Boy With Wings – Book Tour and Giveaway
Johnny Cruel is born with strange appendages on his back and ends up in a freak show traveling the South in the 1930s. Is he an angel or a devil? What does it mean to be different?
Boy With Wings
by Mark Mustian
Genre: Historical Fiction, Magical Realism
“Vibrant and alive, the kind of book where the blood pumps mightily.” —Kristen Arnett, NYT bestselling author of Mostly Dead Things
What does it mean to be different?
When Johnny Cruel is born with strange appendages on his back in the 1930s South, the locals think he’s a devil. Determined to protect him, his mother fakes his death, and they flee. Thus begins Johnny’s yearslong struggle to find a place he belongs. From a turpentine camp of former slaves to a freak show run by a dwarf who calls herself Tiny Tot and on to the Florida capitol building, Johnny finds himself working alongside other outcasts, struggling to answer the question of his existence. Is he a horror, a wonder, or an angel? Should he hide himself to live his life?
Following Johnny’s journey through love, betrayal, heartbreak, and several murders, Boy With Wings is a story of the sacrifices and freedom inherent in making one’s own special way-and of love and the miracles that give our lives meaning.
Winner, Grand Prize for Fiction, Next Generation Indie Book Awards
Winner, da Vinci Prize for cover art
Winner, Bronze Medal for Historical Fiction from Independent Publishers Book Awards (IPPY)
Finalist, Hawthorne Award for Fiction
Finalist, Cross-Genre Fiction, International Book Awards
Finalist, Literary Fiction, National Indie Excellence Awards
Shortlisted, Shelley Ward for Paranormal Fiction
“…a magical, highly imaginative tour de force… Boldly original and unexpectedly profound…“
—Readers’ Favorite Reviews
“Mustian’s story is a study in acceptance, diversity, kindness, and the possibility of marvels in life… Vibrant with discovery, Boy With Wings is a winner.”
—Midwest Book Review
“Boy with Wings is a lyrical, mesmerizing blend of the magical—feathered wings—with social realism…”
—Historical Novel Society Reviews
“…riveting… An evocative historical novel that celebrates distinctive individuals in the Depression-era South.”
—Foreword Book Reviews
“In this imaginative novel filled with magical realism, religion and morality are turned inside out and upside down.”
—Southern Literary Review
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(from Ch. 1)
Voices rise, high ones like children, and he listens but they go away. They could be near or far, and maybe he knows them, though he knows almost no one. They’ve moved a lot, and at his few times at schools the others laughed at or turned away from him. Or called him names: “Ogre!” “Freak!” He had to ask her what these meant. Some wanted to touch his hair, even one of the teachers, Mrs. Wickham, rubbing her hand through it: brushing and lifting his shirt. “I’ve never seen anything like . . . Your eyes are like emeralds. Are you an albino?” A rhino? He shook his head.
Others asked of his powers—other children, some adults. “We heard you have powers,” they would say, their faces scrunched. He fell from a cupboard the one time he tried to fly. He’s not strong like the soldiers in the picture books she brings home. He can’t spit far or whistle or jump high or even swim. So he asked her. She answered calmly, in her softest voice: “You are yourself, only. Don’t worry on what others think. You’ll do more when you’re older.” But if he were older, he’d break the box, lift the boards off like his toys, and toss them up and far away, and he’d have powers then, like a bird that gets bigger and flies. Maybe. Sometime, when he’s older. Or after a while, or maybe not. He doesn’t know.
He cries again, loudly. She won’t like him crying. He has friends, pretend friends—Robert and Buster—and for a time they talk. He asks what they are doing (Buster: listening to the radio; Robert: playing with his toys) and he tells them of the darkness, his hiding and the box, at least until he grows tired. They don’t care that he peed.
He won’t be . . .
He won’t let . . .
He won’t stay . . .
He tries to hear more but he can’t, his breath loud and he screams some, gasping for air until his throat feels raw and red, banging his arms and feet till they’re numb. It’s as if he’s under the water in the tin soaking tub, everything pressed around him and squeezing, making things blurry, the sound soft then gone, and how could she leave him, alone here in this cage?
