Simon Kemper is on the up and up- he's out of rehab, and his band is gaining moderate success around Berlin. But out of the corner of his eye and over his shoulder, he's always aware of her. The stalker. She's at every show, no matter what city. She sends hundreds of postcards to his label. Worst of all, she acts like she knows him. Like she owns him. When the stalker disappears at one of his shows, Simon is the prime suspect. Initially an effort to clear his name, his search for July quickly becomes a deeper psychological quest: to prove that his fears were warranted? That she couldn't have given up her obsession that easily? The threads of July's disappearance turn out to be tangled into every corner of Simon's life: a trusted band member, a tenuous new love interest, a resentful ex, and the self he's supposedly left behind. Narcissistic, insecure, and consummately relatable, Simon is the anti-hero of his own life-- trying to want to be better; hoping that's enough.
Simon Kemper is on the up and up-he's out of rehab, and his band is gaining moderate success around Berlin. But out of the corner of his eye and over his shoulder, he's always aware of her. The stalker. She's at every show, no matter what city. She sends hundreds of postcards to his label. Worst of all, she acts like she knows him. Like she owns him. When the stalker disappears at one of his shows, Simon is the prime suspect. Initially an effort to clear his name, his search for July quickly becomes a deeper psychological quest: to prove that his fears were warranted? That she couldn't have given up her obsession that easily? The threads of July's disappearance turn out to be tangled into every corner of Simon's life: a trusted band member, a tenuous new love interest, a resentful ex, and the self he's supposedly left behind. Narcissistic, insecure, and consummately relatable, Simon is the anti-hero of his own life-trying to want to be better; hoping that's enough.
About the author: Originally from Virginia, Kat Hausler is a graduate of New York University and holds an M.F.A. in Fiction from Fairleigh Dickinson University, where she was the recipient of a Baumeister Fellowship. She is the author of Retrograde and What I Know About July, as well as many shorter pieces. Her work has appeared in Hawaii Pacific Review, 34th Parallel, Inkspill Magazine, The Sunlight Press, The Dalloway, Rozlyn Press, Porridge Magazine, LitReactor, BlazeVOX, failbetter and The Airgonaut, among others. She l