Novel
Pepper’s Ghost
Black Rose Writing, 2016 (ISBN 978-1-61296-652-6)
2017 Eric Hoffer Book Award Finalist for Contemporary Fiction
Charlotte Alexandra Long is determined to create her own life, but severe reverberations await her at the crossroads of each decision and always the possibility that the very thing she put in place on her own terms could be wiped away by an uncertain future. As Pepper’s Ghost weaves in and out of her experiences as a teen and young adult, and locations in the South and Midwest, Alex emerges from the remains of young Charlotte, but her evolving identity will never escape being an outsider in society’s eyes. After a series of ill-fitting jobs, Alex joins a traveling amusement company as a sideshow performer, where illusion and reality interplay through the metaphor of an old theater trick. She faces challenges from her troubled but devoted father, her self-absorbed mother, a spectrum of circus employees, and emotional ties to memories and places that give solace in times of ambiguity and loneliness.
Praise for Pepper’s Ghost
An immediately absorbing read, Pepper’s Ghost is a deftly crafted and consistently compelling novel that reveals author William Auten as a genuinely gifted and impressively skilled storyteller.
—Midwest Book Review
Pepper’s Ghost will lure readers into its depth. The young character is unlike most leading female characters. William Auten portrayed the realities of life along with fantasy in way the just made readers like myself more curious. Memories and emotions were strong: it was easy to be swept up within them. Pepper’s Ghost is entertaining, mysterious, and deep.
—Urban Book Reviews
Select Publications
Bluestem, BULL, Crab Orchard Review, District Lit, Gravel, the museum of americana, Open: Journal of Arts & Letters, Oxford Magazine, Permafrost, Sequestrum, Sliver of Stone, Slush Pile Magazine, Solstice, Split Lip, Superstition Review, Thoughtful Dog
Recent Publications
“Many and Many a Year Ago”
forthcoming
2019 Norton Girault Literary Prize in Fiction
Barely South Review
“FOMO”
The McNeese Review, 2019
“Fog”
the museum of americana, issue 16, 2018
“Little Pierre”
Bluestem, December 2018
“Modern Cosmology”
Permafrost, 40.2, 2018
“Crane and Hoist”
BULL: Men’s Fiction, 2018
Appearances
2016
Bookworks, Albuquerque, NM
Page 1, Albuquerque, NM
Chaucer’s, Santa Barbara, CA
Star Line Books, Chattanooga, TN
BookExpo America/BookCon, Chicago, IL
2015
North American Review Bicentennial Celebration, University of Northern Iowa, Cedar Falls, IA
2013
Bridgewater International Literature Festival, Bridgewater College, Bridgewater, VA
2012
40th Annual Literature and Culture Conference, University of Louisville, Louisville, KY
Awards and Distinctions
“Many and Many a Year Ago,” winner, 2019 Norton Girault Literary Prize in Fiction from Barely South Review (Old Dominion University)
“Sun on Snow on Mountains,” finalist, 2019 Great Midwest Writing Contest, Midwest Review
Pepper’s Ghost, finalist, 2017 Eric Hoffer Book Award for Contemporary Fiction
Media
Authors Talk, Superstition Review, 2018 (mp3, 6 mins.)
Interview, Thoughtful Dog, 2017
“Drop Off,” Sandy River Review, 2015 (mp3, 5 mins.)