What, Why, How: Kevin St. Jarre

What:

I have two novels under contract with Encircle Publications.  The first one is literary fiction, with humor/absurdism, titled Aliens, Drywall, and a Unicycle, due in bookstores November 6, but available for pre-order now.  The other is a YA crossover novel titled Celestine and is scheduled for publication in May 2021.

Why:

Like so many other authors, I have always written, ever since early childhood when I was writing little books, illustrating them, and binding them with a stapler.  This book, Aliens, Drywall, and a Unicycle is not really about those things in the title, but instead is about modern misfits learning from each other, leaning on each other, and growing.  The ‘why’ of writing it came from the book I wrote before it.  It was an unpublished historical novel set in the time of Jesus of Nazareth, written through the eyes of Thomas, and titled The Twin.  I was so restrained by writing fiction of that kind and set in the 1st century, and I was buried in three years of research, that I came out of that project wanting to burst.  The novel Aliens, Drywall, and a Unicycle was my leap back into the 21st century, and letting it all hang out.  Still, if the novel works, readers might pause, and look at their lives through a different, and perhaps more accepting, lens.

How:

If I’m not writing, I’m wanting to be.  My favorite time is very early, and I love to write outside, although I do write directly on a laptop.  Sometimes I outline a bit on paper, but then I don’t follow them. Most of the time, I just type away.  The idea is to get the bones of the story down and add flesh to it in the revision.

My style of writing is spare.  Never use two words when one will do, try not to describe the mundane, such as someone’s clothing, try not to write the obvious (e.g. the jet’s engine was loud).  Trust the reader to do their part of the work.

I’ve always got a few completed manuscripts, and a few works-in-progress, plus short fiction as well.

Bio:

Kevin St. Jarre earned his MFA in Creative Writing, with a concentration in Popular Fiction, from University of Southern Maine’s Stonecoast program. He has studied at the Norman Mailer Writers Center on Cape Cod with Sigrid Nunez and David Black.

He has worked as a teacher, a professor, a newspaper reporter, an international corporate consultant, and led a combat intelligence team in the first Gulf War. He penned a series of original action thrillers for Berkley Books, his short fiction has appeared in journals such as Story and Solstice Literary Magazine, and he is a member of International Thriller Writers.  He lives on the coast of Maine

Links:

Amazon
Facebook
Twitter.com/kstjarre
Instagram.com/kstjarre
Encircle Publishing

About Aliens, Drywall, and a Unicycle

Tom Tibbets, takes a job at a small weekly newspaper in Portage, New Hampshire, and an apartment in the old Cooper Building where the residents form a kaleidoscope of the odd, interesting, and insane. 

One believes in aliens, another is a pothead philosopher, while still others play with illegal explosives for fun.  A vegan pacifist lives there, along with nomadic born-again Christians, a schizophrenic unicycle rider, and a mysterious wise man.

At first, Tom feels like the only “normal” person in the building.  However, he soon believes that the very people he at first considered unstable and strange have become a lens through which he gets a new look at himself and everything else.

But when something happens that leaves the tenant community changed and off-balance, Tom comes to wonder if his karmic weight, added to the Cooper building, has thrown off the bizarre status-quo energetic equilibrium of the place.  In the end, Aliens, Drywall, and a Unicycle is the story of growth from delusion to examination to awareness of what is truly important in life.

Preorder Drywall, Aliens and a Unicycle

Praise for Drywall, Aliens and a Unicycle:‘

“The tenderness with which the author approaches his characters, not only creating relatable flaws but making the extraordinary decision to not judge them for their shortcomings and eccentricities, feels genuine and refreshing.” – Vernacular Books

“With a reckless and savage humor, St. Jarre captures the desperation and madness of a small New England town with grace and compassion.” -Shellie Leger, author of Lonely Specks

About Celestine

Celestine Tolland was 15-years-old in 1984, and she was part of a crew of explorers who set off into space. Months after their departure, a virus ravaged the crew of the Phaeacia, killing nearly everyone aboard. The few survivors returned to Earth after nearly two years. However, because they were traveling near the speed of light, causing an effect known as time dilation, more than 30 years had passed on Earth.  Celestine, who had finished her freshman year in high school in 1984, returned to Earth to begin her senior year in 2020.  She was still 17, while her former classmates were nearly 50 years old.

Back in her hometown, Celestine faces the same trials that every teen girl faces, but there are many additional challenges. She has to navigate finding friends, romance, mean girls, social media and the internet, suspicious members of the public, and staying safe at parties. However, she also has to deal with survivor’s guilt, living with her foster mother/childhood friend, group and individual therapy, fear of a government conspiracy and falling ill, all the while living with the threat of being committed to in-patient psychiatric care.

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Linda K. Sienkiewicz is a writer, poet, and artist.
Learn more about her award winning novel, In the Context of Love.
Learn more about her picture book, Gordy and the Ghost Crab.