Author! Author!

[Lawyer, "Moderator Emeritus"]

AHA! We have an author in our midst. And his name is John Mantooth. Although, when forming this group, I made it a rule, actually, Rule 4, DON'T SPAM. Well, John's not. He politely wrote me and asked if he might let the group know that he's had a book published. And, having read the Publisher's Weekly review, I have to tell you it looks good. Here's the link to the PW Review of OUR group member John Mantooth's Book, Shoebox Train Wreck:http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1.... Congratulations, John! NOW--Tell us a little bit about it...

[John]

Thanks for posting this, Mike. I really appreciate it.

SHOEBOX TRAIN WRECK is a collection of 16 short stories that range from quieter literary pieces to more violent crime stories. In between there are a few ghost stories and even a couple of science fiction stories. Almost all are set in the South. I hope you'll check it out. It's up for presale now at amazon, barnes and noble, etc. It will be in bookstores and ship on March 13.

Here are some of the blurbs I was lucky enough to get:

"Mantooth's stories glitter with the brilliant, jagged menace of a fistful of busted glass. Shoebox Train Wreck emits blacklight, illuminating the grim intersection of small, fragile human lives and the encroaching wilderness of the universe."
--Laird Barron, author of Occultation and The Imago Sequence and Other Stories

"The stories in John Mantooth's powerful debut collection turn a blazing spotlight on those living at--and beyond--society's margins. In sinuous, elegant prose, Mantooth maps the journeys that have led his characters to dead-ends and disappointments. Mantooth spares his characters nothing, including sufficient self-awareness to understand their roles in their personal catastrophes. These characters grieve their griefs on universal bones, and when they stumble onto hope, it is a small, tough thing that promises no miracles, only the possibility that life tomorrow will be a little better than it was today. This is impressive, assured work, not to be missed."
--John Langan, author of Technicolor and Other Revelations

"John Mantooth's short stories crackle with intelligence and violence. He writes about desperate and simple lives gone not-so-simple, and those lives beat with a savvy and familiar broken heart. His down-and-out characters are ugly and beautiful, and most importantly, compelling. John is the real deal, and I think I hate him for it."
--Paul Tremblay, author of The Little Sleep.

"John Mantooth writes with enviable grace, vigor, ease. These stories pulsate with the inevitable pain of familial love, and loss, and the horrors of the human condition while remaining peopled with unforgettable characters who move through their lives toward moments of personal realization and doom that can only come from the Southern experience. Mantooth has here collected a group of stories that exceeds the sum of its parts. You won't regret picking up this collection and will think on these amazing and heartfelt stories long after you've closed the covers. Absolutely brilliant."
- John Hornor Jacobs, author of Southern Gods, This Dark Earth,and The Twelve Fingered Boy

The amazon link:

http://www.amazon.com/Shoebox-Train-W...

Thanks again, Mike for letting me post.

John

[John]

Just a little update... Shoebox Train Wreck is now availabe for the Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/Shoebox-Train-W...

And I've got an interview up here:

http://www.mourninggoats.blogspot.com/

I hope you'll check it out!

[Lawyer, "Moderator Emeritus"]

Congratulations, John!

Mike

[John]

Mike wrote: "Congratulations, John!

Mike"

Thank you, Mike. And thanks again for letting me post.

[John]

And a new review from Booklist-

These 16 short stories are unconnected in terms of their characters and stories, but they are very much thematically related. Its people are small-town folk, mostly, many of them children or young adults (and even some of the adults seem quite like children). A few of the stories have traditional horror-fantasy elements, but most of them are character pieces, small situational dramas in which the protagonist, faced with a difficult set of circumstances, is forced to make a tragic decision. The writing is immediate and instantly revelatory about character and setting ("Doug settles back down on the couch with a fresh beer, as Martin starts another porn flick"); each word feels like it was chosen because of the way it nestles together with the words on either side. When you leave a short story feeling like you need to go stand out in the sunshine, or wash the grime off your hands, you know the author has done what he set out to do.
David Pitt, Booklist

[Lee]

Sweet!