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.
When I started my Vocab Menace series, the idea was to find fun words, define them, and challenge viewers to slip those exotic or rarely used words into casual conversation.
I don’t know how many people are actually making that attempt, but I do enjoy finding these words. We use words to tell a story, but the stories behind the words are often interesting, too.
Some folks are concerned we are losing words or adding silly ones. Remember the furor over the elimination of the distinction between regardless and irregardless? I know that sticks in some people’s craws, but language is constantly evolving. It’s an organic thing that can grow in unexpected ways. You can resist, but you may as well try to empty the ocean with a sieve.
We could try to freeze our level of communication at some arbitrary stage, I suppose. With enough teaching, torture, and torment, we could all speak as if we are upperclass eighteenth-century Brits. I doubt that would fly, though.
Some lovers of the English language would clutch their pearls and retreat to their fainting couches if they knew the truth. Most newspapers are written at the sixth-grade level. That’s not a disaster. It’s meeting and reaching more readers where they are.
I am a word nerd, but I don’t beat readers over the head with my research (at least in my novels, I don’t). However, I must admit, I loved using Latin phrases in This Plague of Days.I made it work by translating said phrases and aphorisms. There was never any doubt what was meant and the use of a bit of Latin was integral to the protagonist’s character development. Jaimie Spencer is a selective mute on the spectrum with a special interest in his dictionary. When the world ends, Jaimie finds comfort in the old wisdom of Latin words.
My 1939 Webster’s was the inspiration for the dictionary Jaimie carries around the apocalypse. She’s a thick one, eh?
Webster’s Dictionary of the English Language, 1939
If you are a word nerd, too, subscribe to my Substack for fun, new vocabulary explorations each weekday.
For links to all my apocalyptic epics and killer crime thrillers, check the links to Amazon down the right-hand side of this page. Enjoy!
Deborah Goodwin wakes up in her tiny basement apartment in Toronto. It seems like it’s going to be just another day in her anonymous corporate job chained to a desk. But something is wrong with her cell phone. The device tells Deborah to power down and turn it back on to “reset.” But it’s not just the phone that is reset. It’s Deborah and the world.
To get peace, first there must be chaos.
This short story is for subscribers only. Subscribe and I will send you a link to the Bookfunnel landing page. You can download the short story or read it in your browser. Enjoy!
Find out more about today’s Vocab Menace video postPHARO and PHAROS below.
In almost every interview with a writer, the interviewer will ask, “Where do the words come from?”
They’re always talking about “the muse.”
My answer is “My brain assembles factoids into narratives. Oh, and childhood trauma. Also, adult trauma. And….” Then I gesture vaguely around, alluding to all the nonsense that pervades our common experience. The news, social media, and falling down rabbit holes on Wikipedia provide plenty of raw material to construct delightful fictional conflict.
When I think about where words come from, I take a more literal approach. I own a huge Webster’s dictionary from 1939 (pictured). I forget how it came into my possession, but I’m sure it must have come from a library sale or used bookstore. This particular edition was the inspiration for Jaimie Spencer’s beloved dictionary in my apocalyptic trilogy, This Plague of Days. I had to apply duct tape to keep it from falling apart.
My kids have big vocabularies. Partly, that’s osmosis from growing up in a home packed and stacked with books. Also, we always spoke to them as if they were little adults. As babies, they were no doubt confused at times. Nonetheless, I figured they’d catch up and eventually understand my words and sense of humour.
Recently, I decided to make a video series out of my fascination with words.
It’s easy to post on social media with rabid urgency, “BUY MY BOOKS! BUY MY BOOKS!” Easy, but not effective. I’m always looking for new readers, of course. Every author is. However, I’m allergic to marketing. I do it, but I don’t enjoy it. Exploring the meanings of words and where they come from, though? That gets the happy neural juices flowing.
Vocab Menace was born.
Why call it Vocab Menace?
Words can be fun and interesting.
Your challenge each day is to slip these rare or unusual words into casual conversation as if it’s no big deal.
Imagine the satisfaction you’ll derive from all that simmering, smarmy, and artificial sense of superiority!
Like, subscribe, and share. All that stuff is sexy.
PLEASE NOTE: I’m away from social media next week (July 28-August 1).
I’m taking a deep dive into isolation to work on my new novel, but Vocab Menace will continue after that brief hiatus.
About today’s post:PHARO and PHAROS
In today’s video, I promoted Lighthouse Legaciesby Chris Mills.
Description:
Imagine living your life perched on a tiny island, without electricity, exposed to the fury of the sea, and always at the service of the mariner. This is how lightkeepers and their families spent their lives, even up until the 1960s. We are very close to losing the last of the people who lived this isolated life and experienced the heyday of lightkeeping in Canada. Lighthouse Legacies lets us share in the memories of those who kept the lights.
These stories are presented largely in the words of the people, with context and history by author Chris Mills. Each chapter deals with an element of lighthouse life and is complemented by photos from lighthouse family collections, the Coast Guard and Mills’ own collection.
