Yay, just finished the #prologue of my #novel. Calling it done for now and moving right along to chapter 1, which will introduce the overarching antagonist. Which is quite exciting. :-)
Check out this recent review of my novel, Below the Heavens - JiangXi.
I have the entirety of the novel published on Royal Road for free. I'm actively publishing the second novel of the series as well! You can find the link to both in my bio.
I just published the sixth chapter of the second novel in my series, Below the Heavens - ZhiXia!
The first full novel and all six chapters of the second one are available to read for free. You can find the links to both of my publishing sites in my bio.
HIGH-ENERGY SPACE COMBAT thriller has lots of action and engaging worldbuilding. Fast pace and convincing characterization help make this an exciting ride. B PLUS
MEDDLING FROM THE AFTERLIFE, the spirit of a Korean great-grandmother tries to right the decades-old wrongs she did to her family. Vivid characterizations highlight the cultural and generational divides. B PLUS
I’ve gone back to an old #novel I’ve been writing for years- this time I’m getting it done! 😉
But, in doing so I have decided to change the prose text from past-tense to present-tense to give the #narrative some extra tension and forward drive.
It’s working out so far, but I’m not entirely convinced it’s the right thing to do. Most narratives are written in past-tense after all, so it might make my novel less inviting.
AN UNFLINCHING GEN X COMING-OF-AGE novel captures the summer heat, grime, and energy of early 80s New York, as well as the complicated friendship between two interns at a prestige newspaper (back when print still ruled the media). B PLUS
📚 Just got done #reading Shadow and Bone, the first #novel in the #Grishaverse trilogy by Leigh Bardugo.
I read this after seeing the TV show and reading Six of Crows, but it was awesome to see the foundations of how the entire universe of the #Grisha started!
“In the tradition of Upton Sinclair and Jack London, Michael Dunn gives us a gritty portrait of working-class life and activism during one of the most violent eras in U.S. labor history. Anywhere but Schuylkill is a social novel built out of passion and the textures of historical research. It is both a tale of 1870s labor unrest and a tale for the inequalities and injustices of the twenty-first century.”
-Russ Castronovo, author of Beautiful Democracy and Propaganda 1776.
Available on Sep 19, 2023, from all the usual online distributors, or direct from my publisher: http://wix.to/M9gMx11
Today in Labor History September 7, 1911: French poet, playwright and novelist Guillaume Apollinaire was arrested for stealing the Mona Lisa from the Louvre Museum. They released him after a week. The crime had actually been committed by his former secretary. Apollinaire was one of the foremost poets of the early 20th century, as well as one of the most impassioned defenders of Cubism and a forefather of Surrealism. In fact, he was credited with coining both of these terms, the latter in1917, with respect to the ballet, Parade, with music by Erik Satie, libretto by Jean Cocteau, and costumes by Pablo Picasso. Apollinaire wrote one of the first Surrealist literary works, the play “The Breasts of Tiresias” (1917). He was admired during his lifetime by the young poets who later formed the nucleus of the Surrealist group (Breton, Aragon, Soupault). Apollinaire died during the Spanish flu pandemic of 1918.
GRIM, STYLISH THRILLER set at a posh girls’ boarding school has a vivid sense of place and some memorable characterizations as well as a propulsive, high-energy plot. B PLUS
Today in Labor History September 6, 1869: The Avondale fire killed 110 miners, including several juveniles under the age of 10. It led to the first mine safety law in Pennsylvania. Avondale is near Plymouth, Pennsylvania. The Susquehanna River flows nearby. The mine had only one entrance, in violation of safety recommendations at the time. In the wake of the fire, thousands of miners joined the new Workingmen’s Benevolent Association, one of the nation’s first large industrial unions (and precursor to the United Mineworkers). My book, “Anywhere But Schuylkill,” opens with this fire. My main character, Mike Doyle, joins the bucket brigade trying to put out the flames shooting out of the mineshaft.
Today in Labor History September 5, 1964: Elizabeth Gurley Flynn died in Moscow. Flynn was an anarchist, labor militant and highly successful organizer with the IWW. before joining the American Communist Party. She was also a founding member of the ACLU. She is portrayed in Jess Walter’s historical novel, “The Cold Millions,” about the Spokane Free Speech Fight.
"Anywhere but Schuylkill" by Michael Dunn - coming soon from Historium Press! Check it out!! http://wix.to/M9gMx11
“The Banshees of Inisherin and 1917 are two of the best historical films I’ve seen in recent years, particularly the cinematography. Yet the visuals Michael Dunn creates in Anywhere But Schuylkill, are richer, more vivid, more imaginative, and more haunting and indelible than what I recall in those brilliant films. It’s like the author transports himself to each scene and brings to life each physical detail, each expression, each emotion, and each word of dialogue with the care of a Renaissance painter.”
—David Aretha, award-winning author of Malala Yousafzai and the Girls of Pakistan and Martin Luther King Jr. and the 1963 March on Washington.
Just finished Olga #Tokarczuk's 'Empusion', her first #novel since winning the Nobel prize.
A magical, intoxicating, even addictive read, with such literary beauty as I've rarely found in a novel, much less a novel that cheekily mixes quirky intellectual caricatures with good old folk #horror
Saying anything more might spoil the experience: best to discover its joys without knowing too much in advance!
HEARTSTOPPING MICHIGAN GOTHIC builds on the loneliness of shattered families, the protective anxieties of pregnancy, and the harsh realities of the deep woods. Stunningly fresh and decidedly modern take on a classic genre. A MINUS
Today in Labor History September 1, 1880: The utopian communistic Oneida Community ended after 32 years. The Community was founded by John Humphrey Noyes and his followers in 1848 near Oneida, New York. They believed that Jesus had already returned in AD 70, allowing them to bring about Jesus's millennial kingdom themselves. The Community practiced communalism (holding all property and possessions in common). They also practiced complex marriage, where 3 or more people could enter into the same marriage, and male sexual continence, where the male’s goal was to not ejaculate during sex. They were also one of the first groups in the U.S. to practice mutual criticism, to root out bad characteristics in people, something adopted by many later cults, and even by Cesar Chavez and the UFW under his leadership.
The Oneida Community has been portrayed in numerous works of fiction such as “Silken Strands,” by Rebecca May Hope (2019). “Assassination Vacation,” by Sarah Vowell (2005) and “Pagan House,” by David Flusfeder (2007).
Check out this recent review of my novel, Below the Heavens - JiangXi.
I have the entirety of the novel published on Royal Road for free. I'm actively publishing the second novel of the series as well! You can find the link to both in my bio.