Top Fiction Publications on Substack
Novelist's Newsletter is #18
Substack is an email creation tool that allows writers to connect directly with their audience. With this platform, creators are able to engage into a conversation with readers, as opposed to the old school format that arrived statically into an inbox.
Substack also feels authentic. According to Vanity Fair, “Substack newsletters retain some of the intimacy of the early digital-media days, when online writing felt less polished, more vital.”
As for myself, I’ve enjoyed using the platform as a way of sharing news about my upcoming novels and apparently, my readers have responded in kind. Of the thousands upon thousands of publications, my newsletter has reached number eighteen on the Top Fiction publications on Substack.
I am grateful for the support, and look forward to providing engaging and provocative content for many more newsletters to follow.
THE NAZARITE
The Untold Story of Samson & Delilah
Growing up, Samson and Delilah was one of my favorite bible stories. The great Israelite and strongman, able to kill a lion with his bare hands, defeat an army of one-thousand strong with the jawbone of an ass, plus many more captivating Herculean feats. Plenty of heroics to impress a young boy.
During the writing of my latest book—Thunder Falls, I made a passing reference to Samson and Delilah, causing me to ponder it once again. What a fantastic tale of great and outrageous feats, as well as an intriguing love affair between an Israelite and a Philistine. It was this provocative relationship that raised my brow.
Why did Samson share his sacred secret with the vixen—Delilah? A secret so dear, that his life depended upon keeping it private. Yet he tells Delilah, and by doing so, is taken captive. His eyes are gored out and is sentenced to be ceremonially sacrificed to the Philistine god—Dagon.
I imagined Delilah, armed with nothing more than her exquisite beauty, and cunning deceit, enticing the lustful Samson by pushing him beyond the limits of their love making. Why else would the Nazarite give up the key to his great strength, unless lured by forbidden, erotic desires?
Like a shark smelling blood in the water, I became driven to write this untold story. Its multiple points a view are through both the eyes of Samson, and a Philistine scribe—Mizar, whose given the task of writing upon parchment the events of Samson's life. Unlike my previous full-length novels, Samson the Nazarite is a thirty-thousand word novella.
The Nazarite - The Untold Story of Samson & Delilah will be published in January 2023
COMING THIS WINTER
NEIL PERRY GORDON’S TENTH NOVEL
THUNDER FALLS
THE EDUCATION OF LEOPOLD RED WOLF
Thunder Falls chronicles the transformation of Leopold Wolf from a naïve young man into an outspoken advocate for Native American rights during the late 1800’s.
Leo and his father Isaac work for the Carlisle Indian School, an institution that will become notorious for its harshness, governed by the mantra—Kill the Indian, Save the Man. Leo witnesses the abuse, neglect, and victimization of children under the institution’s care and resolves to help them gain the respect their tradition deserves.
Leo’s quest takes him to Lakota territory, where elder and holy man Black Elk has a vision of Leo recovering the tribe’s Sacred Pipe, stolen years ago. Leo’s journey into—and under—the Black Hills reveals extraordinary phenomena about the Lakota and about himself. In the caverns of the Black Hills he encounters the red wolf, Thunder Falls, and the Soul Tree, all guiding him toward his destiny. While pursuing the eternal love of Sarah Cameron—niece of a senator notorious for his enmity against the Lakota—and fighting for Native American rights, Leo will cross the country with Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, and ultimately risk his life for the sake of the people he has come to care for.
To learn more, please visit neilperrygordon.com
About the Novelist
Beginning with his debut novel—A Cobbler’s Tale, followed by Moon Flower, The Righteous One, The Bomb Squad, Hope City, Sadie’s Sin, Cape Nome, Otzi’s Odyssey, Denali and the soon to be released titles—Thunder Falls and The Nazarite, Neil Perry Gordon has established himself as a well-respected and prolific historical and metaphysical fiction novelist. His storytelling ability has earned him high editorial praise from the likes of Kirkus, Midwest Book Review and others, including hundreds of four and five star reader reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.
Neil attributes his love of the writing process from his formative education at the Green Meadow Waldorf School, where he understood that classes such as music, dance and theater, writing, literature, legends and myths, were not simply subjects to be learned, but lessons to be experienced.
His creative writing methods and inspiration have been described as organic; meaning he begins his work with a premise for his characters, rather than working within the confines of a formal, detailed outline. This encourages his writing to offer surprising twists and unexpected outcomes, which readers have celebrated. His novels have the attributes of being driven by an equal balance between character development and face-paced action, which moves his stories along at a swift page-turning pace.
