Mark Mustian joins The Dark Mind Podcast to discuss his newest novel, Boy With Wings.

The book follows Johnny Cruel, a boy born different in a world desperate to call him angel, devil, freak, miracle, or monster.

Together, we explore Southern Gothic fiction, literal wings, freak shows, turpentine camps, Jim Crow racism, religious fear, and the brutal cost of being seen as spectacle before being understood as human.

Mark also discusses writing across difference, researching sideshow history, the emotional horror of being buried alive, and how faith, doubt, race, and memory shape all three of his novels.

We also talk about The Gendarme, Armenian genocide, the publishing gaps between his books, his work as a public finance lawyer, his years as a city commissioner, and his role as founder of the Word of South Festival.

Website:

https://markmustian.com

Social media

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/markmustianauthor/

Instagram:

https://www.instagram.com/markmustian/

X / Twitter:

https://x.com/MarkMustian

LinkedIn:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-mustian-17066776

Mark Mustian author page on Goodreads:

https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/3463600.Mark_Mustian

Places to buy

Barnes & Noble, Boy With Wings:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/boy-with-wings-mark-mustian/1146600022

Bookshop.org, Boy With Wings:

https://bookshop.org/p/books/boy-with-wings-mark-mustian/143eb36ac6f04f87

Audible author page:

https://www.audible.com/author/Mark-T-Mustian/B0CSF8JY2Y

Support The Dark Mind Podcast

https://www.patreon.com/c/thedarkmindpodcast