Finalist for Humor - 2025 Foreword INDIES Book of the Year AwardsIn suburban Wells Port, things are not what they seem: wild animals appear unexpectedly in backyards, raised garden beds produce fruit in days, not weeks, and a mysterious figure lurks across sidewalks late at night.The stories in Starman After Midnight weave an often hilarious and sometimes melancholy spell. Four young boys are terrorized by a wiener dog on their walk to school, but strategize for a safer route. A beer-loving man befriends a likeminded neighbor, only to discover his jovial new acquaintance is a registered sex offender. An elderly Uber driver suspects a young rider is being lured by a night stalker and debates whether he should help her or mind his own business.Connecting these stories are two next-door neighbors—Seff and Big Dave—who couldn't be more different: one a progressive-minded writer, the other a conservative plumber. Their love of beer drinking, backyard philosophizing, and gossiping brings them together. When several pets in the neighborhood wind up missing or worse—dead—Seff and Big Dave monitor their security cameras for the culprit. When they discover a naked man roaming their street late at night, suspicions are raised while hysteria spreads through the neighborhood social media app. What is the connection between the missing pets and this naked man? Seff and Big Dave form a posse of neighbors to find out.Moving between humor and surrealism, friendship and grief, Starman After Midnight is a novel told in stories, a collection that adds up to something greater than the sum of its parts. From the quirky imagination of Scott Semegran, Starman After Midnight packs a comedic punch and uncovers the magic that seems possible in ordinary places.

Review "An encouraging tale of neighborliness and camaraderie in the face of the unknown. A big-hearted, often amusing tale of the weirdness of suburbia." — Kirkus Review"Darkly funny... Semegran has a knack for drawing colorful characters. This waggish slice of life is worth a look." — Publishers Weekly"Starman After Midnight is effortlessly funny, likably odd, surprisingly moving, and imminently relatable—a genuine pleasure to read." — BlueInk Review"Darkly comic and sometimes surreal... smooth and clear prose offers refreshing and absorbing reading." — Lone Star Literary Life"The book intersperses named stories with the novel's ten chapters, creating a fun reading experience that incorporates Seff's prose into Semegran's writing... Starman After Midnight offers laugh-a-minute reading with wise guy observations." — Readers' Favorite Book Reviews ? ? ? ? ?"A great story... as unique as it was a pleasure to read." — Reedsy Discovery ? ? ? ?"The tale is, quite simply, utterly compelling, fun, and attractive. Starman After Midnight will reach audiences interested in humor, puzzles, interpersonal relationship quandaries, and community challenge. It will also delight libraries looking for accessible, modern literary works that sizzle with originality and delightful surprises." — D. Donovan, Senior Reviewer, Midwest Book Review"A wonderful kaleidoscope that turns through a variety of characters' points of view while maintaining a humorous throughline about a mysterious naked man who is wandering the after-midnight streets, menacing the locals... Starman After Midnight is packed full of goodies that will charm every reader." - Kerri Schlottman, award-winning author of Tell Me One Thing"Starman After Midnight is an absorbing, immersive, and intriguing collection. [Semegran] brings a uniquely quirky and often surrealistic quality to the interconnected tales full of mystery and suspense." — The BookLife Prize ? ? ? ? About the Author Scott Semegran is an award-winning writer of ten books. BlueInk Review described him best as "a gifted writer, with a wry sense of humor." His latest book, Starman After Midnight, is a quirky novel-in-stories about two beer-drinking neighbors who team-up to track down a mysterious late-night interloper terrorizing their middle-class neighborhood. His nine previous books include The Codger and the Sparrow, The Benevolent Lords of Sometimes Island (first-place winner for Middle-Grade/Young Adult fiction in the 2021 Writer's Digest Book Awards), and To Squeeze a Prairie Dog (winner of the 2020 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award Gold Medal for Humor and winner of the 2019 Texas Author Project for Adult Fiction). He lives in Austin, Texas with his wife. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in English.

Rule #1 - Only be where flip-flops can be worn.Former deputy Sam Strait lives his life by a particular set of rules. They provide him freedom to do the things he wants where he wants with whom he wants. For a single man in his mid-thirties, things couldn’t get any better. Then why isn’t he happier?When Sam returns home for the summer, he discovers a stranger dead in his boat. With cops and reporters crawling over his property, gone are the usual plans of soaking up the sun and whiling away the days in the arms of a beautiful woman. Instead, Sam embarks on journey to solve the mysterious death.Soon, he’s being followed, harassed, and assaulted by figures demanding the return of something he had no idea he possessed. Sam would have been better to stay away for the summer, but he couldn’t have. He had to return home. The rules demanded it.Strait Over Tackle is the first book in an exciting new series from the author of the 509 Crime Stories and the co-author of the Charlie-316 series.If you like your crime fiction with a dose of humor, then pick up this book today!(NOTE: The Flip-Flop Detective occurs in the same world as the 509 Crime Stories. The first book in that series is The Side Hustle.)

