Worldcon was enormous fun, and I was delighted at being able to see my friends face-to-face, or rather mask-to-mask. I enjoyed my panels, especially the one in which we got to lavish praise on Nancy Kress for a full hour.
It’s past time to begin my usual end-of-the-year roundup of works by veterans of Taos Toolbox, the master class for writers of SF and fantasy. Deep Roots is a novel from Detroit-based author Edward R. Rosick, a novel which was workshopped at Taos Toolbox, and which features powerful passages about body modification, scarification, and tattoos. (Don’t be scared! It’s really good!)
Here’s more:
“Thirty-year-old Kevin Ciano, just released from Fairview State Penitentiary in Northern Michigan, is trying to find his way back into society when he develops a strange, painful lesion on his right shoulder, close to the tattoos and scarifications that were forced on him in Fairview by a charismatic but psychopathic prisoner, Charles Readona.
At first, Kevin ignores the growth as he works on rebuilding his life and embarking on a new relationship with Sherri Musgrave, a member of up-and-coming performance group, the Motor City Fire Masters. But Kevin’s hope for a brighter future are shattered when more lesions appear, followed by the bloody emergence of painful, hair-like projections.
As Kevin’s life spins out of control, the answers he seeks will force a confrontation with the one person he swore he would never see again and change Kevin’s life…forever. Deep Roots is set in the decaying urban heart of Detroit, where the horror is not just what lies above the surface, but below, as Kevin’s metamorphosis may not only be deadly to him and those he loves, but to the entire world.”
Deep Roots will be available in January 2022.
