'Bled': A New Novella By My Friend Jason McIntyre
Metaphorical Blood: discussing the give and take of my new book 'Bled'
Right up front on the cover of my latest novella, Bled, you'll see two giant references to the red stuff. Obviously, the title, and second to that is the giant smear of red plasma right there on the white book jacket.
But there's more to this story of an addled waitress at the Highliner Cafe. Much more. Metaphors are silly things. They can be simple-minded and trite. Or they can be deep and metaphysical. I don't know where the metaphors in Bled fall in that spectrum, but I do know that the bleeding that takes place in this book is more than just the kind that comes from a young woman's veins in the bathroom -- though there might be some of that too.
Teeny McLeod is coming up against a particularly vile creature: the taker. Someone who bleeds things dry and then moves on from them after he has what he wants. Not what he needs, but what he wants.
I can't tell you if Teeny comes out the other side of her confrontation okay. But I can tell you that I'm fascinated with this kind of character -- not only his, that of a taker, but with hers too. Teeny is a giver, you see. She's a waitress so there's the obvious connection with how she may serve others. But further than that, she will give you her shift at work if it's better for you. She will give you her dinner if you are hungry. In fact, Teeny McLeod has been giving her whole life -- and to everyone in the small island town of Dovetail Cove.
But will Teeny finally discover she's had enough giving while everyone else just takes?
I hope you'll find out in Bled, available now.
Bled: About the Novella
She only wanted to leave. But he took that option from her. Now she wants it back.
Set on the same island as the reader favorite Shed, the latest literary suspense novella from bestselling author Jason McIntyre picks up the Dovetail Cove saga with this story of one lonely woman...trapped.
Tina McLeod is on the cusp of a new life. Extraordinary change is rare in her world but this newsflash means she can finally leave her small island town for good. No more pouring coffee for townsfolk in Main Street's greasy spoon, no more living under the weight of her born-again mother. That is, until Frank Moort comes in for his usual lunch and dessert on an ordinary Friday in May.
Bled sees things turn backwards and upside down for each of them. Their encounter is prolonged and grotesque, the sort of thing splashing the covers of big city newspapers. Both are changed. And neither will come out clean on the other side.
A story about taking what's not yours, Bled explores pushing back when you've been pushed too far. It paints in red the horrors from our most commonplace of surroundings: right out in the open where nothing can hide behind closed doors and shut mouths.
About the Author
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Jason McIntyre has lived and worked in varied places across the globe. His writing also meanders from the pastoral to the garish, from the fantastical to the morbid. Vibrant characters and vivid surroundings stay with him and coalesce into novels and stories. Before his time as an editor, writer and communications professional, he spent several years as a graphic designer and commercial artist.
McIntyre's writing has been called darkly noir and sophisticated, styled after the likes of Chuck Palahniuk but with the pacing and mass appeal of Stephen King. The books tackle the family life subject matter of Jonathan Franzen but also eerie discoveries one might find in a Ray Bradbury story or those of Rod Serling.
Jason McIntyre's books include the #1 Kindle Suspense, The Night Walk Men, Bestsellers On The Gathering Storm and Shed, plus the multi-layered coming-of-age literary suspense Thalo Blue.
Bled : Teaser Trailer