One lonely plumber. One bad decision. One trillion lives upended.This is the story of Roy, the architect of an epic crisis that paralyzed the largest space station in the universe. The aftermath created a legend, but the lunacy behind it remained a mystery. That is, until now. With the aid of footage and eyewitness accounts, this book reveals the outrageous truth behind the greatest pandemonium ever recorded.Roy is a Readers' Favorite® 5-Star Selection and a B.R.A.G. Medallion Honoree"If you're a fan of satirical works such as Sir Terry Pratchett's Discworld, you're going to love Roy. This is an absolute banger of a novel that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys well-written satire." —Pikasho Deka, Readers' Favorite"The wildest, most chaotically fun science fiction book I have had the pleasure to read in a long while. I hope more people hear about Roy and the Puki Horpocket series because it is out of this world!" —Justine Reyes, Readers' Favorite"Puki's story has found a most satisfying champion in Zachry Wheeler who manages to do justice to this most interesting tale." —Geoff Habiger, Readers' Favorite"I loved the way Puki conducts his interviews, both informative and funny. Overall, Roy is a fantastic story, well-written, and a quick easy read. Highly recommended." —Natalie Soine, Readers' Favorite"Roy appealed to my off-beat sense of humor! This book is the product of a vivid imagination and is an entertaining read." —Leonard William Smuts, Readers' FavoritePuki Horpocket is a literary titan with a loyal fandom that stretches across the universe. His merits are unchallenged, unsurpassed, and unquantifiable.Zachry Wheeler is a human author and terrestrial translator for Puki Horpocket Presents, a collection of legendary tales from beyond the black.

"If Alfred Hitchcock could remake Fargo, it might feel something like Carkeet's comic-absurd latest" (Publishers Weekly).Denny Braintree, a wisecracking loner devoted to model trains, has found himself stranded in Vermont. His night at the hotel begins promisingly—until his prospective one-night stand walks out on him.As he prepares to leave town, someone mistakes Denny for Homer Dumpling—a local man who mysteriously disappeared three years earlier, and who apparently looks a whole lot like Denny. Instead of correcting the mistake, Denny slips into his new identity as easily as a winter fleece. And it's a good thing too, because the woman he'd hoped to sleep with has turned up dead, and the chief suspect is the out-of-towner who was pursuing her at the hotel . . .As Denny tries to unravel the mystery, he struggles to hide his true identity from Homer's increasingly suspicious circle of family and friends, including Homer's prickly girlfriend. The adventures of this fast-talking bumbler as his survival instincts are put to the test make for a rollicking novel by an author who has produced "some of the funniest writing since Mark Twain" (Jonathan Kellerman, New York Times–bestselling author of Night Moves)."Imagine Preston Sturges and Ruth Rendell collaborating and you've got From Away. Beautifully plotted, emotionally resonant and, most of all, hilarious." —Jonathan Kellerman"A deftly funny book." —Carl Hiaasen"Fresh and unafraid. Enjoyment guaranteed." —T. Jefferson Parker

"James Flynn is debonair, deadly and delightfully deranged as he undertakes his latest adventure in From Lompoc With Love." -Gary Gerlacher, bestselling author of the AJ Docker seriesAn insane world demands an equally unhinged hero.A beautiful Russian sleeper agent living in Lompoc, California, contacts MI6. She wants to defect with all her secrets, but only if James Flynn brings her in from the cold. There's just one hitch-Flynn doesn't work for MI6. He's a psychiatric patient convinced he's an international super spy.Now living in Switzerland with the love of his life, Flynn has retired from the "secret agent" business. But when duty calls, Flynn steps up. Delusional as ever, he travels to California. MI6 sends a handler to handle him, but Flynn is Flynn-an unhinged hero determined to save the world, whether it wants to be saved or not.

"An exuberant life story written with humor, panache, and heart." — Kirkus Reviews (Verdict: Get it!)Amazon #1 Best Seller, Publisher’s Weekly / BookLife Prize Score: 9.5 out of 10, What if the American Dream was just a glitter-fueled lie?This Ferris Bueller fever dreamis part confessional, part caper—told through the eyes of a kid who believed every lie Ronald Reagan ever sold him. From cereal box sweepstakes to backyard get-rich-quick schemes, our antihero chases a million dollars with the charm of a rogue and the morals of a raccoon."Personally," he admits, "I've found I'm more prosperous when I lie, cheat, and steal." You see, we've all been caught up in that chase: more money, more status, more validation. And I'm no different…"But he is different, because he dared live an unlikely life in a society that punishes those who try it." — Publishers WeeklyIn the end, one question remains:In a game rigged for the rich, can you beat the system—or will it beat you?Early Critical Acclaim: "This is a raucously funny book, with raffish prose full of self-deprecating humor regarding the distance between exalted pretensions and awkward reality... The result is a luminous tribute to the inestimable value of not quite getting what you want." — Kirkus Reviews (Verdict: Get it!)"The combination of memoir with a perceptive judgment of America’s often-empty vision of success is powerful.” — Publisher’s Weekly / BookLife Prize Score: 9.5 out of 10“Readers who may have thought Catcher in the Rye and other coming-of-age stories held wry humor along with insights will find these classics must take a step back for contemporary authors such as Luke Stoffel.” — Midwest Book Review (Reviewer's Choice)---A Mostly True Misadventure: This novel is based on real-life events. However, some names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of those involved. The story has been only lightly fictionalized for this purpose.Warning: May cause feelings: This story also delves into bullying, learning disabilities, LGBTQ+ relationships, illness, and the role of AI in creativity—handled with humor, honesty, and a lot of heart. So with that out of the way—ready to dive in? Let’s make a deal…