It's taken six years and thirty-four submissions, but I've finally found a publisher willing to release my novel Madame Antic's Hotel Grotesque in all of its gory goodness out into the world: Montag Press Collective. They pride themselves on being purveyors of the finest weird fiction in all its forms, and there's definitely a Fahrenheit 451 vibe going on with their logo and motto. As a big fan of Ray Bradbury, I approve. Apparently, they receive a hundred submissions every month and only publish a dozen titles each year, so I'm honored to have made the cut. Edits are scheduled to begin in a few months, with a release date toward the end of 2020. What's the storyline? Glad you asked:
In an alternate Victorian era, factory worker Anthony Reynolds desires to improve his station in life. He joins Richard Laurent, a gregarious coworker with social connections, for a night out after their late shift. Richard leads them deep into the city's underworld to a brothel of sorts specializing in the illegal art of mutilation: Madame Antic's Hotel Grotesque. There Anthony witnesses victims who have been skinned, broken, and mangled without lasting damage, thanks to a special drug that returns them to their original state. Anthony immediately wants to leave, but Richard convinces him to stay.
When Constables raid the establishment, Anthony flees the scene, running into a giant tumor of a man who spills a viscous fluid. Anthony is instantly disfigured by the substance, and when the authorities capture him, he is unable to identify himself, let alone speak. One Constable takes an interest in him and trawls his mind to find out if he met the Cancer Man (an untouchable crime lord) face to face. What follows is a mind-bending adventure of mistaken identity, multiple realities, and paranoia as Anthony fights to reclaim a simple life he never truly appreciated but now wants more than anything.
