Vonnie's Reading Corner: Author Interview with Michael D. Dennis

Please welcome to Vonnie's Reading Corner, Michael D. Dennis, author of A Native's Tongue!

Let's hear a little bit about Mr. Dennis:

1. In one sentence, describe your book.

A young man struggles to keep the woman he loves while entangled in the sex, drugs, and tragedy of Los Angeles.

2. What is the meaning of the book title, A Native’s Tongue?

There are definitely a lot of ways it can be interpreted. I would say that it really means a local language, or way of speaking that only natives can understand.

3. What three words would you use to describe the main character Charlie?

Introspective, Cynical, and Romantic.

4. Why did you set your book in Los Angeles?

I am from Los Angeles and always wanted to tell a different kind of story that happens here. I wanted to make it real, but at the same time take advantage of how crazy this place is.

5. Who is your intended audience?

I think anyone who is old enough to understand how trying love can be, and how sometimes it feels wrong, but you do it anyway.

6. If there was a book soundtrack for A Native’s Tongue, what songs will be on the list?

I listened to a lot music when I wrote the novel. I think for soundtrack I would have to go with Beach Fossils and Future Islands.

7. What genre would you classify this?

Hmmm… contemporary romantic edgy fiction.

8. What’s the inspiration behind this book?

I witnessed a lot of crazy love stories and broken hearts growing up in Los Angeles. I also saw a lot of people move here trying to get rich or famous. I thought I would tell more of an insider’s look from characters that weren’t rich or famous, but lived really passionate and tragic lives trying to find some sense of what love is.

9. If Hollywood made a movie about your life, whom would you like to see play the lead role as you?

I doubt that will happen, but if they do I guess Ryan Gosling.

10. What advice would you give to your younger self?

Follow your passion, and don’t listen to other people so much. Opportunities will always be there, but if you don’t pursue your passions you won’t be happy.

Thank you for stopping by Vonnie's Reading Corner!

In Michael D. Dennis’s touching new novel, A Native’s Tongue, a young man, torn between two women, struggles to find his way in the world.

As I walked out under the Los Angeles sky, the possibility of becoming something more than a short order cook, living in the valley, and resenting my dysfunctional family occurred to me…

Charlie Winters has never been an overachiever. He is used to just getting by while living with his single mother and working a dead-end job at a cheesesteak stand. Meanwhile, he’s constantly grappling with the voice of his sister, who died in a tragic car accident years earlier, echoing in his head.

So when Violet, an older woman, sets her sights on Charlie and refuses to let go, he follows along. He soon finds himself immersed in a destructive relationship that still fails to fill the void within him.

But then he meets Jennifer, a mystical young woman whose energy and life convinces Charlie to pursue her, even through the darkest corners of Los Angeles, and sets their lives upon a path that can’t be stopped.

Escaping to the California coast, Charlie and Jennifer finally find what they’ve always needed. But a sudden illness quickly pulls them both back to LA. It is there, amid the sex, drugs, and split-second decisions that pulse through the city, that tragedy strikes—threatening to tear Charlie and Jennifer apart forever.

Love and tragedy collide in Michael D. Dennis’s poignant new novel, A Native’s Tongue.

Buy the Book:

Amazon

Excerpt:

CHAPTER 1.

Jennifer Bannister’s footsteps echoed down the hall. The uniforms of the inmates dampened the sound. Her ears tried to follow the faint sound, if only to affirm that she was still moving forward. There wasn’t anyone to hold her hand. She just trusted that each sign would guide her in the right direction.

I’ll get there at some point, Jennifer thought, trying to convince herself that she was doing the right thing. You can’t get lost in here; they don’t let you go off course. Her words slipped away. She felt the cold air settle over her skin. She glanced at a placard marked Visitors Only.

In the cool air, her skin tightened. Jennifer shivered and wished she were somewhere warmer. Seeing Violet for the first time was going to be hard enough. She was going to look the woman she hated most in the world in the eye. She didn’t want to be shaking from the cold and covered in goose bumps.

Jennifer peered through the bulletproof glass at Violet. There were markings embedded in the glass, swirls that made it harder to look directly into Violet’s eyes. Jennifer picked up the phone and listened. Violet grabbed it and began to speak, “It was never you that he loved. You know that right?” Violet’s voice was raspy.

Her expressions and mannerisms changed from static to fully engaged. She stood up and waved her hands maniacally at Jennifer, and then she slammed her fist against the glass.

Jennifer hung up the phone. Her blonde hair got caught in between her hand and the receiver as she placed it back on the black hook. Turning, she slid out of the red plastic chair and down the corridor, guided by the exit sign’s green light. In the stale air of the prison, she searched for a pack of cigarettes, unsheathed a Parliament, lit it, and smoked nervously.

Two overweight guards carrying guns in nylon hip holsters directed her to the parking lot, where they offered her matching robotic waves good-bye. The midnight blue 2005 Jaguar xk8, which her parents loaned her for this visit, was the only vehicle in the parking lot row. Her parents thought she would feel safer in their car rather than her own bright red Honda.

In either case, she seemed to fit this car, or the car fit her a lot more. Her lean physique matched the lines on the Jag, and it made her feel more mature. She was constantly trying to act older than she was. Jennifer went around to the passenger side of the car and opened the rear door. She set her oversized black leather purse on the back seat and took out a translucent orange bottle filled with tiny white pills. She slung her head back, popped two, shut the door and walked around to the driver’s seat.

The heat had melted the surface of the Jaguar’s leather seats, reducing the fabric to a buttery texture. Jennifer’s blonde hair clung to the sides of her shoulders, heavy with sweat. She retrieved her car key from the passenger seat, pressed the key into the slot, and burst into tears, suddenly unable to move.

Jennifer hadn’t eaten all day. The heavy dose of Xanax caused her to feel excessively nauseous. She blacked out and fell forward, hitting her forehead on the steering wheel. The car increased in temperature with the late afternoon heat. Her powder-white skin grew red.

“Miss. Are you alright? Miss?” A young guard, Bill Marsh, had spotted the car, and decided to go in for a closer look.

When Jennifer didn’t move, he took out his club and smashed the window. She woke up from her temporary coma and lashed out.

"You Fuck!" Her voice was barely audible, even with the window smashed. Her energy was gone.

"Miss--I, I’m sorry you didn't look okay."

"I am! What business do you have involving yourself in my business? Do you know what you did? You just fucked up my car, you moron.”

“Look, I just saw you from my station.”

To Bill, her face looked familiar, though he couldn’t place where he had seen her before.

"You have no idea. Sitting in your stupid box, behind that intercom.

"I’m sorry, I know we’ll pay for the window. Hell, if the prison won't, I personally will." Bill said.