My first non-fiction work, author Wallace Jeffs tells the tale of being a child growing up in the Fundamentalist Later-Day Saints Church as a half-brother to Warren Jeffs, who was raised to become the Prophet of the FLDS Church and was later a convicted pedophile. The book gives you a look into the social and familial workings of the FLDS from a first person point of view as well as seeing how Warren was treated as a “blessed” child, the Chosen One to lead the Church, and how he abused the power he was given.

As a father of two daughters, and just as a man, I was shifting between astonishment and complete rage of the actions of the FLDS faithful. Mothers, already untrained in any manner of household tasks due to marrying so young, would fight amongst themselves to the point of physical violence. Fathers would marry their daughters off as chattel to gain favor with the Prophet or anyone higher up the cult’s power chain. With each chapter completed, I found myself having to take a few minutes to digest what I’d just read. I could never imagine being so completely enslaved… yes, that’s the right word… to a faith and moreso to a man who was clearly changing doctrine for his own desires at a whim. Yet, these people were born into the church and know nothing else and refuse to know anything else other than that life. I had to remind myself of that fact constantly.

Unlike the usual tales of cults like Jonestown and the Branch Davidians that ends in death, this story is still continuing. Warren Jeffs lives in prison, sending out “revelations” to his followers and those followers still believe in him and that the End of the World is just one more year away… just one more… one more…

And now for something completely different:

“David Hall is 30 years old, divorced, and a self-proclaimed wine connoisseur. He has no business venturing into a world of flesh-hungry monsters. But when a phone call from his diabetic sister gets disconnected, he knows he’s the only one who can provide her the care she needs.

Seeking help from his gun-toting survivalist brother-in-law and his ex-wife, David must make a dangerous journey across the city of Asheville. But the real danger isn’t the zombies he’ll have to face, or the threat of certain death; it’s what kind of man he’ll become if he survives the trip.”

This zombie apocalypse comedy is described as “Douglas Adams meets Max Brooks” and I totally agree. Also, there’s a lot of Niles Crane (David Hyde-Pierce’s character on the TV show “Frasier”) in David Hall’s personality. I enjoyed producing this quite a bit!