"Something Like a Cloud" plus Cloudbreak, Goodreads Giveaway, Book Jacket Bracket, and Night School

A man tries a therapy app.

This month’s content is brought to you by readers like you whose paid Substack subscriptions and book purchases help produce and promote my work: extraordinary stories about ordinary Americans. Good stories don’t, and shouldn’t have to, conform to the dominant aesthetics and politics.

If you’re a free subscriber, consider upgrading to a paid subscription. Thank you for supporting and reading my work and spreading the word. And a hearty welcome to new subscribers.

And thank you to annual paid subscribers who renewed, which helps me make everything you read—from writing and editing stories; to book interiors and covers; to online content and marketing materials.

Cloudbreak

Book Jacket Bracket

Book Jacket Bracket selected the cover of Cloudbreak (designed by yours truly) as a candidate for week fourteen in its book cover tournament. Thank you to everyone who voted. And Will, if you’re reading this newsletter, thank you for putting a spotlight on Cloudbreak.

Goodreads Giveaway

Over 1,000 entered for a chance to win one of ten free Kindle copies of Cloudbreak. A big thank you to those you who did.

And don’t forget Cloudbreak comes out the 19th of September.

“A life inside yourself isn’t a life.”

Seventeen stories laced with humor and heart crisscross America where ordinary men and women search for identity and order. A retired colonel investigates a cloaked figure at a naval station. Struggling with PTSD, a sister makes a request of her brother. After success at work, a man’s stress outlet creates problems on a family vacation. Old flames cross paths and tour a cave. A former athlete weighs an invitation to a ceremony honoring his team’s achievements. On the day of the winter solstice, a trail guide takes a stranger to a vista. During the last day of filming, a reality show’s contestant wrestles with his goal. And a grandfather distracts his granddaughter with the outdoors while her parents figure out their marriage. From the coasts to the lands in between, these and other characters seek connection and meaning amid expectations, responsibilities, and chaos.

244 pages

ISBN (print): 9798986092782

ISBN (ebook): 9798986092799

Amazon

Apple Books

Barnes & Noble

Bookshop

Goodreads

A book’s success can thrive on word-of-mouth and grassroots marketing. Producing and promoting stories requires time and money, and independent authors like me are often overlooked because of trends, sales, and genre. I’m asking you to help spread the word about Cloudbreak. Anything below you can do can positively impact me and my work:

• Order the book (print and ebook).

• Recommend to family, friends, acquaintances, book clubs, libraries, bookstores, bloggers, and platforms devoted to American fiction and culture.

• Share on social media and websites.

• Add and rate on Amazon, Goodreads, and similar outlets.

• Place a copy in Little Free Libraries.

Night School

My novel Night School found its way into the Auburn Public Library. The deepest of thanks to staff for putting it on the shelves.

And now for this month’s story…

“Something Like a Cloud”

William Auten

Copyright William Auten

williamauten.com

For the third time this week and the fourth week in a row, I slip into my car for lunch. Something. Just. Feels. Off. Again. I can’t describe it concretely. Again. No voices in my head telling me to do this or that. Nothing black. But something like a cloud coming in and stalling out. Not a squall line that rolls in with a storm. One cloud.