J.D. Brayton is the author of The Clabber Grrrl’s Retreat and new release EYE SKIN first two novels in the Edsel Mook Series of post—gonzo crime pulp novels full of macabre humor and social satire. He also writes Historical Fiction, commentaries and essays exploring the bizarre confabulation of politics, religion, and violence defining the genre known as the Rough South. He lives in the National capitol area— his hobbies include snail wrangling, dog whispering and graffiti translation. He believes there is a fine line between fiction and mendacity. A great story is just an organized lie between naps.

FROM THE MASTER (and Originator) of POST-GONZO CRIME PULP

J.D. Brayton has proclaimed a whole new literary genre through his work self described as ‘Post-Gonzo Crime Pulp’; a style purloined from the mad humor of H.S. Thompson, the dark absurdity of a Quentin Tarantino, the psychedelic playfulness of Tom Robbins, and ends up squarely on the Rough South doorstep of Harry Crews. The Clabber Grrrl’s Retreat- a novel set in the South Florida swamps- takes the traditional concept of genre, fills a bucket full of colorful vernacular and sporadic madness, dumps it all out onto the page to ripen in the hot sun like an eclectic hallucinogenic gumbo.

J.D. Brayton  was raised in South Florida and is well-acquainted with the fact that the most frightening creatures in the Sunshine State do not always reside in the Everglades.

Born in Rhode Island and  raised  in the deep south, J.D. Brayton  learned how to survive by instant narrative- the kind that keeps a fellow from falling afoul of the law, being bruised by land pirates, crazed cocaine cowboys and broken hearted lovers.

The cadence of dialect, the street-level humor and wily warm tones of southern vernacular has always been a sublime symphony to his ears.

Florida is a human circus, a study in the absurd and a never-ending source of literary dismay and caricature. This is the reason so much humor and drama springs from the Sunshine State. A location tailor-made for hucksters, snake-oil salesman and barbeque stains on skimpy bikinis.

In his own words ~

“ Faulkner Don’t Tweet.”

Soul cannot be abridged.

A published author of short stories, historical fiction, poetry, J.D. Brayton has delivered some of the most memorable characters in fiction. Humor, dialogue and a deep familiarity of the rough south is what makes his style resonate with the reader. He knows the people and the intemperate madness that dwells in the swamps, cities and agricultural flat-lands of the Weirdest Penninsula in America.
This is Post-Gonzo Crime Pulp at it’s finest.

‘My poetic statement has to reside with the words committed to every page. Though it may, (at times), seem so – they are not limned in cold blood. Racing thoughts and automatic writing are the stuff of whispering ghosts; and I’ll be damned if I don’t listen between candy bars and lawn-mowers. Pass the salt and baste the vernacular. It had better be worth it, pilgrim. Faith in Art may be primitive, but it’s the rarest tribe I know.’