In-depth look at 'Synod'

2017 has been a strange, yet still fruitful year. It began with the indefinite postponement of my YA fiction series Once Famous, along with at least ten other titles from Epic Press; but it's also featured my latest signing. That is: with Zimbell House, to publish my debut novel.

(Plus, all is not lost for Once Famous! More news by 2018.)

Outside of that I have two titles coming from Sussman Education this fall. They're two short, educational biographies on subjects who certainly interest reluctant readers. More information on this to come!

Today's purpose, however, is to drop my most recent plot synopsis for Synod, which of course is about the religious community (some would say commune?) in the mountains of North Jersey in 1829.

Here's what you can look forward to:

The year is 1829. The gruff, insular Goldfinch has become the anointed leader of an idyllic religious community, aptly named Synod, nestled in the Ramapough Mountains of northern New Jersey. This came at the behest of three real-life religious figures, who in the narrative have since returned to their evangelical lives. Goldfinch, who's long been nomadic, is suddenly thrust into a leadership position -- with many opinionated residents jockeying for power behind him. This includes Harriet, Minister Mulvane, "One," and Shepherd.

Thanks to the advice of the village's Founders, Synod will become a stop on the Underground Railroad. Goldfinch oversees this endeavor, bringing in a broken runaway family. But bounty hunters from the Picket plantation have followed their path and seek to reclaim stolen property, at all costs. Meanwhile, Goldfinch meets a shadowy abolitionist on the road, a man with close ties to the federal government who's also impressively attuned to the wild. As the man recruits Goldfinch and select others into a wider crusade against slavery, Goldfinch also has to contend with Nance, a corrupt, bitter politician connected to the bounty hunters. Will Goldfinch save his village from damnation or destruction? Will he return to his roots and take up arms as his conflict reaches the governor's desk? How will his knotty relationship with a villager change as he's called to action?