping there will be a sequel! And I will leave a review soon, after it's percolated for a bit.
Hi Beth,I'm delighted you liked this novel (and maybe a little surprised). I honestly don't know what to make of it but had a great time writing it. I was planning on writing three of them, but publishers sniffed hard and went away. I even rewrote part of Low Lords for an editor who then promptly disappeared. So it'll be just the one, I'm afraid.
A review would be most welcome, and thanks in advance for that. This novel was inspired, in fact, by a visit I made to Mammoth Cave. The guide shut off the lights, and the darkness was kind of creepy, like being buried in velour.
Mammoth Cave was SO WEIRD -- I'd never been until last spring, but am dying to go back (partly because I didn't really believe them when they said you need to book tours in advance -- so only got to do one actual tour). I will keep an eye out for the Alabastards now, though, believe me! I don't usually go for monster novels but this was very different, and much more than a monster novel. Your characters and the way you create the world they are in is the key. I am sorry about the sequels, because it really begs for some. Or.... TV series!! That would be great too. Have you had any word on the earlier series hopefulness?
Thanks for your thorough and thoughtful Amazon review. I do appreciate it, and in fact I am just now working on a Low Lords TV script, but I'm finding the TV business to be glacial for me. Everything creeps along. Not sure why.
Somehow I did not get notice of the release of this book. I found out about it from Cynthia over the weekend. Hmm . . . I'll order it now and add it to the read soon list. Hope all is well with you, T.R., and you're managing to learn to live in Trumpistan. Hell, maybe there's a novel in there somewhere.
Hi Mike,This is an odd one. Be prepared.
I've actually just taken a writing job on a Trump-related book, so that's how I'm coping.
Another example that Trump IS making US great again!
