Posted on by steve boyett

New Novel — MORTALITY BRIDGE

I’m delighted to announce that Subterranean Press will publish a limited-edition hardcover of my latest novel, Mortality Bridge, in late 2011.

Mortality Bridge is a dark and lyric fusion of Orpheus, Faust, The Inferno, and Robert Johnson’s “Crossroads” myth in which a blues musician travels to Hell to take back his wife’s purloined soul.

It’s kind of hard to convey what getting this book published means to me. I’ll just go ahead and say that I think this is the best thing I’ve ever written, and the hardest. (I once described it to someone as “Terry Gilliam’s film of Orpheus starring Bruce Willis, with a soundtrack by Eric Clapton and a screenplay by Cormac McCarthy.”) It was a looooong time coming, and I can’t wait until it’s published.

The Subterranean edition will feature cover art by Vincent Chong.

I will most definitely be posting more about this as publication nears.

14 Replies to “New Novel — MORTALITY BRIDGE”

    1. I certainly hope you think so! I read a chunk of this at a con once some years back and the reaction absolutely startled me. I read a short section of it in one of my LJWC classes (it’s on “Soliloquys and Self Indulgence” post) and was very gratified at the reaction.

      There’ll be a website, and I will post some chunks as publication looms.

      Thanks so much!

      1. I remember reading the start of the bound copy you had on your shelf while you were fixing dinner. And I remember you pointing out places where certain scenes happened as you drove me around Los Angeles.

        I still like the original title better, but it’s the rest of the words that matter.

        1. It all comes back to me now. 🙂

          I like the original title (I might as well just say it was Ferry Cross the Mercy) better, too. But I understand why a less referential title would be seen as more appropriate and more appealing. And I do think Mortality Bridge is a good title, so it doesn’t feel like any kind of compromise.

          Plus, with Elegy Beach and Avalon Burning, I’ve got this weird, two-word, epic/poetic, last-word-begins-with-B thing going. Now everything’s gonna have to follow this pattern. What have I done?

    1. Hi, Tammy, and thank you so much. Bill Schafer of Subterranean has been wonderful, and my level of input in the process has been unprecedented — and we’re only just underway.

  6. Wow, sounds amazing. Kind of like the novel Gargoyle and the film What Dreams May Come. Of course the Boyett touch will be what gets me to read it. Can’t wait.

    1. Thanks, Angela! What Dreams May Come is based on the same Greek legend (Orpheus) as Mortality Bridge, so there are bound to be similarities. I kinda don’t know what to compare it to cuz I’ve never read anything like it. That’s both exciting and scary for me. But more than anything else I’ve ever done, I think this is the book I was born to write, and that’s a very cool feeling.

      1. Except, I imagine, without Robin Williams. Cause that was kind of weird to see him in that serious role. One of my top 20 favorite movies though… When are you going to write a screenplay for Ariel?!

        I think that I am already on one of your e-mail lists, but please add me to news about Mortality Bridge.

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