Last week, She Who Must Be Obeyed toured southern France with Business Daughter on a celebration trip. Meanwhile, I had a stay-at-home writing retreat. (I often started each day flailing at my keyboard with gusto at a local cafe, but same, same.) I also perfected a yogurt cheesecake that would blow your mind.
Besides the cheesecake, steaming the carpets, and cleaning the house, I made substantial progress with my next novel. I’ve been reading a lot of forensic psychology to enhance the plot, plot twists, and verisimilitude. More on that in the future.
During my retreat, I took a break from my Vocab Menace video series. I enjoy these quick little video essays so much, I figured it was time for another VM roundup!*
*Note the rare use of that exclamation point to underline my sincere excitement.
Today’s video:
Here’s the latest group of videos from my Substack, also available on my YouTube channel. (Scroll down the blog for an earlier list of Vocab Menace video essays.)
If you’ve enjoyed my latest release, Vengeance Is Hers, please consider reviewing it on Goodreads and Amazon. That vigilante justice needs more love and attention. Thanks again.
Getting a good review from Publishers Weekly is a big deal. Getting a rave review feels amazing. When Amazon sabotaged my launch of Endemic, the pandemic was raging, and I was in a lot of pain that could only be fixed with eight pounds of titanium and ceramic implants in my hips. I was pretty down. Endemic has won several awards (the best and biggest was the North Street Book Prize). My hips are now fixed, I’m pain-free, and writing consistently again. A review from PW is icing on the literary cake. The PW review of Vengeance Is Hers appears in print mid-October, and PW’s review of Endemic is coming at the end of October.
THE PUBLISHERS WEEKLY REVIEW OF ENDEMIC
Chute is no stranger to dystopian fiction, and he uses Covid-19 as inspiration for this adroit thriller, reimagining New York City as an anarchic, post-pandemic fortress where the remnants of humanity are both brutally vicious and quietly resilient. Introverted and riddled with anxiety, Ovid Fairweather keeps her head down. She maintains a secret rooftop garden, trading produce for the necessities of survival—and small luxuries. Once a book editor, Ovid is the unlikely heroine of her own life, but this existence has cracked her protective shell, and she’s no longer willing to bow to oppressors.
Ovid’s first-person narration captures the bizarre banality of post-apocalyptic life, accompanied by the “voice in my head that spoke like a tough British man.” That wry running commentary plays out against marauders roaming the city streets and looting whomever they please. Everything is scarce (especially trustworthy people), but Ovid would rather fight in New York than flee to safety in Maine, where her cruel father beckons. She’s a protagonist who’s haunted by memories of being belittled and bullied but refuses to accept her past reactions in her present circumstances; when someone who knew Ovid before the pandemic threatens to destroy everything she’s built, she decides it’s no longer enough to outrun her past—she must kill the person she used to be.
While ratcheting up tension with the Memory Keepers, who impose a new level of tyranny and violence, Chute (Our Zombie Hours) keeps the plot focused on Ovid’s evolution. Along with the everyday terrors outside, she hears echoes from past therapy sessions and tries to piece together her fractured identity. But to move forward, Ovid must unleash a long-suppressed part of herself and commit acts she’s only read about in books. The virus in Endemic is a potent force eroding the underpinnings of society, but Chute celebrates the humans who, left to fend for themselves, decide that meek doesn’t mean powerless.
Takeaway: Pandemic ravages NYC but brings reticent woman roaring back to life.
Comparable Titles: Ling Ma’s Severance, Sequoia Nagamatsu’s How High We Go in the Dark.
Production grades Cover: A Design and typography: A Editing: A Marketing copy: A
Writing Life Update
My wife and daughter are currently enjoying the sunny south of France and mocking me with photos of croissants. They sent me pictures of amazing views of Monaco and Nice, sure,BUT LOOK AT THOSE CROISSANTS!
Meanwhile, I am at home in rainy Other London, cocooning on a stay-at-home writing retreat. I start each day with a long writing session. I’m holding back on spending time on new Vocab Menace videos (just for ten days) to focus on the vaunted Work in Progress. I’m not sure where this thriller is going yet, but I’m enjoying the ride. I’m aiming for 65,000 words (or so). Lately, I’ve been writing BIG HONKIN’ TOMES, so I’m aiming for something that’s delicious but less intimidating to readers who are looking for a quick adventure between the sheets (sheets of paper, you pervs)!
Originally, I’d planned nothing but marathon writing sessions. Thing is, after a few hours at it from the early morning, I need to recharge. It’s turned into an unexpectedly eventful week in the off-writing hours. Yesterday, I had a coffee date and caught up with a fellow writer. I’m reading more, too.
