Hi, everyone! I’m excited to announce that my new book, A Long Way Down, will be available soon in paperback and Kindle formats. This project started a long time ago, when I wrote a short story called “Pareidolia” set in the fictional town of Bernardsville, Louisiana, on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain. That story was originally published by Wraparound South in 2018 and subsequently appeared in my tiny collection of short fiction, The Broken Places in 2019. Though I did at one time live in a similar place—called Mandeville—my fictional historic village is not intended to represent or replicate any real location. Like William Faulkner’s Yoknapatawpha County or Jimmy Buffett’s Snake Bite Key, Bernardsville was always a work of fiction, and any similarities to real-life communities are intended with the utmost respect.
The setting of that story stuck with me, and a couple of years later, I wrote another short story set there. My friend Adam Bjelland, who has always read my fiction early and often, suggested that I write an entire collection of stories set in Bernardsville, so I wrote another. When I wrote a fourth, he suggested that I tie them together into a continuous narrative. I thought it was a great idea, but I didn’t think at the time that my skills as a writer were up to the challenge. If you’ve ever lived in a small town, though, you got to know most of your neighbors, and it wasn’t long before characters started showing up in each other’s. Eventually, they were all connected in some way.
Since then, Bernardsville has received a name change. Now known as Port Butler, Louisiana, she has taken on a life of her own, and her inhabitants have been my good friends for several years. Keep reading for a glimpse at who they are.
Celebrity chef Claude Isaac has raised his twin sons, Jake and Sawyer, to be elite chefs just like their old man. Now on his deathbead, he prepares to hand over the reins to Sawyer, while his wife Reba, a ruthless corporate attorney, plots to install Jake against Claude’s will. Ambition and deception threaten family bonds in this modern retelling of the biblical story of the sons of Isaac.
Eleanor DeBray’s family has been a part of her town’s history since nearly its founding. After inheriting The Boulevardier from her father, Miss Eleanor has managed to keep the historic hotel thriving, but as she tries to grow her family’s legacy, she finds herself opposed by a higher power. When she fights back with a different power altogether, even the Church can’t stand in her way.
Brett Callahan was born on the shores of Lake Pontchartrain, but his family moved north when Brett and his brother were still boys. Now in the wake of a family tragedy, Brett must return to the place of his birth, chasing demons he is not prepared to find and rekindling interest in long-forgotten acts of unspeakable violence.
These and other tales make up A Long Way Down, a novel-in-stories whose characters slide into one another’s lives as they wrestle with forces greater than themselves. Port Butler, Louisiana, boasts a colorful population of cooks, musicians, voodoo conjure men, and more. The town and its kaleidoscopic history serve as the backdrop for this collection of ten interconnected stories of grief, ambition, curiosity, healing, and hope.
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