47 Books Like The Frenzy

I am a Pulitzer-nominated writer who began as a poet, then shifted to prose during a period of aesthetic and personal crisis in my life. I am interested in how the novelist can gather and curate fascinating facts for the reader and incorporate them into the text. I see writing as a great adventure and investigation into issues of empathy, power, and powerlessness, and the individual in an increasingly technological world.

When I wrote my first novel, I began investigating modern-day technology—robotics, bioengineering, AI, and information technology—and have read and worked in this area for over 15 years. It is a pleasure to share some of the books that have informed my own journey.

For years, I have been a voracious reader of dark psychological thrillers and psychological horror. I read several books every week, and I’m always overjoyed to be knocked sideways by an ingenious twist in a book. As a doctor, I am captivated by people and fascinated by the depths of the human mind. For me, humans are the scariest monsters of them all. In 2020, I decided to have a pop at writing a jaw-dropper myself, and my book was born. I only hope you don’t see that twist coming!

As a writer I like to explore many genres, and one of my favorites is young adult supernatural.  I think I was destined to write in this world because the first book I took out of the library was Where the Wild Things Are. My favorite books as a teenager all dealt with supernatural themes – Summer of Fear, Carrie, and Audrey Rose. Writing about changelings allows me to explore the tenuous connection between what lies inside of us – our psyche, our minds, our souls – and what might exist on the other side of our known world.  It’s the search for that missing link that keeps me writing.  

As a writer I like to explore many genres, and one of my favorites is young adult supernatural.  I think I was destined to write in this world because the first book I took out of the library was Where the Wild Things Are. My favorite books as a teenager all dealt with supernatural themes – Summer of Fear, Carrie, and Audrey Rose. Writing about changelings allows me to explore the tenuous connection between what lies inside of us – our psyche, our minds, our souls – and what might exist on the other side of our known world.  It’s the search for that missing link that keeps me writing.  

I never write anything without having first experienced it. To give you context, I’d never been slapped before, couldn’t tell you what it felt like or even sounded like. So, I legit had someone slap me so I could accurately depict it. Every mental health aspect in Death 2 My Past, I’ve personally experienced. Every loss, heartbreak, trauma, life event, etc. On some level, I’ve experienced it. And through everything, I learned something very important. Embrace it. I can’t stop the bad things from happening. But I can embrace the suspense of it, experience the romances, and grieve the death that encompassed my life. Death is a Butterfly.

When I was growing up, there were no stories for me. A queer kid in a very conservative Catholic household, I knew I was different, but I had no way to articulate that difference, and no way to imagine a horizon of happiness, of dignity, or of joy. In the worlds people imagined for young people, we were simply written out. I have since spent a lifetime studying and telling stories – as an English professor, as a bartender at a queer bookstore and drag bar, and now as a writer. And what matters to me most is seeing queer lives lived in abundance. These are the stories I wish I had.

Being a petite person, I can’t move furniture by myself or lift heavy boxes. It’s freaking annoying. I dream of having a magic wand or some sort of power that would make me stronger. If there was a potion to turn me into a Buffy the Vampire Slayer, kick-butt type of girl I’d drink it in a second. Since there is no such potion, I write and read books about supernatural girls who don’t take crap from anyone, especially the guys in their lives. 

I'm a long-time role-player/gamemaster and reader of SFF, and I've read, created, and played (and written!) a lot of stories. Good stories come from good characters. We all know that. But part of what makes characters good is that they're believable, and to me their believability is inextricable from the worlds they come from. A world-build—setting, weather, technology, magic, science, cultures, and languages—should BE as much of a character as the protagonist(s). While I admit a fond nostalgia for ye olde semi-Euro-medieval setting, I love a world-build that challenges or surprises me, and I love the characters and stories that come out of those worlds. I hope you do too.

The things that I am most interested in are books that are deliciously fun to read and books that pick you up out of your comfortable chair and drag you across a fantastic landscape. What does that require? Three Ws for starters. Wit: both on the part of the characters and the author—I like smart characters, biting banter, and clever turns of phrase and story. Weird: in the sense of the unusual and mysterious—good world-building coupled with mysteries meant to be unraveled by the reader as much as by the characters. Wild: fast-paced action filled with sudden turns and unexpected drops and conversations that are three parts well-written words and two parts fencing without a blade. 

I have a crazy theory. I believe that the worlds and characters created by writers are much more than just a product of someone’s imagination. We all possess unlimited creative power (something that most of us take for granted). So what if I told you that all the characters, worlds, realities, and dimensions, ever created in writing or other forms of art, came to life somewhere in this endless Universe? That’s what I write about. Fascinating worlds and realms that exist out there. Lucky travelers that were granted a chance to visit those worlds. It’s what I’m most drawn to as a reader. Because it makes me one of those lucky travelers.