Connor Coyne

Kissed with curses, I sent my novel Hungry Rats — about a serial killer in Flint, Michigan — to the printer the same week that an actual serial killer struck the city. This is the sort of luck I’ve had all along: I’m invited on a podcast and the server crashes. The serial killer, it turns out, lives on the street as I did, and on which I set the novel.

Now, two months into this publishing adventure, my Google Alerts for “hungry rats” lights up like ships that would’ve carried the Bubonic Plague into Naples’ fine harbor. Has someone finally noticed my book?

Alas! No, it is the viral “Hungry rats vs. a scary-looking LEGO robot!”

Well maybe by linking them I’ll up my SEO and pick up some of their leavings.

Hey BoingBoing fans; check out my book. I’m even giving all of my money to charity until the end of the year!

This past weekend, when I was touring my book in Michigan, I had the first opportunity in a couple years to visit Detroit.

Of course, the city’s national and international reputation has been legendary for most of its existence, and most recently by its bizarre status as a sort of non-America within America; a disempowered place with almost a million residents, terrible statistics for crime, poverty, and abandonment, and so on. Naturally, the Great Recession and government bailout of the Detroit Three automakers has only solidified this reputation.

Additionally, however, the city looms large on America’s Gothic landscape, perhaps moreso than any other city in the U.S. (although New York and New Orleans will give anyone a run for their money).
From today’s vantage point, Detroit’s Gothic status is artistically-driven. Gothic inflections are visible in muscular but cavernous churches, factories, and mansions, many of them abandoned. In the public art and sculpture which evokes either an impassioned enlightenment and calculated power. And most eloquently, in the city’s music scene, which is as colorful and dynamic as the economy is bleak.

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I will be reading and signing copies of Hungry Rats at Detroit’s Cafe Con Leche, this upcoming Friday, November 12th, from 6 – 7 PM. Cross the bridge, head up or down river, or cruise in on down Woodward and Michigan!

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I will be discussing and reading from Hungry Rats at Pages Bookstore in Flint, MI: 132 W. 2nd St., Sat. Nov. 13, 1-3 PM. I’d love to see you there!

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As of today, my novel Hungry Rats is available for purchase! Buy your copy at a launch event (Chicago on 9/10, Flint on 9/16) for a modest discount, or order online today!