Josh Green, whose debut novel “Secrets of Ash” was released in late September, said that much of the book was directly inspired by his experiences as a reporter for the Gwinnett Daily Post.
Published by California-based Sager Group, “Secrets of Ash” is a compelling story of two brothers — one a wounded Purple Heart war veteran and the other a loud-mouth radio personality — whose fragile relationship is put to the ultimate test in the North Georgia mountains.
The award-winning journalist, who worked for the Gwinnett Daily Post from 2007 until 2012, said that the thrust for a character in the novel came as a result of his interviews with military veterans, both young and old.
Credit: Siori Kitajima
Credit: Siori Kitajima
“They opened up to me in a really wonderful, honorable and an almost flattering way,” said Green. “They told me about what they felt and what they were dealing with in the world. And I wanted to move that into some art form to relay that to the world in a broader way to help people understand.
“I always found that level of commitment, bravery and sacrifice unbelievably inspirational. So this is kind of an homage to all of them in a way for one of the characters.”
And the idea for the other character came from the hours Green spent in his car, trying to get home from work.
“The radio host is inspired by a well-known sports radio personality in Atlanta that provided a bit of a reprieve every day when I suffered through traffic for my afternoon commute from Lawrenceville back into the city,” he said. “Listening to sports radio in traffic inspired the creation of the older brother.”
A launch party for “Secrets of Ash” was held on Dec. 1 at the venerable Manuel’s Tavern in Atlanta, and the Indiana native — who now edits Urbanized Atlanta, a real estate development-focused website, and is a freelance magazine writer — has been working to get the word out about the book.
“It’s a process of minor victories at this point,” he said. “People are reacting very well to it … I’m stretching as far as I can regionally and trying to broaden that in the new year.”
In 2013, Green published an acclaimed collection of short stories — called “Dirtyville Rhapsodies” — that was named a top 10 Book of the Year by Atlanta Magazine. It took him another 10 years to get a second work published. A series of setbacks, which included losing his literary agent and receiving rejection letters from many publishers, coincided with his need to make a living, which were among the reasons it took a decade to finish “Secrets of Ash.”
“Figuring out how to write a novel on your own isn’t the easiest thing,” he said. “Just getting the book on paper took four or five years. I was also promoting my first book and getting my freelance career off the ground. It’s not uncommon for even an established author to take a decade or even two decades to produce their next book. It took four or five years to get it readable and in a way that felt factually accurate.”
There was good news, however. In the 10-year span it took to bring “Secrets of Ash” to market, Green wrote two other novels, one of which he hopes will be his next release.
“I had to put (‘Secrets of Ash’) on the shelf a couple of times and I’ve written two other novels that are now in pretty good shape and I’m proud of,” he said. “… The good thing about 10 years of rejections — my first literary agent said the only way to stay sane is to try to forget about it and to keep working on the next one.
“Through so many travails, he was right, so I’ve got two already in the bag. They’re vastly different stories and hopefully one of those two is next in line. One of them is about sisters, perhaps the follow-up for this book.”
“Secrets of Ash” is available through Amazon and other platforms. For more information, visit www.joshgreen.com and www.thesagergroup.net.
Credit: Gwinnett Daily Post
Credit: Gwinnett Daily Post
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