The South. Home to a deep culture steeped in African mythology and religion, Native American spirituality, Catholicism and Charismatic Christianity, the blues, and the deep, pounding heat. It is the source of one of the richest literary traditions in the world: Southern Gothic.
If you’ve seen The Twilight Zone, or read Ray Bradbury and Flannery O’Connor, or heard the Delta Blues, you’ve tasted it–maybe without realizing it. It’s always been one of my favorite genres, but I’ve only dipped into it rarely. If you’ve read Buried Alive in the Blues or some of The Lombard Alchemist Tales you’ve read my take on some of the lighter, more humorous and romantic sides of the Southern Gothic. This time, though, we’re going deep into the darkest heart of the mythic world where the Devil teaches the Blues at the crossroads, where the mystic communes with the spirits of the land, and where the gods and demons roll dice for the souls of the dead.
Turn off the lights and light the candles. Get a good blanket and a comfy chair in a safe corner. Make sure you’re facing the door so you can see if anything comes for you, and step with me into my nightmare as I present you with the twisty tale The Society of Miserable Bastards.
Thee decades ago, ten children were abandoned in a pit of quicksand by mile-marker thirty-five to protect the reputation of the all-powerful Chiswick family. Saved by the local bag lady, they now meet annually as The Society of Miserable Bastards to bestow blessings upon the family that abandoned them, one by one. And tonight, they have a very special guest indeed…
After a childhood in academia, J. Daniel Sawyer declared his independence by dropping out of high school and setting off on a series of adventures in the bowels of the film industry, the venture capital culture of silicon valley, surfing safaris, bohemians, burners, historians, theologians, adventurers, climbers, drug dealers, gangbangers, and inventors before his past finally caught up to him.
Trapped in a world bookended by one wall falling in Berlin and other walls going up around suburbia and along national borders throughout the world, he rediscovered his deep love of history and, with it, and obsession with predicting the future as it grew aggressively out of the past.
To date, this obsession has yielded over thirty books and innumerable short stories, the occasional short film, nearly a dozen podcasts stretching over a decade and a half, and a career creating novels and audiobooks exploring the world through the lens of his own peculiar madness, in the depths of his own private forest in a rural exile, where he uses the quiet to write, walk on the beach, and manage a production company that brings innovative stories to the ears of audiences across the world.
For news and free stories, sign up for his occasional newsletter. Or find his contact info, podcasts, and more on his home page at http://www.jdsawyer.net
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