About...

Growing up in a three-bed/one-bath house with nine siblings in Buffalo, New York, it was a just-the-facts, assembly-line type of childhood. However, one day during my tumultuous teen years in the late seventies, that all changed when my exhausted mom uncharacteristically asked several probing questions about how I was doing, what I wanted of life, and how I would get there—totally confounding me. She was supposed to dish out commands and make declarative statements: take out the trash, don't come home unless you're bleeding, every time you masturbate, it's a hundred years in purgatory. She wasn't supposed to ask me to articulate inward-looking questions. Self-examination and contemplation were light years beyond my transactional existence.

Eventually, though, due to a certain amount of aimlessness and failure, I did come to consider my mom's questions and many more about people, time, place, and heritage, which have become the basis of the novel Written In The Stars: The Book Of Molly. Seen through the eyes of young Molly Shea, it explores the ways and means of 1979 Irish-Catholic South Buffalo and an evolving girl's place in that world.

It also informed the gritty yet tender Leaving Jackson Wolf, a coming-of-age story that examines the lives of Jackson Wolf and James McDougal—two fringe fifteen-year-old boys searching for their power in a complicated, unforgiving world.

In 2020, I released The Last Playlist: A Sonic Epitaph, which combines personal essays with a music playlist for a trans-dimensional reading experience.

Next is Larry Plumb Is Still Here (2024). Straight shooter Larry Plumb wrestles with family tensions, changing societal roles, and his own relevance in a world that's moving too fast. From backyard chicken coops to work dilemmas, Larry Plumb Is Still Here is a touching exploration of resilience, identity, and the courage to keep showing up

I live in West Seneca, New York, with my wife and son (who is taking his good ole time completing his master's degree). I like quiet black mornings, walking my dog Kaya Francis Bean, trade paperbacks, and The Ramones.

P.A.Kane

pkane61@gmail.com

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