Tallahassee’s Mark Mustian is releasing a new novel. And for the first time, he’ll be among the many writers and musicians set to appear at next month’s Word of South Festival, an event he founded a decade ago.
You could say Mark Mustian is sort of a Renaissance guy. He’s practiced law in Tallahassee since 1983. He served as a city commissioner between 2003 and 2012. And, as if he needed something else to keep him busy, he began writing novels a few years back. His first effort was entitled “The Return.”
“But I was fortunate to get that book published and I discovered I liked doing it and thought I had a little bit of talent, so I kept at it”
His second work, “The Gendarme,” was a finalist for the coveted Saroyan International Writing Award, and brought home Florida Gold Book honors. And in a matter of days, Mustian’s third book drops.
“This book is historical fiction, which I like. The last book, ‘The Gendarme,’ was that way also. And this has sort of a southern gothic feel, which I really haven’t done before. So it has a mix of different things, which I like from my end.”
The title of Mustian’s latest book? “Boy With Wings.”
“The book is the story of a boy who has these strange things on his back that are like wings and he ends up in a freak show in the 1930s traveling the south. And so the book touches on a lot of things; race, religion, but more than anything else, what it means to be different.”
Also, how is the boy treated by those he encounters? And how does that connect to all of us?
“How do we react to things we just don’t understand? That’s part of it and just the human level. What is it like for these people and are they better off doing this instead of trying to work at a store or something with an obviously visible oddity? So it’s all I think a very interesting topic in general.”
Mustian’s “Boy With Wings” takes flight soon.
“The book comes out March 15th. I will be at the Word of South Festival for the first time and I’ll appear with a local keyboard player, Danny Bedrosian, who’s also the keyboard player for George Clinton.”
The Word of South Festival, which Mustian founded 10 years ago, comes to Tallahassee’s Cascades Park the weekend of April 4th.
