The Orange Spotlight

First, I feel compelled to divulge the fact that I don't drink. It's not that I am opposed to it, but I have never really had a taste for it. However, I do know what it feels like to be addicted and just what that addiction can do to your mind and body. Jeff Phillips' novella Whiskey Pike is very much a tale of addition, but it is also a tale of jealousy and greed. Moreover, it is a tale (or bedtime story) about what can happen when you let those three factors control your life. What connects the main character to the reader (or at least to this reader) is family. Shane Bowermaster at various points throughout this tale neglects, rejects, and resents the various members of his family. Over time he begins to realize where he has gone wrong and he needed to do all along.

This is a bedtime tale for the drunk or soon to be drunk. A bar room fable for those who study what they drink, but it is also a tale for anyone who has ever allow something other than family consume their lives. This is a novella to be tucked beneath your pillow as you pass out and your wife rolls the other way. Jeff is adapting Whiskey Pike into a screenplay and is planning to create an animated version of this wild tale.

You can order a copy of Whiskey Pike here or, if you live in Chicago, you can meet Jeff in person at Quimby's on September 23rd from 7pm to 8pm. A free shot of Whiskey will be served for a toast to those who attend.