He was cold before but is hot and things stink, and maybe he sleeps or dreams. He knows that things die and maybe now he’ll die, too, and he bangs on the box again, pushing each side of it. A spray of dirt washes in that he flicks his tongue at and breathes. His coughs rise the way hers do, a crumpled tail to them, and when he closes his eyes this time the dots fade, smoothed to thin ribbons, black and forgotten like something from long before. From far off a clink comes, voices again in the dirt and the dark, and he trusts and believes none of it, calmed now by the darkness, the closeness, until something heavy strikes the box. There’s a tilting and scraping, the low sound of grunts and the hiss of breath blown. He stays still as she told him, waiting and not waiting, and when the top is ripped open in a flash of light, he is quiet still, cooled, saved. Seen.
Revealed.
Mark Mustian is the author of the novels “The Return” and “The Gendarme,” the latter a finalist for the Dayton International Literary Peace Prize and shortlisted for the Saroyan International Award for Writing. It won the Florida Gold Book Award for Fiction and has been published in ten languages. The founder of the Word of South Festival of Literature and Music in Tallahassee, Florida, his new novel, “Boy With Wings,” is the winner of the Grand Prize for Fiction from Next Generation Indie Book Awards and has received numerous other honors, including winning the Bronze Prize for Historical Fiction from Independent Publishers Book Awards (IPPY) and being named a finalist for the Hawthorne Award for Fiction.
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Men Reading
I figure that I’m in the minority reading-wise, in a number of ways: (1) I’m a male who reads; (2) I’m a male who reads fiction, and (3) I’m a male who reads fiction written by women.
The specific percentages for male readers vary but generally converge on the fact that most men don’t read for pleasure, that those who do read more biographies and non-fiction than fiction, and that relatively few read fiction written by women. Is this a product of the Internet age, with our shorter attention spans and the purported “death of the novel”? Perhaps. I’ve always liked to read, and am willing to sink hours (days) of time into it for the pleasure it gives me. I like movies, too, and sports, but my leisure viewing has changed since I was in my twenties. Back then, I would watch any sporting event on TV, regardless of whether I was a fan of any player or team (Buffalo versus Cleveland on a Sunday night—sure, why not?) To this day I cannot go to a sports bar without having my attention drawn to the screen, any screen. I decided years ago, though, that I’d rather relax by reading, particularly with books I can learn something from, or that make me think.
I suppose that the fact that I’m a fiction writer makes me prefer fiction, or maybe it’s the other way around. I read or listen to the audio versions of around forty books a year, most of which are fiction. There’s something more soulful, it seems, about a world sprung from an author’s head that allows readers into the thoughts of the characters. I saw where the author Amor Towles has suggested that male readers ask a bookstore rep for fiction suggestions that parallel a non-fiction book they like, which to me seems good advice. If you’re into Civil War biographies, try The Killer Angels. If it’s World War II, how about The Narrow Road to the True North? There’s a big world out there. Reach for it.
The big world includes “chick-lit.” There are some variations of the same that aren’t my cup of tea, but there are fabulous female writers that every male ought to read. Try Lauren Groff’s Fates and Furies or Zadie Smith’s On Beauty or Hillary Mantel’s Wolf Hall or Nicole Krauss’s The History of Love. Sure, they address feelings and male-female relationships, but aren’t those key parts of life?
Dig deeper. Trust me. I think you’ll be rewarded.
Follow the tour HERE for special content and a giveaway!
Oct 1
Kickoff at Silver Dagger Book Tours
Oct 2
Sarandipity’s – GUEST POST
Oct 3
Sybrina’s Book Blog – GUEST POST
Oct 4
☼ A Place In The Spotlight ☼ with M.C.V. EGAN
Oct 5
Book Bites….with a side of coffee
Oct 6
The Dungeon Crawlers – GUEST POST
IS HISTORY THE AGREED UPON LIE? Historical Fact & Historical Fiction.
Oct 7
Oct 8
Book Reviews by the Reluctant Retiree
Books all things paranormal and romance
Oct 9
Oct 10
Inside the Insanity – GUEST POST
Oct 11
Oct 12
Tina Donahue Books – Heat with Heart
Oct 13
Oct 14
Stormy Nights Reviewing & Bloggin’
Oct 15
I can not wait to read this book. It sounds great.
This story sounds really good. I liked the excerpt.
Cover is great makes me want to read this book..
This looks like a book right up my alley
love the cover
Looks like a good read
This sounds like a great Historical Fiction, Magical Realism book. I like the cover and excerpt.
This book sounds like a great read.
Great cover
Looks very exciting Do you write in a daily journal?
Hope the book does great!
It looks like a good read.
I would love to read this one this fall season it sounds super interesting.