FOUNTAIN

Now on sale.

click here: FOUNTAIN by David Scott Hay

Praise for FOUNTAIN:

"Darkly funny... a howling success!" - Pinckney Benedict, MIRACLE BOY AND OTHER STORIES

"Smart, inventive, and accomplished." - Naeem Murr, THE PERFECT MAN

"David Scott Hay has done a something incredible - an artful book about an arty subject that doesn't drop into pretension. 

'Fountain' is an affecting story about tough, interesting people who hold beauty up like Achilles' shield against a very real, very bitter, and oddly funny world. 

A must for fans of sharp tongues and sharp writing." - Darren Callahan, The White Airplane & Horror Academy: Two Plays

A postmodern satire for the fans of Chuck Palahniuk, Kurt Vonnegut and Thomas Pynchon. 

In a kiddie art exhibit two masterpiece works of art are created in the span of forty-five minutes; one by Timmy O' Donnell, a 10 year old sociopath and one by Tabby Masterson, a 62 year old Midwestern widow, forever changing the lives of the artists and witnesses.

The source of their inspiration is soon revealed to be a drinking fountain on the third floor of a Museum of Contemporary Art, which grants the ability to create one artistic masterpiece. Fame and fortune await...

But shortly thereafter you just might die.

It's your life versus your legacy. How bad do you want either?

Fountain follows four characters caught in the shockwaves:

Jasper P. Duckworth, an art critic and failed playwright, who wants to champion the fountain.
Ross Robards, a successful TV show artist and burnout, who wants to stop the fountain.
B, a middle-aged underground artist, always on the verge of a big break. Will he drink?
Jawbone, B's rival, a talented, but self-destructive underground artist. Will she drink?

For anyone that's ever had a creative idea, urge, or just wanted to call bullshit on something hanging in a museum.
For anyone that's sacrificed blood to the muses.
For anyone that thought I could do that.
For anyone who's said they want a revolution.

A story that stretches from Chicago to Mars.

I Have A Theory About Superman's Day Job

I have a theory about Superman's Day Job.

Poor bastard is the most powerful man (and illegal alien for those of you on the right keeping score) on earth. This poor bastard, you know what he needs? Corporate sponsorship. Why the fuck is he holding down a day job? He has the best bachelor pad. Ever. Sure, it's off the beaten path. But for someone who can fly faster than a speeding bullet, it makes my train commute look silly. 

Instead, he embraces getting yelled at by some old school editor that can't grasp the digital age of publishing, being treated as less than a man by a man-eater of an ambitious career woman, and being ribbed by some ginger-haired copy boy who can't get laid. One day Mr. Kent is going to clock his pal James Olsen, and you know what we'll say privately: that little shit had it coming. 

Now I know Supes wouldn't take sponsorship by, say, BP or Haliburton, but what about Amnesty International? Imagine how the donations would pour in. Now I know he would need to stay in the city, have some sort of perfunctory base of operations, purely for visibility and moral support. Complete with a sort of command center with a dispatchers manning a few dozen red Bat-phone type hotlines.

But he doesn't.

And you know why? 

I think Clark Kent loves language.

I think this perfect physical specimen, who is nigh invulnerable, likes getting lost in his head. I think he likes the puzzle of our alien language. I think he likes the investigative work, connecting the dots. Unlocking the combination for a feature article. One where he can give his mind the flexing it needs. Perhaps interject a bit of commentary from someone with a much wider world view though still filtered through a sensible Midwestern sensibility.

And he's doing this at a newspaper that is going to be widely read. Perhaps he touches more people in a single day as Clark Kent than as Superman. I imagine working on the farm, the Kents at night after a friendly game of cards, perhaps pinochle, might -- I can't imagine them with a TV and perhaps that's being naive, but I can imagine them retiring to the library they must have had. A family fortress of solitude. Now you may think of farmers as simple folks...

But here's what farmers need to know to survive:

Meterology. Agriculture, husbandry, mechanicals. Market flux. Government subsidies. Banking, etc. And now Software and Computer Sciences. Accounting. Carpentry. And much much more. For escape and respite I can imagine handmade bookshelves filled with volumes and volumes of true crime, non fiction, historical biographies and mysteries (cigarette-ashes-on-the-carpet-in-a-locked-room). 

