Hello, friends and foolish mortals alike.

My name is C. S. Gorman. My debut novel, Hog’s Mall, is available to pre-order now, and I wanted to share a bit of backstory about the writing and conception. I grew up in a small town, like many, and there, a mystery unfolded. This setup might sound familiar, but in my case, the guy got away. It happened in a grocery store in the 90s—only fifteen minutes from where I grew up. The fact that the killer was still out there always stuck with me. The kind of heinous things he got away with, and the almost mythical nature of the culprit who escaped justice, are the kinds of things I hoped readers could relate to in my story—along with southern social justice and its sometimes cartoonish ramifications, as well as the pangs of grief and the strange things that it does to affect the human experience. All of this and more are injected into the themes of Hog’s Mall. 

I hope you enjoy and understand the liberties I have taken. I changed just about every detail out of respect for the real human lives lost that day. This is also why I didn’t feel the need to sell the novel with a “based on a true story” claim attached. This is something that was dreamt up of the fears of me just hearing the events told as a secondhand urban legend.

My next story comes solely from the depths of my imagination. It’s going to get wild. Stay tuned.

Your pal,

C. S. Gorman.