UNLESS: The Deluxe DIY Edition

Fiction, e-book (sharable PDF file) -- 225 pages, apx 65,380 words

Eighteen-year-old Estelle Perdue has driven herself over the edge. Racing against the limits of insomnia and an unforgiving time clock, she succumbs to sleep while driving home from a music festival. She is saved from the ditch by the most fortunate circumstances — or is she? Unable to tell where one dream world ends and another begins, Estelle’s dark night culminates as an unlikely band of fellow travelers she had met on the road collaborate with her lifelong antagonist and guide her to an ultimate catharsis.

Set in the alternative rock heyday of the early 1990s, UNLESS is a coming-of-age drama with a distinct Gen-X flavor, a cynical front against a soundtrack of hope. It is a love letter to the twin powers of music and writing, and an homage to their ability to lift us above our assigned narratives into the space where we become the storytellers of our lives, not just the main characters.

The Deluxe DIY Edition, in e-book only, includes a supplemental section of "behind the scenes" bonus material called "The Untold Story of 'Angry Youth: the Untold Story' (and how it helps reveal the many narrative layers of UNLESS)." You can learn more about the fascinating true story behind the adventures of Estelle! This edition is exclusive to the ND Media Bookstore.