And surely Sherlock Holmes. And perhaps it was here in these stories that mysteries gripped Clark's mind.  Captured his imagination in a way that hauling bales of hay one in each hand could not. Also Holmes' use of disguises. Perhaps this inspired Clark to keep his Clark persona in the big city.


And maybe, just maybe, Sherlock Holmes' habitual drug use showed Clark that even heroes can be flawed and forgiven. And that sometimes we all need a little chemistry, because for us, the yellow sun only burns.


But now think about Clark Kent, a respected jounalist but must have dumbed down his articles. Just a bit. Arguably, Clark Kent with his wealth of infinitely superior knowledge passed down to him by a top scientist of an advanced race could have become a world famous authority on damn near anything.

Now take that knowledge and mix it with the down home folksy charm and wisdom of a Midwestern farmer. Imagine the insight and humanity woven into even the most dry, investigative story. Clark Kent should have been a world famous writer.  I imagine there is a whole catelogue of polished articles that would have catapulted anyone else to the ranks of world class investigative jounalists. Someone sought after to host a TV special. Like Night Line. Or 360 with Clark Kent, etc.

But no, he is just above average. Workman like. And knew he could do better. But he knew his obligation was to communicate clearly and effectively. Yet again, another sacrifice from a man that could have ruled the world.

So, for me, I'd like to think in his heart of hearts, Clark Kent is a writer first and foremost, and his obligation, his real day job is wearing a red cape and saving our asses from ourselves.

Fountain cover 2.0

And here is the FOUNTAIN cover 2.0. It's more highfalutin' and all. But I dig the cleanness of it.

The print version may differ with the blurbs on the cover, but in the age of digital publishing, all that razzle dazzle can be put on the web page. 

In fact, Andrew Vachss looks like he just put out his first unpublished novel A BOMB BUILT IN HELL with a cover by Geoff Darrow that has no text on it. And it looks great.

Thanks to Kid A for this cool design. 

Thoughts?

david@davidscotthay.com

xoxoxo

DSH

CLONING CHRIST

If you found your way to this blog by purchasing CLONING CHRIST: THE SECOND BOOK OF DANIEL from Arson Books off Amazon, I thank you. I believe it's a fun read.

"CLONING CHRIST heralds a mercurial new talent to the page! Quirky, riveting, hilarious, disturbing, and unclassifiable (in the best sense). It is a page-turner that is at once magically realistic and completely allegorical. If Christ were cloned, as is the central conceit here, he would enjoy the hell out of this book." - Jay Bonansinga, National Bestselling Author of PINKERTON'S WAR, PERFECT VICTIM, and co-author of THE WALKING DEAD TRILOGY.

And if you made it far enough you may have come across the preview for FOUNTAIN. I consider FOUNTAIN to be my best work. The feedback has been tremendous from both my peers and colleagues. Initally, the response from the publishing world was divided into two camps: 1) I don't get it. 2) Brilliant. But pass.

Until Arson Books. More about those crazy guys later.

FOUNTAIN should be released this coming weekend on Amazon Kindle and Barnes & Noble Nook. And if all goes well, a paperback version later this year.

At right is a mock up of the cover. It plays more to the satirical nature of the book. Another version which I'll post when completed plays more to the literary version. Regardless of slant, the word on the street is the book is funny. Which I guess means I've hit the funny bone. I've also heard it's haunting. (This from a best-selling author who hasn't released her official blurb to me yet). But I've gotten other very gracious and flattering blurbs from some very talented other writers, including this one from Darren Callahan who seems to sum it up best:

"David Scott Hay has done a something incredible - an artful book about an arty subject that doesn't drop into pretension. 'Fountain' is an affecting story about tough, interesting people who hold beauty up like Achilles' shield against a very real, very bitter, and oddly funny world. A must for fans of sharp tongues and sharp writing." -- Darren Callahan, "The White Airplane and Horror Academy: Two Plays by Darren Callahan"

But until then enjoy CLONING CHRIST: THE SECOND BOOK OF DANIEL. I consider it an early work/boot leg demo, but still a good read and a journal of what my thoughts and interests were at the time. Feel free to tell me what yours are at david@davidscotthay.com. I'd love to hear from you.  
And if you haven't downloaded a copy, you can do so here:  CLONING CHRIST: THE SECOND BOOK OF DANIEL . There's a little extra preview in the back for another project.

So, thanks for taking a peek. I'll be posting more about this new venture as well as some other exciting things. That is, if we survive the end of the world this Saturday.

XOXOXO
DSH