Down the Steep
Willa McCoy is a strong-minded teenager who longs to follow in the footsteps of her important father. But the year is 1963, the place is small-town Virginia, and her father is a Klansman. Steeped in racism, Willa believes the Klan is daring and brave—like the father she idolizes. She wants only to rise in his esteem; he wants only to keep everyone in their place. Impatient for her to be more feminine, Willa’s parents send her to babysit for the new minister’s wife, Ruth Swanson, unaware the Swansons have moved from Minnesota to do their part in the budding Civil Rights movement. Soon Willa finds herself at Ruth’s kitchen table with Langston Jones, a smart young Black man. Langston and Willa despise each other, but they both love Ruth, so their paths continue to cross. One evening, Langston reveals a devastating secret that forces Willa to see her father’s true character, and the once-loyal daughter rebels. As she plots to destroy her father’s reputation, she unwittingly sets into motion a series of events that leads to her family’s ruin.
Praise for Down the Steep
Down the Steep elegantly scrutinizes the horrors of the Jim Crow south, heroism gone awry, and the family and home you can never fully flee. A.D. Nauman writes with compassion and understanding about characters who don’t always understand themselves and she keeps the pages turning. An engaging novel and a beautiful coming-of-age story.
Rebecca Makkai, author of I Have Some Questions for You
Deftly crafted and impressively original, Down the Steep by author A. D. Nauman is a riveting read from start to finish, and one that will hold a special appeal to readers with an interest in southern-based coming of ages stories. With a narrative driven and eloquent storytelling style by novelist A. D. Nauman, Down the Steep is raised to from ordinary fiction to literary fiction at its best. While also available for personal reading lists in a digital book format(Kindle, $9.49), Down the Steep is a solid and recommended pick for community and college/university library Southern Literature collections.
— Midwest Book Review
“Incredible writing, an emotional and thought-provoking narrative, and a story that readers won’t be able to stop
thinking about …one of the best historical fiction books that tackles racism.”
— Historical Fiction Company
“The plot moves swiftly along with strong characters…I hoped and prayed that Willa would make the right choices
and then furiously read, turning the pages to find out if she did. Highly recommended.”
— Historical Novel Society
“An eye-opening saga that…explores the complexities of human relationships and the blurred lines between
enemies and allies. Nauman’s captivating characters and intricate plot will challenge readers to reconsider the true
nature of humanity…an enthralling and unforgettable read.
— Book Excellence
“Unflinching…Set during a period of intense upheaval, Down the Steep is a wrenching coming-of-age tale in which an independent teenager strives to do her best in a harsh social climate wherein hatred takes insidious root.”
— Foreword Reviews
“A powerful coming-of-age story…I can’t recommend this book enough. I will be thinking about Down the Steep for a long time.”
— The Nerd Cantina
“Brilliant, brave, heart wrenching…a novel about one family that begs us to look at society, a story about one town
that forces us to examine the larger culture, a novel about the past that turns a critical eye to the present.”
— Michelle Powell, Northwestern University Word Café
Down the Steep travels into dark places where lesser authors might fear to tread. A.D. Nauman has created an unforgettable narrator, a pulse-pounding plot, and an ending that will leave readers haunted and changed. This book is unflinching in its honesty and breathtaking in its beauty.
— Abby Geni, author of The Wildlands
It’s increasingly rare to encounter a work of fiction that truly allows us—no, compels us—to witness a character’s profound moral growth, their making and re-making, but with Willa McCoy, the teenaged protagonist of Down the Steep, A.D. Nauman accomplishes just that. This fast-moving novel of the heart and mind builds, one impeccable small-town detail after another, to a devastating conclusion. You’ll never forget this emotionally wrenching and beautiful book.
— Kimberly Elkins, author of What Is Visible
As a child growing up in 1960s Virginia, in a chillingly genteel atmosphere of racism and patriarchy, Willa McCoy has an awakening that changes the course of her life and her family’s. This is a beautifully written novel of great depth and pathos.
—Elizabeth McKenzie, author of The Dog of the North
The clear-eyed honesty of a young girl’s voice describes the brutality of racism and the prison of misogyny in A.D. Nauman’s Down the Steep. I read this novel with rapt attention, as unable to stop thinking about it as I was reluctant to put it down. Fresh and tough and beautifully crafted, this is a novel that begs to be read.
—Chris Cander, author of A Gracious Neighbor
Sharply observed and alight with fury, A.D. Nauman’s novel [Down the Steep] scrutinizes the devastation of hate and the scarcity of courage. Her characters will break your heart more times than you can count.”
