53 Books Like Everville

I’ve always been fascinated with the unseen hidden inside what is seen. In my life, I’ve tried to peer into dark corners and see reflections in lightless rooms. I’m captivated by ancient ways and alternate realities, and I love it when a new idea bends my mind and makes room for possibilities. I try to illuminate the subtle shadows many don’t notice or consider through my books, and I write Speculative and Literary Fiction to offer the potential of my imagination. I feel, in many ways, it’s the greatest contribution to humanity I can make.

I’ve always been fascinated with the unseen hidden inside what is seen. In my life, I’ve tried to peer into dark corners and see reflections in lightless rooms. I’m captivated by ancient ways and alternate realities, and I love it when a new idea bends my mind and makes room for possibilities. I try to illuminate the subtle shadows many don’t notice or consider through my books, and I write Speculative and Literary Fiction to offer the potential of my imagination. I feel, in many ways, it’s the greatest contribution to humanity I can make.

I’ve always been fascinated with the unseen hidden inside what is seen. In my life, I’ve tried to peer into dark corners and see reflections in lightless rooms. I’m captivated by ancient ways and alternate realities, and I love it when a new idea bends my mind and makes room for possibilities. I try to illuminate the subtle shadows many don’t notice or consider through my books, and I write Speculative and Literary Fiction to offer the potential of my imagination. I feel, in many ways, it’s the greatest contribution to humanity I can make.

I’ve always been fascinated with the unseen hidden inside what is seen. In my life, I’ve tried to peer into dark corners and see reflections in lightless rooms. I’m captivated by ancient ways and alternate realities, and I love it when a new idea bends my mind and makes room for possibilities. I try to illuminate the subtle shadows many don’t notice or consider through my books, and I write Speculative and Literary Fiction to offer the potential of my imagination. I feel, in many ways, it’s the greatest contribution to humanity I can make.

The reasons I’ve chosen these particular books is because of my penchant for reading offbeat stuff, and unearthing little-known works that I feel deserves more attention. My tastes are eclectic, and I’ve done a lot of research when it comes to finding the true origins of pop culture. Having written and published more than forty books that range from science fiction to crime thrillers, I’ve wanted to share my findings in the hopes that others will notice something new and exciting as well. 

No movie has traumatized me more than The Exorcist. I saw it at a sleepover when I was twelve years old, and I’ve never forgotten Regan McNeil’s disfigured face and demonic voice. It’s hard to say how many nightmares that possessed little girl has generated. I read the novel a few years later and was equally shocked. Creating art that can affect someone in such a formative way has been my goal ever since. I often set my stories in my native state of West Virginia, which because of its scenic beauty, is commonly referred to as “Almost Heaven.” I feel that it’s my job to balance that out. 

I’ve always loved reading young adult fantasy books with forbidden romance and lush worldbuilding and classic fairytale elements like princesses, dancing, pretty clothes, and delicious food spreads. All these books offer fresh takes and twists, and tug at your heartstrings with the angst, the betrayals, the secrets, and the love. These are all immersive stories that transport you far away, to a different time, to a different land, which is exactly what you need sometimes to get away from this world and its craziness.

As an avid reader since childhood, I’ve always hunted for books that deliver the most epic emotional experiences. Stories that you can’t put down even when your eyelids ache for sleep or the page is blurred with tears. The ones where fiction becomes reality and the room around you disappears with every page. Cupid’s Compass was inspired by these all-consuming novels and I expect my future works will follow the same mission: to evoke laughter, tears, and the ever-expansive qualities of humanity.

I've been a guest lecturer and featured presenter at colleges and conferences, served on the Board of Directors for ICON6, and authored eight published books on illustration and design. I'm a retired college art professor and freelance illustrator and still teach fine art, design, and cartoon classes for kids and adults; I’m also an English Dept. writing tutor at a local college. Right now, I am exploring the medium of cardboard. Cardboard taps into a material that is so ubiquitous and common, it’s often maligned as being inconsequential, but I’m positively tickled to be working in a material that was wonderfully simple and presents a simply wonderful challenge.

I have always been enamored with myth and the fantastic, even as a child. They offer an escape from the mundane, but also deliver a fine method to guide our moral compasses, learn about other cultures, and assign meaning to those things that vex us. I studied literature and history in college and found myself delving more and more into theology and mythology as I went because literature is filled with their essence. My exploits have guided me to the desk as a language arts and special education teacher, but my heart always whisks me back to the bookshelf or the desk to visit these fantastic worlds of the supernatural.