Lucky Press will publish J. Michael Dew's debut novel Tecker (working title) in September 2011. This adult fiction title would best be described as literary fiction that explores the prejudices within a small community against a 29-year-old man, Robbie Toe, a graduate of Vo-Tech, whose intellectual differences garner the attention of the town bullies, male and female. When a false accusation of rape lands Robbie in jail, the true nature of various townspeople is revealed.
Synopsis:
Robbie Toe never touched Missy inappropriately, never raped Blue Jean by the fire, never did anything to the other five girls who accused him of sexual abuse. But no one cared to hear his side of the story. He was a "molester" from the beginning, a "pervert," a "predator." On the day he climbed into an abandoned treehouse to rescue The Priest, an all-black kitten with a white tuft on his neck, Robbie was whisked off to jail to the great satisfaction of the bullies who hated him for no other reason than that he had a curious penchant for cats and was an easy target.
Tecker tells the story in four distinct voices of a social outcast who falls prey to the relentless scorn of a small Pennsylvania town and the cruel lies of its teenage girls. How is a 14-year-old girl inspired to use sex as an instrument of torment? Has our collective conscience weakened to the point that bullying another becomes a source of amusement? Twenty-nine-year-old Robbie Toe stands to be forever changed by these attacks. The charged conclusion of the story, however, will leave the reader wondering: was the change for good or bad?
About the Author:
J. Michael Dew has been making a living as an English professor since 2002. He lives in Atlanta, Georgia with his wife and three daughters.
