HOLLYWOOD
a novella by Connor Coyne
published by Lethe Press February 2024
ORDER TODAY!
“With evocative and true-to-life prose, this story gave me the visceral experience of being young
—of that magical time in life when your friends are your family and every future is possible.”
– Leila Sales, author of This Song Will Save Your Life
ABOUT · PRAISE · NEWS / MEDIA / EVENTS · AUTHOR · CONTACT
Anxious Ophelia steps off the elevated train in the big city, hoping to start a new life with her summer hookup, far from her dissolving family and all of the traumas of industrial Rockville. Over the course of the next few hours Ophelia will lose her roommate, her money, and eventually, her sense of sanity when she sees a mile-long shark out on the lake, unwitnessed by anyone else, but obviously there, because if it wasn’t how did she get so soaked?
Ophelia cannot go back to who she was before sighting the beast, and the friends and opportunities she discovers all proceed from what and how she acts on that first, fierce, drunken night. Author Connor Coyne has created a new American myth for readers who enjoy a bit of madness in their weird fiction.
“With evocative and true-to-life prose, this story gave me the visceral experience of being young—of that magical time in life when your friends are your family and every future is possible.”
– Leila Sales, author of This Song Will Save Your Life
“Like a dream that leaves you wanting more, Hollywood pulls you along an atmospheric journey of self-discovery and human connection. Evocative and moving.”
– Bonnie Jo Stufflebeam, author of Where You Linger and Other Stories
“A poignant portrait of young people making art and mischief, magic and memories, on Chicago’s North Side, the kind of mystical place where even a mile-long shark is not the strangest experience on tap. Hollywood is about found family, and about the brief, precious season in which it flourishes, and it made my heart ache.”
– William Shunn, author of Inclination and The Accidental Terrorist
“Connor Coyne is one of the most daring and imaginative writers I know. In Hollywood, he’s gifted us with a curious, wholehearted story that is both beautiful and strange. Reading it feels like freedom.”
– Anna Clark, author of The Poisoned City
“The making of an urban classic. Carefully written to leave just enough on the page for magic to seep through, this little book will enchant readers for years to come.”
– S.C. Megale, author of This Is Not a Love Scene
“Hollywood is a coming-of-age story for new adults, set in a backdrop right out of Larry Fessenden’s Habit, and featuring a kaiju-sized fish in Lake Michigan; I read it in one sitting.”
– M.L. Kennedy, author of Things You Leave Behind
FULL REVIEW
“An affecting coming of age story that explores change and its impact on the sense of self.”
– Independent Book Review
FULL REVIEW
News
Hollywood is available in electronic (Kindle) and print formats.
Please support indie presses and booksellers: request Hollywood from your favorite independent bookstore or order direct from Lethe Press!
Media
First Excerpt: Ophelia Meets the City (Nov. 24, 2023)
Second Excerpt: Ophelia Meets the Shark (Jan. 31, 2024)
Hollywood, the unofficial soundtrack.
On Spotify. On YouTube.
Guest Post: JB’s Bookworms with Brandy Mulder: “What inspired you to write this story?” (February 1, 2024)
Westveil Publishing: “Author Interview with Connor Coyne: Hollywood” (February 5, 2024)
Events
February 14, 2024
Date with an Author
Workshop and reading.
FRANCES WILLSON THOMPSON LIBRARY /
MARIAN E. WRIGHT WRITING CENTER · FLINT, Michigan
303 E. Kearsley St. · 12 – 1:30 pm
Event flier.
February 21, 2024
Fiction from the Heart of Flint
Reading with Kelsey Ronan, author of Chevy in the Hole.
NEXT CHAPTER BOOKSTORE · DETROIT, Michigan
16555 E. Warren Ave. · 6 pm
Event Flier.
February 24, 2024
Hollywood Launch Party
Reading, signing, and light refreshments.
Facilitated by Jan Worth, author of That’s My Moon Over Court Street.
TOTEM BOOKS · FLINT, Michigan
620 W. Court St. · 3 – 5 pm
March 10, 2024
Workshop and Book Signing
BOOK SUEY · HAMTRAMCK, Michigan
10345 Joseph Campau Ave.
4 pm FlashFic club workshop.
6:30 pm reading.
May 2, 2024
Joint Reading and Book Signing
Reading with Tim Lane, author of Your Silent Face and Kelsey Ronan, author of Chevy in the Hole.
2 DANDELIONS BOOKSHOP · BRIGHTON, Michigan
428 W. Main St. · 6:30 pm
May 7, 2024
Tuesday Funk Reading Series
HOPLEAF BAR · CHICAGO, Illinois
5148 N. Clark St. · 7:30 pm
Connor Coyne (he/him) is a writer living and working in Flint, Michigan.
Connor has published several novels and a short story collection, including the magical serial novel Urbantasm, and his novella Hollywood. His work has been featured in Vox.com, Belt Magazine, and elsewhere. He is the director of the Flint-based Gothic Funk Press and facilitator for the Gloria Coles Flint Public Library’s teen writing workshops.
Connor is a graduate of the University of Chicago and holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the New School. Today, he lives with his wife and two daughters in Flint College Cultural Neighborhood (aka the East Village) less than a mile from the house where he grew up.