We are excited to bring you THE PARASITE FROM PROTO SPACE

by Brett Petersen

OFFICIAL RELEASE JANUARY 30

PREORDER THE PARASITE FROM PROTO SPACE NOW!

COVER BY LEV CANTORAL

PRAISE FOR PARASITE FROM PROTO SPACE

If George Bataille and Ray Bradbury had a baby, and that baby was GG Allin, and that GG Allin baby read Ursula K. Le Guin and Charles Bukowski in equal measure, and that now grown-up baby watched Beavis and Butt-Head reruns on summer afternoons, then we might approach describing the phantasmagoric mise-en-scènes Brett Petersen has put together here in this collection. The contact high one gets is contagious.

Daniel Nester, author of How to Be Inappropriate

A Confusion Wave beaming in from the farthest-out Far Out, scrambling up to unscramble our partially-scrambled minds.

Ben Loory, author of Tales of Falling and Flying

Stories in the wheelhouse of Jeremy Johnson, Harlan Ellison and Phillip K. Dick. These are really fucking cool.

Garrett Cook, author of A God of Hungry Walls

Petersen’s stories are an acid-drenched, kaleidoscopic blend of genres reminiscent of Dick and Burroughs, but with their own unique breed of genius. The experience of reading The Parasite from Proto Space and Other Stories is not unlike ingesting a powerful psychedelic—one that will leave a lasting impression of your psyche.

Brendan Vidito, author of Nightmares in Ecstasy

Reading The Parasite from Proto Space feels like you’re on a footchase pursued by Mad Mr. Petersen himself. He’s got a messenger bag full of creatures he spliced together in his basement workshop, and every time you think you’re getting ahead, you turn around to check if he’s still behind you and get smacked in the face by a 50-pound alien memory worm that needs you to validate its childhood trauma.

Charlene Elsby, author of Hexis

Buckle up because you're about to be thrown into a wonderfully distorted reality. Brett Petersen's collection invokes the excitement of reading Bradbury and Heinlein for the first time. The Parasite from Proto Space raises important questions what it means to be human and twisted world eagerly waiting to consume us. A must-read for science fiction fans everywhere.

Maxwell Bauman, author of The Mummy of Canaan

This is clearly a parable about being an outsider and just trying to fit into this world. I feel like it's an anthem for most of my generation, whom, now pushing their 40's, are still trying to figure shit out. It's morbid, bizarre, and a ton of fun. Over all it kept my attention. As I'm often to point out, for a reader like me with severe ADHD that's all that matters. Getting me to sit in place and read a full book is extremely difficult and anyone who accomplishes that feet can wear that as a badge of pride.

Reed Alexander, author of In the Shadow of the Mountain

A MESSAGE FROM THE AUTHOR

This book is dedicated to those on the autism spectrum, those with mental illness, and those with disabilities both visible and hidden. My advice to you is to never stop pursing what makes you happy. Your path through life may not resemble what your aunt, the so-called experts, or well-intentioned but misguided friends have in mind for you: and that’s perfectly fine.

Around the time I received my bachelor’s degree in English, my mind was hijacked by a dangerous parasite called the Typical American Career Path. Its only goal was to steer me away from my writing, music and art, and mire me in a dead-end janitorial job that didn’t pay nearly enough for me to move out of my parents’ house. I entered the work force a college graduate with an ear-to-ear grin and the determination to earn a living. Two years later, I was wheeled out on a stretcher and into an ambulance bound for the psych ward.

Everything changed when I started collecting Social Security benefits and moved into a subsidized housing unit a block away from my favorite record store. That’s when I began to recognize the parasite’s influence and take action against it by channeling all my energy into my creative passions rather than what society expected of me.

Like many autistic people, I was born with a handful of finely-tuned skills. Pragmatism, the most valued trait an American citizen can possess, was not one of them. I write songs, draw crazy cartoons, read Tarot and write books, but I simply don’t have what it takes to drive a car, work a traditional job and live the quote unquote American Dream.

In the words of my grandmother, every person’s ultimate goal should be to become ‘actualized.’ This entails pinpointing your calling, chasing it like the Holy Grail, and never letting anyone (or thing) knock you off course. It doesn’t have to be a career in literature or the arts: it can be anything! If your grail is gainful employment, then trail it like a bloodhound.

This book is my most earnest attempt at self-actualization. It is one of the few things I can give to this world. These nine stories chronicle the dreams, nightmares, visions, and real events I experienced through the parasite’s compound eyes. I sincerely hope these tales will give you the strength and courage to shake off your own parasites and pursue actualization. Embrace your eccentricities like loved ones and follow them wherever they lead. Any internal or external stimulus that tries to drag you down is just a parasite trying to get in. Simply tell it to fuck off (through medication, meditation or whatever method works best for you) and continue on your way.

Brett Petersen

Brett Petersen is a writer, musician and artist from Albany, New York, whose high-functioning autism only enhances his creativity. He earned his B.A. in English from the College of Saint Rose in 2011, and since then, his stories and poems have appeared in over a dozen print and online publications. *The Parasite From Proto Space and Other Stories* is his first book, and unless he is apprehended by the Trump Regime for being an outspoken autistic, will certainly not be his last. Academic critics should note that the subject matter of his stories and his taste in literature in general was heavily inspired by Japanese role-playing video games such as Xenogears, Chrono Trigger, and Shin Megami Tensei. Aside from his writing career, he is the rhythm guitarist and vocalist for sludge rock band Raziel’s Tree, a competent visual artist, Tarot reader, and wannabe Kabbalist. All things Brett Petersen can be found at http://www.jellyfishentity.wordpress.com.

Parasite Lit!