Writing from the Depths of Lockdown

Today CrimeReads published a roundtable discussion between Lise McClendon, the editor of Stop the World: Snapshots from a Pandemic, and four of us from the anthology. We discussed the inspiration behind our essays. My piece is “The Five Stages of Coronanxiety” which are telephone transcriptions between me and my dad (who lives in Taiwan) in the early stages of the pandemic.

Check out the anthology here!

10 Books You Should Read This April

CrimeReads came out with its “Top 10 Books You Should Read This April” list and selected The Faking of the President as one of them. On top of that, they singled out my story, along with Angel Luis Colon, as stand-outs. Woot!

My story “In Mother We Trust” is set in the near future during the 2024 election with Mike Pence running as the Republican candidate. It’s told from Karen Pence’s POV and she will do anything to ensure her husband’s rightful place as president. This resolve is tested when Trump refuses to leave office. Throw in Governor Elon Musk of California and the looming possibility of Calexit and you have a noir thriller that one reviewer wrote “reads something like a prequel to Handmaid’s Tale.”

The Faking of the President is out April 21, 2020 with Three Rooms Press but you can preorder it now!