The Drop Off

by Jason E. Hodges

In this adrenalin driven novella, Mayva tries desperately to make her way in the ever changing landscape of adulthood. A hard enough task for many of today’s youth facing challenges like drugs, sexuality, college tuition, grades, self-harm, depression, and leaving home for the first time. But being from the low rent side of town, it becomes an extremely difficult task to undertake. Growing up on the north side of Jacksonville, Mayva learned to survive in a place where homeless sleep on park benches, gangs control city blocks, and cops play cat and mouse through the night with johns, hookers, and drug dealers. Mayva finds comfort in poetry, self discovery in the pages of her diary, courage from skateboarding, and hope in the subculture that became her family when hers fell apart. This family of friends support her unconditionally when the frustrations of living with alcoholic parents and their abuse became too much. Mayva has her sights set on winning the annual summer skate jam and using the prize money to get out of the north side and into college. But when her world starts to spin helplessly out of control, it’s more than she can do just to stay afloat and keep her sanity.

96 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 25, 2014

About the author

Jason E. Hodges started writing around 1989 after seeing writer William S. Burroughs in a movie. As an artist, the idea of being a writer, and the longevity a good writer could have, appealed to Jason. He started writing poetry and what is now called flash fiction. In the beginning, he was drawn to writers like Charles Bukowski and Anne Sexon, not only for their style, but the content of their work. They spoke a language from a world he knew all too well. Jason's life had been intertwined with colorful characters who lived with little worry of seeing the next day. Growing up among the working class South also influenced much of his work. It's a hard world he came from, where you may hug a friend or family member one day and the next help carry their coffin to the cemetery. But it's also a world of crimson sunsets falling into endless horizons while mockingbirds sing to one another that the long day is finally over. A place where nights are filled with sounds of whippoorwills throwing calls through standing pines jutting upwards into star-filled skies. Where fireflies dance in the darkness by the thousands over the newly turned fields from the plow. Growing up in this world, Jason was naturally drawn to writers like Larry Brown, Flannery O'Connor, and Harry Crews. The real turning point for him in his writing was being able to spend time with Harry Crews. He encouraged Jason to keep writing, much like Crews' mentor, Graham Greene, encouraged him years earlier. Jason dedicated his first book "The Mailbox," to Harry along with something he told Jason during their time together. Jason's previous work can be found at The Fringe Magazine, The Camel Saloon, Indigo Rising Magazine, Raven Images, Daily Love, The Rainbow Rose, Dead Snakes, Books On Blog, The Second Hump, Poetic Medicine, Catapult To Mars, The Devil's Advocate, Writer Beat, Tower Publications, CrossTime Science Fiction Anthologies Volumes, 8, 9, and 10, or by visiting his blog, The Dirt Worker's Journal.

Reviews

[Lisa Nikolits · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Drop Off is an immediately engaging, a refreshingly vibrant story of hope and love, with triumph in the face of darkness and hardship. Jason E. Hodges shines a spotlight on the world of skateboarding and subcultures and is thoughtful and compelling in his characterization. The writing is compassionate and insightful, the characters fascinating and entertaining and the storyline original. Lisa de Nikolits author of The Witchdoctor's Bones, The Hungry Mirror, West of Wawa, and A Glittering Chaos

[Sean · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you haven't read anything by Jason Hodges, now's the time to change that. The Drop Off is engaging from the start and keeps the reader engrossed throughout. Whether you are a skateboarder or not, this book’s for you.