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This month I thought I'd talk about my upcoming novel, Floating On Air. It will be my second novel, the first being The Astronomer, which came out in 2023.

How I came to write Floating On Air

The roots of this novel go way back. It was so long ago I don't remember the exact circumstances, but I do know that it came full-blown into my cranium. By that I mean, it wasn't there and then it was. With all the characters and the sordid details. (Well, most of them.) Sometimes that happens. And, to be honest, I don’t think it has ever happened again.

The process of writing the work was one of rewriting. And rewriting. And rewriting. And cutting what I felt wasn't needed (which was a quarter of the first draft, about 35,000 words).

The novel chronicles the rise and fall of a mythical Mississippi coastal town in the 1950's. It spans several generations in the town's life, from its founding in 1906 by political outcasts from Brazil to its cataclysmic destruction fifty years later. The story of a seventeen-year-old woman searching for love and meaning in a world where nothing is as it seems, it can also be read as a novel depicting the birth, life, and death of the human race (that's the hidden meaning).

Jennifer knew when someone was telling lies about her and someone was telling lies about her. Her best friend Sarah Delialah broke the news.

"Stanley's telling lies about you again," she said. "Only this time half of them are true.”

That exchange precipitates a slow but steady unwinding that leads to a horrific conclusion.

The novel could not be more different than The Astronomer. For one thing, it has a traditional plot. And it proceeds in a straightforward way. Even so, it's magical around the edges, as are all of my works. One of the main characters is even a magician. A magician who captivates the town with amazing feats of prestidigitation. Another is a fortune-teller. A fortune-teller who, after divining the town’s future, makes an alarming prediction. There's a philosophical nihilist bent on chaos and destruction. The mayor who harbors a dark secret from his distant past. And an eccentric scientist whose knowledge of the world is equaled only by his ability to misinterpret it.

I'm into the nitty-gritty of the publication process now. Cover design comes first. The work will come out in both paperback and as an ebook. Kim Dingwall, a talented media designer who lives in Australia, is designing the cover (she designed the covers of my two short story collections). Whisk(e)y Tit will be publishing the novel (they also published The Astronomer). Hannah Larrew is my publicist, helping me get this novel out to the world at large. I'm so excited to be working with them all.

But there’s so much more to do (final edits, publicity, etc ...); at times it’s overwhelming. Something I probably shouldn't confide, but what the heck: I ended up in a doctor's office, on the edge of a nervous breakdown, while writing The Astronomer. I’d invested so much of myself in the novel that it literally took over my life. I was overcome by an avalanche of anxiety, worry, and fear, fear that everything I’d written was for naught: the work was destined to be a failure.

Creatives, you need to watch yourselves. Those are not fun times. As I said before, this is a tough profession.

As far as Floating On Air goes, we're shooting for a fall 2026 release.

Stay tuned for pre-order information, cover reveal, and other good stuff.

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​This Month’s thought to ponder

“Perfection is not a goal, it’s a curse."

And it is. Because it can never be achieved. I think it was the Chilean poet Pablo Neruda who said, “A poem is never finished; it’s abandoned.” And that is so true. You strive and strive. Until you’ve exhausted yourself. And you realize you’re not much closer to your goal. And your creativity has gone “poof” (which leads to Jennifer’s predicament in Floating On Air, but I'd better leave it at that).

There’s something called the 80-20 rule: 80 percent is good enough. I try to abide by that (especially as I get older). Even so, the gremlins in the back of my mind are always urging, “One more revision, one more, just one more!” It’s a constant battle.

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​This month’s giveaway

I wrote a story once about a man’s quest for perfection. A man’s quest to be perfect in every single facet of his life. I was trying to use humor to address a real-life problem (perfectionism), even so, by story’s end the main character has gone mad, the result of his unrelenting pursuit. I think it’s a fun read, but fear it comes off merely as silly. Whatever. It’s called: “Perfect” and it appears in my second collection, Blister and Other Stories. You can read it here.

That’s all for now

Thanks for reading and hit me up with questions/comments anytime (simply reply to this email). I’ll do my best to respond quickly. And feel free to forward this email to anyone who you think might enjoy my writing.

You can access my newsletters anytime, as well as a page with links to some of my favorite sites.

Best,
​Brian​
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