—Adam Shafer, author of Never Walk Back
I couldn’t stop turning the pages of this propulsive novel. Down the Steep is historical fiction at its best. Nauman effortlessly conjures the textures of small-town Virginia and the way the setting affects the characters’ behavior and psychology. The white, teenaged narrator’s sense of herself as both victim and savior, as powerless and all-powerful, is achingly palpable, and I held my breath as the stakes ratcheted up and her muddled good intentions threatened horrific damage. Nauman is not afraid to look at the way racism is born and bred into white people. That there is no easy path forward doesn’t make the search for redemption any less urgent, and this novel about the past underscores how true this remains today.
—Zoe Zolbrod, author of The Telling
As seen through the eyes of a wise and rebellious teenager, Down the Steep is a vivid, poignant, and boldly wrought account of the Jim Crow South on the cusp of the civil rights movement. One can’t help but cheer for Willa as she seeks social justice as well as justice for herself with passion and charm. In a world of wrong, she is a spark of right. A.D. Nauman has given us a compelling, thought-provoking book.
—Louise Marburg, author of You Have Reached Your Destination
Scorch
In this near-future dystopia, the corporate take-over of American democracy is complete. Three huge conglomerates now run the country—everything is privatized. Wealth worship feeds income inequality; corporate propaganda determines everyone’s thoughts and desires; and because everyone must work two or more jobs to survive in this economy, no one has the time, focus, or presence of mind to question what “everyone knows.” No one, that is, until 30-year-old Arel Ashe begins to see things differently.
Arel works in an adstories department by day and a forgotten “public” library at night. Initially, she believes what everyone else does—that happiness comes with material success. But a disturbing event makes her begin to question her culture’s common wisdoms. Pitted against the Corporacracy and a deranged self-help author turned religious zealot, Arel hatches a plan to save the world based on ideas she’s discovered in a place where no one else would bother to look—old books.
~ e-book re-release, StoryBundle (2019)
~ Original version, Soft Skull Press (2001) – on Amazon
Scorch, a dystopian novel in the tradition of 1984 and Brave New World, portrays life in a country free of Big Brother government, and in the hard grip of corporate greed. Revealed through the struggles of one character are the myriad ways in which extreme unregulated capitalism starves the human soul.
Praise for Scorch
…a stunning satire filled with razor-sharp wit and biting social commentary, it’s like Upton Sinclair meets Tom Wolfe. A.D. Nauman’s prose is exquisite, and can be enjoyed for its fluidity and descriptive powers alone. Her future vision is…chillingly around the corner.
-Entertainment Today
…a formative classic. The great strength of Nauman’s novel is that it is so scary, so sad, yet so hilarious at the same time
–Other Voices
A terrific debut novel by Chicago-based writer A.D. Nauman…a wry–and apt–description of the present state of the Union.
–Artists for Peace, Justice & Civil Liberties
Publisher’s Weekly BookSense recommendation.
Short Stories
“Breath,” Laurel Review
“The Cat,” Chicago Quarterly Review
“People in Love,” Evening Street Review
“The TSA Inspected My Checked Bag,” Necessary Fiction
“Just Go Back,” Roanoke Review
“Something of Meaning,” The Literary Review
“19 Things I Swear I Will Never Do Again,” Knee-Jerk
“Soul Slitters,” Other Voices
“How He Survives,” The Chicago Reader: Pure Fiction
“Floppy Christmas,” Farmer’s Market
“Palsy,” Bluff City
“Up the Lighthouse,” North Dakota Quarterly
“Degrees of Chronic Sorrow,” Other Voices
Winner of the Illinois Arts Council Literary Award for Short Fiction
“Meeting Lucille,” O. Henry Festival Stories.
Produced for Stories on Stage by the Illinois Arts Council, Organic Theater, Chicago; broadcast on NPR/WBEZ.
“Shampoo Girl,” Bluff City
“Flute Man,” Bluff City
“Kowalczyk on the Language of Death,” Webster Review
Selected Articles
“6 Tips for Jumpstarting a Stalled Writing Career”, Writer’s Digest, 2023
“Could it ever happen here? Reflections on Finnish education and culture“, i.e.: inquiry in education, 10(1), 7, 2018
“It’s Time: Why Higher Education Should Ditch Standardized Admissions Tests, 2020” , with Terry Stirling
“What makes writing “good”? An essential question for teachers” , with Terry Stirling & Arlene Borthwick, The Reading Teacher, 64(5), 318-328, 2011