Estill Salyer is criss-crossing the American South and Mid-West in search of his last big payday. Once received he can escape to sanctuary from the disease that doesn't necessarily threaten to kill but change him in a way he can't predict. The experimental novella consists of a novelette and three short stories.
Ernest Gordon Taulbee grew up in a small town in Eastern Kentucky called Salyersville. He received both a Bachelor's and a Master's degree from Eastern Kentucky University. Upon completing his MA he moved to Louisville -- where he has lived most of his adult life.
Love of reading and writing has been a theme in his life. Through the decade and a half since he finished his MA, Mr. Taulbee has worked a variety of jobs, from populating a cubicle in a large corporation to making and selling mead. Throughout his whole life, writing has remained his singular professional and artistic passion.
He enjoys writing that is both entertaining as well as writing that borders on high art.
The thesis for his MA was the first 100 pages of a novel. He would complete that novel in the months after finishing his graduate degree. After additional months spent proofreading and editing, he submitted the manuscript to small publishing houses and select agents who considered literary fiction. The stacks of rejections letters became less painful, when he received an email from a small, art house, stating they would like to publish this novel. That joy was squashed about a month or so later, when the publishing company informed him an unexpected financial situation would cause the publishing house to close.
He would continue to write short stories and outline for longer works over the next few years, until he was struck with the idea for what would become his novel, A Sibling in Always, while waiting for the bus.
Once the manuscript was complete, he continued to write prose and to submit the novel for consideration by small houses and publications.
After a year and a half, he decided to join the do-it-yourself culture that had influenced much of the books, music, and art he had come to admire.
He hope you will read his currently published works. If you like it, he hope you will leave a review. If you don't, he hopes you will be constructive in your criticism and state what you think could make the work better.
He believes that art, including fiction, is a vital part of society, so -- if you are not going to produce it -- appreciate it and try to improve it.
He currently (as was stated previously) lives in Louisville, Kentucky with his wife, Tina, and their two daughters.
"This is something I will tell, because it is something no one should see." This is Estill's story. It is not pleasant or comforting, it is not for sensitive readers, and it is not written in a conventional style. Through caves and caverns, motel rooms and darknet configurations, Estill's journey leads us through a corrupt and dying world. This is a sucker punch of a narrative that is creatively formulated and devastatingly revealing. It may be the end of the world as we know it.
Warning: The ending to this is BLEAK and totally heartbreaking. Definitely not for those with weak constitutions who cry 'misogyny' at the drop of a tampon. Estill is a trucker that doesn't transport many actual loads. No, he deals almost exclusively with the black market along with manipulation of taxes and bureaucracy to haul 'precious cargo.' Only this time, he actually starts to fall in love with the cargo.
It's much more violent than most of what I read. Still worth reading. I would not consider it to be a novella. It's more of a short fiction collection. It is very, very violent.