Literary Fiction by Juli Kearns

The Rhetoric of Streets (2016)

The Rhetoric of Streets "We are in the death zone, so-called as here the human body fails to regenerate and begins to die, for which reason we must attain our goal quickly and return to safety, or fail and leave but survive," a voice says, which will not be recollected. A residual and telltale grain of its sand briefly troubles the sole of her foot on this side of the threshold over which she has crossed less than an atom's measure of an instant before, the world in which she was disappearing so rapidly, unless her foot finds that stray particle of sand (which it doesn't always) no realization of her departing and crossing the threshold is had.

--The Rhetoric of Streets

A photographer's fifteen-year-long vigil for her missing sister wears upon her personal, family, and professional life, during which time she struggles with whether the disappearance was intentional. An exploration of parenthood, the artistic impulse, and the wear and tear of culturally-condoned misogyny.

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Thunderbird and the Ball of Twine (2011)

Thunderbird and the Ball of Twine "First, there was the space ship" is a conceit, a come hither wink of a dark alley lie down the order of a spit polished shoe of a movie that grabs you by the nape of the neck the moment the intro credits stop rolling and, before you've an opportunity to scream at the film noire drama queen assaulting you, propels you out of your spectator seat and professionally slam dunks your head into the toilet bowl of a plot right in the red velvet curtain draped theater of said alley. The first handful of hot buttery popcorn not even in your mouth yet and you're bobbing up from a kinky money shot. But what is about to be related is far more mundane than all that, so we'll scratch away the "first" and instead simply remark, "There was a UFO," because it's not even known if the object was a space ship that Odile McDonald happened to see.

--Thunderbird and the Ball of Twine (a Folk Tale)

What does it mean when your horoscope says your life is over? A comedic philosophical quest and serious inquiry into the fool’s journey, Thunderbird and the Ball of Twine explores the fragility of our conclusions on being and consciousness when based upon the fragmentary sharing of experience and elusive, illusive perspective constrained by the regulating thermostat of cultural expectations.

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Unending Wonders of a Subatomic World (or) In Search of the Great Penguin (2007)

Unending Wonders of a Subatomic World Is not one of the initial archaeological records of Homo typicalis the imprint of a foot at Olduvai Gorge. Why? Because it wanted to get to the other side. Homo typicalis has always been a migrant worker. And when it stopped migrating was when former migrators inhabited the land it wanted. At which time Homo typicalis became an invader, whereas Homo atypicalis threw a big party and married into the family. What this goes to prove is Human is not indigenous to anywhere and, following after the example of rocks that Ice Age glaciers moved hundreds of kilometers, should be classified Erratic. For Human to be other than Erratic indicates, if not an aberration, a dramatic shift in consciousness, which is in itself another exempli gratia of the inclination to change. Symbols of human should not be astrologically or sexually subclassified but should be, universally, the sign of the moving van.

--Unending Wonders of a Subatomic World (or) In Search of the Great Penguin

Unending Wonders of a Subatomic World or In Search of the Great Penguin takes the reader on a journey into a magical and sometimes alarming level of reality where all is truly connected and no one, nothing, is inconsequential, not even the most seeming minor character. Historical exposition, social commentary, and psychological and spiritual reflection enrich and illuminate the free flowing complexity of the basic plot line which includes the search for the great penguin, a struggling touring band, and a woman fleeing her impending wedding with all the wedding gifts. Unending Wonders of a Subatomic World or In Search of the Great Penguin is not a novel to skim lightly. It is an experience that may change the way you view the universe.

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Online Short Stories

The Reluctant Maenad, 2017

Why don't I publish more frequently?

My books are long and involved writes and I can't churn them out once every three months or even once a year. Patience is required in the making of them. Nor are they works that are consumed in one night. Individuals have said they read pages and chapters repeatedly, absorbing them.

Before my time in theater, pre-internet, I wrote several other books that were largely surreal and experimental in nature. After my work in theater, my approach to writing changed significantly and I am only publishing novels that have been completed subsequent that change.

Why publish in paperback and not on Amazon?

Because my books are involved reads and not consumed in one day or a week, I prefer to sell my work paperbound rather than for an ereader. I publish through Lulu because they have thus far proven to have good, consistent text quality and are cheaper than Amazon.

"I can't afford the paperback but I want to read your book"

Truly can't afford the paperback? Let me know and I'll send you a pdf. I am too well aware of what it is to want to read but not have the cash for a book.