New Novel about Living off the Grid in California–Release Date 2/10/21

Posted on by Tom

This month, a friend is releasing her first novel. I wanted to highlight this novel because I think it’s a really great book. My friend, Nancy Brashear, was seemingly working on this book for a while, and now, in the next ten days, in February, she is planning the publication. Welcome to her new novel, Gunnysack Hell. I had the opportunity to read one version of it–I guess it would have been the second to the last draft, and I can’t speak highly enough about it as a good, thoughtful read.

It is a compelling story of growing up “off the grid” in California in the 1960s. The voice Nancy achieves in this novel most reminds me of Scout in To Kill a Mockingbird, though the story is set vividly in a California desert landscape. Nancy has told me that Harper Lee’s novel was one of her models as she wrote, and I think she succeeded, but this remains a creative, very different novel from TKAMB.

I find it interesting that for many writers, their first novel will often be constructed around autobiographical elements. Nancy is writing about a part of California where she grew up, and she knows it well and writes with real authority.

I highly recommend this book. Full of suspense, with the most believable characters–both children and adults–in a compellingly realized setting, I think it is a book that you won’t want to put down. For a brief review and more on Nancy’s work, you can access her website here.

Nancy has also made available on Amazon a small book, Ready or Not, which includes one of her great horror stories, which is really an interesting retelling of the Hansel and Gretel fairy story, and then a version of the original Hansel and Gretel story as well. In this small collection, Nancy is drawing on her expertise as a researcher and professor of children’s and adolescent literature (in her former life as a college professor, she taught in this area) and her craft as a story teller.

Gunnysack Hell (Coming February 10, 2021!)

17 thoughts on “New Novel about Living off the Grid in California–Release Date 2/10/21”

  1. Thanks, Tom, for highlighting Gunnysack Hell in your newsletter! And thanks for your support throughout this ending process. You’ve been a wonderful mentor and role model for me with your publishing, too. Again, thanks for your very kind words (and I’m glad that you weren’t afraid to give yourself a little chill down your spine as you read it–and Ready or Not!).–Nancy

    1. Nancy, really great book! And congratulations! You are mentor to me about how to go about launching a good book.

  2. Wishing you good luck and great sales on your new release, GUNNYSACK HELL, Nancy. Tom, you’ve done a great job promoting for a friend. I’m intrigued.

        1. A California book! That span of time must have presented some challenges! Gunnysack Hell takes place over six months in 1962 with the ending overlapping with the Cuban Missile Crisis.

  4. This is definitely a wonderful read. You did a great job plugging it, Tom. I am so thrilled that it’s going to be available for everyone to enjoy. Congrats, Nancy!

    2. Nancy Brashear is a very good friend of mine. I’m thrilled with her new book, Gunnysack Hell. I was privileged to read it when it was still a PDF. I totally recommend her book. I’ve never lived off the grid, nor in the high desert. But I could relate to the story as if I had. Congratulations on a job well done, Nancy!

      1. I agree, Marti. A good book should do that to us. Even though we haven’t had the experience, the author is able to give us enough relevant context to put us there. That’s what Nancy does in her new novel!

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