Gary Guinn, a retired John Brown University English literature professor, will be debuting his novel "Sacrificial Lam" at a launch party on Saturday.
The mystery/thriller, published by Wild Rose Press, will become available to the public on March 3. The launch party will be held at 5 p.m. Saturday at Grace Episcopal Church. Wine and cheese will be served, and Guinn will be signing copies of his book.
"Sacrificial Lam" is about a liberal English professor, named Lam Corso, who works at a small southern conservative college. The professor receives a death threat based on accusations that his liberal ideas are poisoning the young minds of university students. At first, the professor brushes the threat off and attributes it to a practical joke because he can't believe someone would want to kill him for his political beliefs, but as the novel progresses he becomes the victim of several physical attacks and near misses, Guinn said.
If the setting sounds close to home, it is because Guinn decided to write about something he is familiar with. Guinn said he loved the 35 years he spent teaching at JBU. As a liberal professor, he enjoyed offering students another perspective on the world. The college always accepted him and treated him very well, he said.
The inspiration for the book came from an incident that happened about 30 years ago, Guinn said. Several liberal professors at JBU received threats because of their political opinions, although thankfully nothing came of it, he said. Guinn's book takes off from the premise of what might have happened if the threats had escalated.
Guinn is a lifelong Arkansas resident. He earned his Master of Arts in English literature from the University of Arkansas and finished his doctorate at the university in 19th century British literature. He taught at JBU for 35 years before retiring four years ago.
"Sacrificial Lam" is the second book the retired English professor has published. The first book -- "A Late Flooding Thaw" -- was published about 15 years ago. The novel is set in the southern Ozark mountains at the turn of the 20th century and based on Guinn's grandparent's experience.
Guinn was inspired to write his novel by the NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month, challenge in November 2015. The challenge encourages authors to write 50,000 words in 30 days. Guinn outlined "Sacrificial Lam" during a 10-day trip to Florida to visit friends in October, then worked long hours throughout the month of November to complete the book. He spent the next year revising the book and getting it ready to go to press.
Guinn said he loves writing mystery/thrillers and he plans to create a series based on the protagonist, Lam Corso. He is about three-quarters through the second book about the character.
More information about Guinn and his books is available at garyguinn.com.
General News on 03/01/2017