Micah Dean Hicks Books In Order

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

Publication Order of Collections

Publication Order of Anthologies

Micah Dean Hicks is a popular upcoming American writer of fantasy, fiction, and horror stories. He has written the 2013 collection called Electricity and Other Dreams and the 2019 book called Break the Bodies, Haunt the Bones. Hicks’ books often consist of modern fairy tales, fables, and other types of magical stories. He hails from rural southwest Arkansas. Hicks’ writing has featured in over a dozen literary journals and magazines such as The Kenyon Review, Nightmare, Best American Fiction & Fantasy, Lightspeed, Arts & Letters, and The NY Times. He is the winner of the Calvino Prize and the Arts & Letters Prize, which he won in 2014 and 2016 respectively. The former was judged by Robert Coover, while the latter by Kate Christensen. He has also won the 2015 Wabash award under the judgement of Kelly Link. Hicks’ short story collection titled Electricity & Other Dreams is made available from the New American Press.

In addition to writing novels, Hicks is employed as a teacher of creative writing at Central Florida University in Orlando. He is usually active on social media platforms such as Twitter, where he interacts with the audience, sorts out their queries, and gives out updates regarding the release dates of his books and other related information. Hicks is represented in the Curtis Brown, Ltd publishing house by a literary agent named Kerry D’Agostino. He has collaborated with artists like Chris Thornley and Liz Green for carrying out the cover art of his books. As author Hicks comes from a rural town located in Arkansas, his stories often feature small, dying towns. Hicks is very particular when it comes to his writing process as he thinks of himself as a thinky writer.

When he finalizes an idea to work and develop a story, he first forms a blueprint of the entire story. And before putting the first words on paper, Hicks does a lot of outlining and brainstorming. He figures out and establishes his characters firsthand and then describes their characteristics. Hicks also notes down the scenes in the form of a list and works them out one by one. He even goes on to the extent of listing colors, objects, images, and textures. It usually happens with him that after doing all the planning, he leaves out a lot in order to not make the story look too long. Then comes the revision strategy in which Hicks tosses out the drafts, makes new outlines, and rewrites the story from scratch.

The places where Hicks sits down to write his stories are usually out of his houses. He often visits public places like food courts, coffee shops, and libraries to find the peaceful environment needed to do his work quietly. Hicks feels that he gets distracted a lot whenever he is at home. He carries a pair of headphones with him everywhere to get rid of the unwanted noise. Another reason why Hicks likes to work in open places is that being surrounded by people feels energizing and motivating. Over the years, Hicks has changed a lot as a writer. In fact, he feels he has evolved and has become a much better writer. Previously, revising his work used to feel boring and tiresome. But now, he has started to see it as something creative. Hicks has started liking the idea of rethinking all the assumptions about a story and then conceiving the best version out of those assumptions. He is grateful for all the love and supports his fans have given him in his career so far and expects them to keep supporting him for his future works as well.

A popular book written by author Micah Dean Hicks is entitled ‘Break the Bodies, Haunt the Bones’. It was released by the Joseph Adams publication in 2019. This book features the central characters in the form of Jane, Henry, and several others as well. Hicks has set the story’s plot in Swine Hill. He has depicted that Swine Hill is always full of dead ones. Their ghosts always roam the streets and haunt the people around. An abandoned place in downtown Swine Hill is filled with the most number of ghosts. It is believed that many hopes had died in that place so the ghosts always flock that region. As the ghosts linger through the places that matter to them most, people try to avoid those street and lock the doors of the rooms where ghosts are found. They fear that the ghosts could hurt them, if not change them completely.

One such person who is deeply affected by the ghosts is Jane. She has been haunted since she was a small child. A ghost girl that always remains by her side feeds on the fears and secrets of the people around Jane whispers them in her ears. It also tells her what people think and feel about her even if she doesn’t want to listen to them. Jane’s brother Henry is also haunted. His ghost is a genius one, who forces him to build dangerous and strange machines. The spirit that has possessed Henry and Jane’s mother is a lonely one. It burns anyone who touches their mother. Due to such unusual happening and ghost possessions, Swine Hill is considered a place of depletion and defeat. More dead thrive in this region than the alive ones. Later, new arrivals in the town begin to score precious jobs at the town’s last factory. This infuriates the dead as well as the living. They feel that they have been insulted and set into motion a conflagration that adds fuel to the fire of the large economic decline of the town.

A time comes when Jane is not able to take the rage anymore and begins to find a solution to this grave problem. She attempts to save her family from the haunting spirits and escape with them before they get killed in the haunted town. This book was liked and appreciated by a large number of readers from across the globe. Many critics spoke highly about the book and also praised the determined efforts of author Hicks in coming up with such a unique story about ghosts. The success of this book has motivated Hicks to a great extent and has set him on the course of writing another exciting book.