I’ve been riding my bike and hitting the gym for one to two hours a day, cleaned the house, rented a carpet cleaner for the basement carpet, and got a chipped tooth fixed. In the past, I’ve chipped teeth sparring. That was exciting. How I did it this time, I have no idea, but it was expensive and less exciting. Tomorrow, I get to hang out with Russ (my favorite Mennonite, wise sage, and beta reader extraordinaire).
After today’s writing session, I’m spending the day with my son. Archery time is booked after catching up over lunch. I’ll take him for an exciting trip to a grocery store and maybe some temporary tattoos to freak out She Who Must Be Obeyed upon her return from France. I also slept on her side of the bed. She’ll hate that. Vengeance shall be mine!
And she better goddamn well bring me back a croissant. I mean, jeez! Look at those beauties!
There’s still time to work on another chapter. I’m on it. Have a week! (And read and review my books!)
Chute’s thought-provoking crime thriller tells the story of Molly Jergins, a bright, restless teenager who grows up in the small town of Poeticule Bay, Maine, a tight-knit, picturesque village floundering and long dominated by a single powerful family. When Keith Faun, the town’s hockey star and the son of its most influential businessman, brutally assaults a younger boy and escapes punishment, Molly finds herself consumed with revenge fantasies. Her petty pranks soon escalate into a campaign to drive the Fauns out of town: she sabotages their family business and publicly damages their credibility, with each act calculated to chip away not only at their sense of untouchability but also the broader community that enables it.
At its core, this novel is an exploration of the insular dynamics unique to small towns—blind loyalty to old families, unthinking hostility toward outsiders, and reflexive protection afforded to their golden boys. What stands out most are not the creative revenge sequences but the way cruelty is normalized: a principal who dismisses violence, a sheriff more concerned with reelection than law enforcement, neighbors who carry on like it’s business as usual. Here, Chute (author of Endemic) pushes readers to consider whether such institutions can really be trusted with justice—or if it falls to individuals to enforce it.
This ethical dilemma is embodied most clearly in Molly herself. While she obviously cares about fairness, her obsessive tendencies leave readers questioning whether she is driven by justice or simply by her power to deliver it. The story’s pace sometimes falters under the sheer number of revenge plots, with these convoluted sequences limiting Molly’s character development—but she remains a complex, morally gray protagonist who readers will want to follow, if only to see how far she will go. Overall, those who are drawn to dark small-town noir will enjoy the clarity with which this gripping tale examines power and complicity.
Takeaway: Dark small-town thriller examining the blurred line between justice and obsession.
Amazon Prime Days start tomorrow and the e-book of Vengeance Is Hers is free from July 8 – 12. Once I have more reviews, I can promote it more effectively, so I appreciate your reviews very much. Cheers!
Here’s why you should get excited
This is not a guide for aspiring vigilantes, but it might inspire you!
Welcome to Poeticule Bay, Maine, a village where justice is scarce, and secrets have deadly consequences. When a gay student is brutally attacked and exiled from his home, the police turn a blind eye. Fueled by rage, Molly Jergins launches a relentless campaign against the school bully and his sinister family.
As Molly’s quest for retaliation spirals into chaos, the lines between hero and villain blur. To hunt monsters, must she become the very thing she despises? In the end, will revenge prove the best success?
Did you know I’m on Substack? I regularly post stories and videos there sharing anecdotes from real life, my reading life, and the writing life.
I have things to say! You can become a paid subscriber if you want to support my work, but that is optional and, honestly, most of what I post is completely free to everyone. Hopefully, you’ll also find it funny/thoughtful/entertaining/whatever-floats-your-neural-boat. Only the sexiest and most intelligent people opt in for my braingasms. Confirm you are sexy and intelligent by joining.
Vengeance is Hers is set in the fictional town of Poeticule Bay, Maine, a community inspired by the author’s Nova Scotia upbringing. The story begins with a morally satisfying act of revenge, but as Molly grows into adulthood and pursues a life in academia, her motivations become more complex and unsettling. This is a noir-tinged character study that spans more than a decade, exploring adult themes and emotional loss. A late twist surprised me, yet it felt exactly right. I read this as a beta reader but received no compensation other than the pleasure of engaging with a smart, gripping novel. I highly recommend it.
(Thank you to ARC reader extraordinaire, Russell! I certainly appreciate it!)
This is not a guide for aspiring vigilantes, but it might inspire you!
Welcome to Poeticule Bay, Maine, a village where justice is scarce, and secrets have deadly consequences. When a gay student is brutally attacked and exiled from his home, the police turn a blind eye. Fueled by rage, Molly Jergins launches a relentless campaign against the school bully and his sinister family.
As Molly’s quest for retaliation spirals into chaos, the lines between hero and villain blur. To hunt monsters, must she become the very thing she despises? In the end, will revenge prove the best success?
