- Character-driven fiction, plot-driven fictionLast year I wrote about dysfunctional narratives, a type of story that Charles Baxter first identified in the 1990s and which now seems overly prevalent today. He quoted a description of them by poet Marilynne Robinson, who also identified this type of narrative. She called… Read more: Character-driven fiction, plot-driven fiction
- Ten years of blogging: Flaubertian three-dimensionalismPreviously: Writer’s block The year that was 2020 will most likely go down as one of the most significant years of my life: The COVID-19 pandemic, lock-downs and masking, the murder of George Floyd and the ensuing riots, all leading up to the most contentious… Read more: Ten years of blogging: Flaubertian three-dimensionalism
A MAN NAMED BASKERVILLE
He took on Sherlock Holmes and lost.
Now he wants revenge.
A MAN NAMED BASKERVILLE retells the infamous Arthur Conan Doyle mystery straight from the villain’s diary, from the jungles of Brazil to the beaches of Costa Rica to the fog of Devonshire. It’s a rousing adventure, from start to finish. What’s more—it’s a Sherlock Holmes story unlike any you’ve read before.
“One of the best Holmes-related books I read in the past year was called A Man Named Baskerville … Very polished writing with an excellent sense of voice. I would call it a page turner.” – Jane Rubino, author of Hidden Fires
“Nelson’s style is convincing and engaging, and places his novel firmly shoulder-to-shoulder with the Sherlock Holmes canon. … Would very likely give Doyle himself immense joy.” – My Murmuring Bones
“I would recommend this for any Doyle fans or classic readers out there.” – Kay’s Hidden Shelf
“Once you’re done you may be tempted to go dig out the original story.” – Steve’s Book Stuff
“A fitting addition to any classic lover’s shelf.” – FanFiAddict
“Brilliant.” – M.A.D., five-star Amazon review
THE BRIDGE DAUGHTER CYCLE
Hanna Driscoll thinks her thirteenth birthday will be no different than the one before—until her mother explains the facts of life. Hanna is a “bridge daughter,” born pregnant with her parents’ child. In a few months she will give birth and die, leaving her parents with their true daughter…
“Bridge Daughter is the sort of surprising gem in a sea of fairly ordinary you occasionally run across as a reader of contemporary speculative fiction—smart, highly original, and emotionally brutal. It’s a book that, like Ursula LeGuin’s “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” or Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, tweaks a single seemingly ordinary aspect of the human condition in order to imagine the terrible possibilities hidden inside all of us, and it does it so compellingly that the story lingers long after the book is done.”
– John Blair, author of Bright Angel and American Standard
“Nelson smoothly realizes a provocative alternate present seen through the eyes of naive adolescent Hanna Driscoll. … Hanna is an engaging protagonist, and her thought-provoking story blends action, introspection, and social commentary in a stark but indirect critique of efforts to control female bodies and restrict reproductive rights.”
“This book sucked me in right away and I was compelled to finish it to find out what choices Hanna would make. … It definitely kept me thinking long after I was done reading.”
– Sarah Meckler, GSMC Book Review Podcast
“A beautiful and compact novel that is both sweet and savage in turn. The most original and compelling novel I’ve read in years. … My favourite novel of 2016.“
– Katherine Hayton, author of The Three Deaths of Magdalene Lynton and Breathe and Release
“Nelson resists genre categories with elegant, stylistic prose…[an] ambitious psychological thriller.”
– Ramiro Estrada, 5-star Amazon review
“Hanna is a beautiful character that undergoes one of the most trying and tortuous character arcs I’ve ever read…intelligent, gripping, and hard to put down.”
– The Drifting Paige, 5 out of 5 review
“Startlingly unique … Bridge Daughter will challenge you to think, to contemplate, to re-assess.”
– C. Chase Harwood, author of Bastion Saturn
“A strong character, I found myself sympathizing with Hanna and rooting for her until the very end.”
“A strong start to a potentially brilliant series.”
“Haunting and beautifully written…I could not put this book down.”
– Anne Wagener, author of Borrow-A-Bridesmaid
“One of those books I can’t get out of my head, where I found myself thinking about it not only while I was reading it but even days and weeks later.”
– Heather F., 5-star Amazon review
“Don’t start this until your schedule is clear—you won’t be able to put it down.”
– Cynthia Ross, 5-star Amazon review