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Book Details
Literary Fiction
Date Published: April 16th
Publisher: Acorn Publishing
Jaded city planner Townsend Meadows looks out across Evermore Valley with the ghost of his dead friend by his side. “Do you ever wonder,” Fen asks, “what this city will look like five hundred years from now?”
Their city is teetering on the brink of collapse, and the mayor’s answer is a gleaming new auto mall at the valley’s edge. For Townsend, it’s the death of everything a city should be. Struggling to regain his passion and forced to choose between compliance and conviction, he must risk his career to fight for a more hopeful and verdant future.
From an architect’s vision at the dawn of the twentieth century, to a rancher’s dynasty scarred by violence and greed, to a city founder’s hidden message of hope, this story about the rise, fall, and reawakening of an American city reaches far beyond the present. A timely, sweeping novel of memory, corruption, and resilience, Death and Life in the City of Dreams asks, “What legacy will we choose to leave for our children?”
Virtual Book Tour – April 15 – May 15
April 15 – RABT Book Tours – Kick Off
April 16 – Tea Time and Books – Spotlight
April 17- Nana’s Book Reviews – Spotlight
April 20- The Faerie Review – Spotlight
April 21- Sarandipity’s – Interview
April 22- Books 1987 – Spotlight
April 23- On a Reading Bender – Review
April 24-My Bookmarked Reads – Spotlight
April 27-Momma and Her Stories – Excerpt
April 28- Crossroad Reviews – Spotlight
April 29- Always Reading – Excerpt
April 30- Liliyana Shadowlyn – Spotlight
May 1 – My Reading Addiction – Interview
May 4 – Book Corner News and Reviews – Spotlight
May 5 – The Indie Express – Review
May 6 –
May 7 – A Life Through Books – Interview
May 8 –
May 11 – Novel News Network – Review
May 12 – The Avid Reader – Interview
May 13 – Texas Book Nook – Review
May 14 – Tina Donahue Books – Spotlight
May 15 – RABT Reviews – Wrap Up
Author Details
Nicholas Deitch is a writer, architect, and advocate for social justice whose fiction explores the intersection of cities, history, and human resilience. His passion for storytelling began when a colleague recognized the emotional depth of his nonfiction work. Since then, he has honed his craft, publishing short stories in Litro Magazine, Club Plum, and Santa Barbara Literary Journal. His short story “Grace Eternal” won Best Fiction at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference (2019).
Death and Life in the City of Dreams, his debut novel, is deeply influenced by his experiences in nonprofit leadership and the design of inclusive communities and urban places.
Originally from Los Angeles, he now lives in Ventura, California, with his wife and creative partner Diana.
Contact Link
Purchase Links
Amazon: https://amzn.to/4vzFXLM
B&N: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/death-and-life-in-the-city-of-dreams-nicholas-deitch/1149801765
Giveaway
$25 Amazon Gift Card
Author Interview
Tell us about your current release
Death and Life in the City of Dreams is a story of a city and its people, of the rise,
unraveling, and struggling rebirth of Evermore—a fictional American city.
The story is epic in scope, following two threads, past and present, from the city’s
founding, to its present-day struggles of fiscal and humanitarian crisis. Death and Life in
the City of Dreams is a story of caution and of hope, revealing through a rich gathering
of characters and their struggles, that our cities are ultimately a reflection of who we
are and what we value.
When did you first realize you wanted to be a writer?
I’ve always enjoyed writing, journaling, using my words to understand my deeper self. I
was writing some nonfiction, about a public hearing for an affordable housing project. In
that writing I created a scene, of two people testifying at a public hearing—one in
support of the project, and one opposed. I’m an advocate for affordable housing, but I
wanted to understand the mind set of someone opposing. I had to put myself into the
head of an old man who stood before his city council, terrified of the project and the
people who would live there. A reader responded that my approach to exploring these
matters was unique and engaging. They asked, I had considered writing a novel? And so
I began.
Have you published any previous books?
This is my first full novel. I have written short stories that have appeared in Litro, The
Santa Barbara Literary Journal, and Club Plum.
What can we expect to see from you in the future, any books on the back-burner?
I have a collection of short stories nearly complete, and a new novel in the works. Many
of my stories explore subtexts of homelessness and social justice. I often weave
elements of surreal experience and psychological trauma into my work. But somehow I
find a way to end with hope.
What do you like to do when you’re not writing?
Im an architect and teacher, and I’m fortunate to have work that I enjoy. But writing is
the creative act I take for myself.
I’m an architect and urban designer, and I’m fortunate that I love my work, visioning and
helping to create meaning full civic places, affordable housing, and urban infill. I often
tell people I get to draw and color for a living—although much of the work is now done
through computer modeling of 3D environments.
Did you learn anything from writing your book? What was it?
Writing this novel was a transformational journey. I learned the value and pleasure of
rewriting, and I wrote through some of my greatest professional struggles. In the end
my protagonist and I went on the same journey, and we both came out clearer and
stronger, and eager to continue the Hero’s Journey.
Some writers have something playing in the background, do you and what?
So many things playing in my background. I began having panic attacks when I was a
young teenager. That term did not exist, but experience scared the hell out of me. I kept
it secret, sand spent the next several decades trying to understand what was happening
to me. Ultimately, this led me to place of deep compassion, the recognition that we all
have our struggles. It has made me a better writer, and a better person.
Tell us a little about yourself. Perhaps something not many people know about?
I’m passionate about social justice, about how our society cares for our least able
people, this who struggle with homelessness, mental illness, addiction, abuse. I served
as the board president of Turning Point Foundation, a Ventura County non-profit, for
ten years. My stories often venture into the world of our homeless, their struggles and
isolation.
What do you hope your writing brings to your readers?
I hope to offer a deeper understanding of our cities as reflections of ourselves, of our
shared hopes and dreams, and our collective role as stewards of our communities, of
each other, and the world we will pass on to our children, and theirs.
