Hi everyone,
It’s a bit of a different newsletter this month because I have a new book out.
You can buy it here.
In fact, it’s on sale this weekend for only $0.99 USD.
More here 👇
All About The New Book…
My previous release was The Spiral back in January of 2021. And while I’ve been busy since then (I’ve written 2 novels in that time), getting a new release out has taken a while.
So without any further adieu here it is…
WHAT LIVING AND DYING IS LIKE: TWO STORIES by Iain Ryan
Blurb: An ex-con circles back to L.A. and knows it is a mistake. Elsewhere, in Vegas, a restless kid buys a mysterious, stolen guitar.
Two characters, worlds apart, but drawn together by the same buried history.
Spread across two connected stories, Iain Ryan’s What Living And Dying Is Like is about regret and hard-won recovery.
In short, it’s two stories that are interlinked and it runs about 140 pages in paperback.
Speaking of which, the paperback is pretty nice and has a few visual surprises not included in the ebook:
And as a taster, here is an excerpt from part 2 of the book titled The Drifter:
The drifter ended up back in L.A. after his conscience got the better of him. He knew he’d done harm in his life, but the weight of specific things made no sense to him. The stealing, the cheating, some of the fighting, none of that brushed up against him. That’s just what happened. What he couldn’t quite shake was what happened with Cale and his wife.
They’d all lived together in the same cottage out in East L.A. Cale still lived there, still owned the place. When the drifter called, he didn’t even sound that surprised. “I always wondered when you’d turn up,” he said.
The drifter showed up at the house and Cale showed him around like he’d never been there before. Cale had renovated and painted, but it was still the same. There was a shed in the yard now. Her shed. Something to do with her work. Cale opened the shed door, and they looked in on her desk and everything about her came back to the drifter. It smelled like her. A lot of her things remained: books, a yellow pad, an old calendar. Cale said he didn’t have much need for a writing desk, but sometimes he liked to go out there and listen to the radio.
Back in the house, Cale took two beers from the refrigerator and they drank them in front of the game. Cale said, “You ever end up getting married?”
“Nearly. One time,” said the drifter.
“It’s not the easiest thing in the world, is it? Still feels strange without her. I get bored. Never used to get bored. You get bored?”
“Sometimes.”
Cale seemed comfortable enough just sitting there. He let the drifter smoke inside and didn’t seem to mind the fresh ash in his dead wife’s ashtray. The drifter looked at Cale watching the game and said, “I’m real sorry I never came back for the funeral.”
“Just how things are sometimes,” Cale said and smiled a little. “She wasn’t here to miss you, buddy.”
“It worries me,” said the drifter.
“What? Dying?”
“No. Not coming back. I think you and her were… you know, family.”
Cale waited, then he said, “Well kid, you don’t get to pick who you do your bit with, do you?”
That’s all.
I’ll be back later with my Year In Review post outlining my favourite books from 2022. I’ve been reading a lot of interesting stuff this last month, so there will be a few surprises on my list, I think.
Till then,
— IAIN
PS: Read my thoughts here and see how I live my life here.
PPS: This newsletter is brought to you by Articulation by Rival Consoles.