On Sale For 99 Cents! Get Doug Howery’s vivid tale of being different in 1950 Appalachia, The Grass Sweeper God, while you can!

Gender confused Smiley Hanlon runs from hatred and bigotry… He returns with a vengeance… Old scores and unspeakable crimes are settled…

Being different in America has never been easy; being born different and in the wrong body in Solitude, Virginia in the 1950’s, is brutal. Smiley Hanlon lives day to day trapped in a Coal Miners town, buffeted by the Appalachian’s and generations of hate and mistrust. Any hint of being different, or being a ‘Freak’ is enough to ostracize you, pigeon hole you and make you a target for bullying – or worse. Backed by his best friend and protector, Lee Moore, Smiley made it through the days…until the night everything shattered. Chosen as the lead in a new town production called Dorothy of Oz Coal Camp, it seemed to be the beginning to acceptance and maybe even happiness, but the world is cruel and mankind even crueler. The triumph of the play decayed into a Coal Miners version of “Carrie” culminating in a tragic and horrific moment that would change both Smiley and Lee, forever…In the autumn of 1950, his father, Ted, viciously attacks precocious, effeminate 16-year-old Smiley Hanlon. Smiley, his friend, and Protector, Lee, keep the attack a secret. Because of their sexual identity, Lee and Smiley are banished from their family in Solitude, Virginia, and find refuge in New York…
This is their story and the story of so many others who suffered under the psychology of the day that their sexual identity is a sickness…

Reviews:

“What I like is the riskiness, the cutting edge of the narrative voice we hear. He has an ear for the rhythm of the story, a natural sense of when to end–hangs fire with a new way of looking at someone or something, turning the entire chapter on its ear.  I like the way he makes it impossible for the reader to stop reading at the end of the chapter.”  Suspense author, Maggie Grace

“Mr. Howery’s novel brought tears to my eyes on more than one occasion. It is brilliantly written with strong, well defined characters and descriptions so vivid that you can easily picture all playing out in your mind’s eye as you read the story.” 5 star Amazon review

Click here to visit Doug Howery’s Amazon author page