As a novelist, whether I am writing about disintegrating Southern culture or dystopian alternate history, I endeavor to dig below the surface of human relationship and felt need. I am fascinated with the pressures that shape and mold us as we struggle to find significance, purpose and joy. When it’s all said and done, I hope to enlighten, provoke and entertain with every story. Thanks for reading.
Reeferpunk
Reeferpunk is a dieselpunk, spaghetti-Western, refried alternate-history of what could have become of the southern half of North America if cheap oil never got cheap, and instead brilliant minds devised an early cellulosic ethanol from the wondrous cannabis plant. Mein Hanf! Ride along with a disillusioned-Mexican-revolutionary-turned-goat-herder-and-hemp-farmer, his two native American friends, an aging and self-righteous Texas Ranger, and a whole slew of quirky supporting cast.
Reeferpunk delivers a surge equivalent to a cocktail of 1 part serotonin, 2 parts adrenaline, with a dash of grenadine served over ice. It scratches the urge primeval. Combining the readability and smooth consumption of a beach house page-turner with the kick to the face of a summer blockbuster movie, Reeferpunk entertains without dumbing down.
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Fistful of Reefer (the first in the series)
- “Sergio Leone would have killed to film FISTFUL OF REEFER. Harry Turtledove would admire the way history has been skewed. Others will love the notion of Reeferpunk. The estimable Mr. Brown has really latched onto something here.” – Mike Resnick
A gut-punching, dieselpunk weird Western featuring goats, guns and the camaraderie of outcasts, Fistful of Reefer lives somewhere between No country for Old Men and The Three Amigos.
The year is 1918. Chancho Villarreal and his Native American friends, Muddy and Nena, live a quiet life on their goat ranch and marijuana farm north of Del Rio, Texas. But when ghosts from Chancho’s revolutionary past combine with local panic over stories of the demon El Chupacabra, the three friends inadvertently draw the attention of Texas Ranger, J.T. McCutchen.
To stay ahead of McCutchen’s brutal brand of justice Chancho, Muddy and Nena, are forced to pack up all their worldly possessions, including their marijuana harvest and herd of goats. What follows is an action-packed ride across the wilds of a weird-west, dieselpunk Texas haunted by rumors of Chupacabras behind every bush.
Gris-Gris Daughter (Southern Gothic)
Joseph King thinks God has told him to enter a mixed-race marriage with a voodoo-cursed teenager in the South during the summer of 1963. To make things worse, he’s the new Southern Baptist pastor in Bethel, Texas.
Both Southern gothic and darkly inspirational, Gris-Gris explores a religious, yet racist, small town culture where family ties nurture as well as strangle. This supernatural drama follows three generations of a family at a spiritual crossroads.
During the current day, Samantha Charles, a mixed-race product of rape, takes time away from college to visit the town of her roots, Bethel, Texas. Driven by the need for identity she discovers a story that starts with her grandparents, Joseph and Elise.
Reformed alcoholic and pastor, Joseph King has suffered from insomnia since returning from the Korean War. His early morning routine of push-ups and smoking a Lucky Strike would not sit well with his new congregation, First Baptist Bethel, if they knew about it. But King, sick of small town propriety, is more interested in hearing the mysterious voice of God whom he believes is calling him to do the unthinkable.
In a gothic tale of failure and redemption Gris-Gris Daughter weaves together the story of Elise Rabideau, Joseph King, and the tormented lives of their offspring in which revenge, rape and murder ratchet up the stakes. It examines the cultural and social issues that have ravaged much of the South over the last 200 years and how their binding effects, which without being broken, will continue to haunt the generations to follow.
Follow this link to Wattpad for a sneak peak at the first chapter. Click on the “reader” button in the far right of the navigation bar (the opening with the url in it up top) for a nice book-like version for enjoyable reading.
Welcome to the Green Porch! Yep, this is my blog. It's a meeting place for those interested in the art of conversation, story, community and sustainability. Hey, its a big porch. There's room for all of us, so pull up a chair and I'll pour you a drink (adult beverages after 2:00pm, which where I'm from is also known as the watermelon hour).