Thursday, May 27, 2021 • ThE BuLLETIN
GO! MAGAZINE • PAGE 7
LOCAL LITERARY HIGHLIGHTS
bendbulletin.com/goread
Whiskey Emerson’s busy week
demonstrates a writer at work
BY DAVID JASPER • The Bulletin
T
his issue of GO! Magazine’s theme of “Under construction” resonated with Bend author Whiskey
Emerson, 32. Tuesday will see the release of the “East of Hell,” the second installment in a trilogy
that began with “West of Hell,” published in October 2017. A release party for the new book will
be held June 3 at Velvet Lounge in Bend. Along with “East of Hell” bowing Monday, preorders will begin
that same day for “Rationem,” Emerson’s unrelated, post-apocalyptic sci-fi tale that she describes as “Mad
Max: Fury Road” meets the TV show “Jericho.”
Emerson said she began writing “West
of Hell” in her mid-20s. As an English
major back in college, she entertained the
idea of becoming a professor. But earn-
ing a doctorate and staying in one place
trying to earn tenure did not sit well
with Emerson, an avid motorcyclist who
moved to Bend about a year and a half
ago after living in such cities as St. Louis,
where she grew up, as well as Atlanta,
New York and Portland.
Her years of working for a remote
medical billing company has given her
the flexibility “to not only live in a lot of
places, but also, obviously, to pursue my
dream of being a writer full time, and
give me a little more balance,” Emerson
said.
She’d had that dream of being a writer
from a young age. When she “suffered a
minor quarter-life crisis around 25,” Em-
erson said, “I figured I would give my
dream a shot.”
The “of Hell” series was born when she
alighted upon the idea of a hitman with a
conscience. The word “hitman” may call
to mind slick modern characters of film,
but the epic series is set largely in 1880s
New York, a couple of decades after the
action seen in Martin Scorsese’s “Gangs
of New York.”
“Being a history buff myself, New York
in the latter part of the 19th century was
one of my favorite eras in history,” she
said. “I kind of latched onto that and built
If You Go
What: Release party and signing for
“East of Hell,” by Whiskey Emerson
When: 5-8 p.m. June 3
Where: Velvet Lounge, 805 NW Wall St.,
downtown Bend
Cost: Free
Contact: whiskeyemerson.com
the story around it.”
“It became this huge historical piece,
which does essentially form a story
around multiple hitmen with con-
sciences, but it definitely morphed into a
much bigger project than I ever thought
it would,” said Emerson, who was liv-
ing in New York part of the time she was
writing “West of Hell.”
Whereas “West of Hell” is the series’
origin story, “East of Hell” is about a war
for the soul of New York.
“It’s kind of like good vs. evil, and all
those gray areas in between,” she said.
The story lines of the series’ many char-
acters, including gang members, an or-
phan and a brothel madam, are inexora-
bly intertwined.
“The story has a lot of twists and turns,
and each character really struggles to deal
with their own personal demons,” Emer-
son explained. “As the plot unfolds, you
Continued on next page
Bend author
Whiskey Em-
erson’s sec-
ond novel,
“East of Hell,”
part two of
a trilogy, de-
buts Tuesday.
Katya Agatucci/
Submitted photo