A Terror Beyond Falling is many things; a sojourn into the world of mental illness, alcoholism, sex and violence, a first hand account of a life gone horribly wrong as it unravels before your eyes, a remembrance of moments large and small that led me to the dark place I inhabit now. A world of homelessness, hunger, despair, survival and, possibly, renewal. Not least, A Terror Beyond Falling is an opportunity for me to sling myself out of the morass. And for you to share in an extraordinary experience while supporting a writer desperately in need. To become part of the story, not merely a spectator.

What does 'a terror beyond falling' mean? Imagine for a moment you're trapped in a burning highrise; the incandescent heat, the choking smoke, the abject terror. Those flames licking at you are depression or homelessness or addiction. You're forced out onto the ledge, ten, forty, fifty stories above the street. The terror of falling is palpable, visceral but the fire's flames seem, somehow, more terrible. With each passing moment the temptation to jump grows stronger. You're left with two horrific choices, burn in the fires of abject poverty and depression or let yourself fall. Is the prospect of a life on the streets in the deepest throes of mental illness a terror far beyond falling?

A Terror Beyond Falling is a compendium of a life. A collection of short stories and essays--written as the events occurred with all the texture, richness and urgency-- curated, crafted and polished into a compelling narrative. Accompanying those essays are recounts of horrific, comic, surreal and painful moments from my childhood, adolescence and young adulthood that inform and contextualize how it is I ended up in that metaphorical burning building.

Though the details of my struggles are my own the experience is not at all unique. Throughout the world millions struggle to meet their own terrors or fall, this is my attempt to put into words for them and those who love them what they cannot. To capture the essence of despair and answer questions about why and how this could happen, to illustrate how tenuous life can be and how heroic the mere act of survival can become.

In the interest of veracity I have stripped bare the veneer, discarded all pathos, this is simply the reporting of a life. One that is both extraordinary and utterly commonplace. When the stories are curated, the essays are written, the contemplations are concluded A Terror Beyond Falling will total about 200 pages and be ready for e-publication in early winter 2015.

Until then, I need your help and support. This book will never exist without the financial backing of my readers. And those who do back it will, indeed, become part of the story because this story continues. I am still without a home, still struggling to eat, still battling myself, what you do here will sustain me materially and spiritually. Although I, like you, don't yet know the ending, I promise, the payoff will be well worth the investment. Of that I am certain.

QUOTES;

"In one moment of reading, I was pierced, horrified, compelled and committed to help Adam shape a story that brings us the compassion embodied in the words, 'There but for the grace of God go I." F. Rittman, editor

About The Author

Adam is the author of Serving Drinks in Hell, a charming, subversive, caustic, often magnificently bleak little corner of the internet. Serving Drinks has over 10,000 loyal readers