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WORK TITLE: The Slave Players
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE: 1990?
WEBSITE: https://www.theslaveplayers.com/
CITY:
STATE:
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY: American
RESEARCHER NOTES:
Not found in LOC
PERSONAL
Born c. 1990.
EDUCATION:Holds multiple college degrees.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer and novelist.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Writer and novelist Megan Allen is a native of California whose first novel, The Slave Players, is a thriller that addresses racial issues in the United States. She was “inspired to write her novel when she realized the United States has more racism than she realized,” and certainly more than she ever saw while growing up in California, noted a writer in the online publication Hype. Although she received some negative responses from readers who accused her of being against her own race, Allen remains unperturbed, and continues to support the cause of diversity, the Hype contributor reported.
In the novel, the deaths of eleven young black girls threatens to ignite racial violence in an Alabama county. On a bus from Ohio, twelve girls are heading toward the Freedom Church camp in Alabama. The driver, Tommy, gets lost, but before he can find the correct route, the bus is attacked by two armed and violent white men. The bus is found the next day, allegedly wrecked alongside the road, with eleven of the girls, Tommy, and the chaperone, Miss Marcy, dead. One of the girls, Elizabeth Courtier, is missing. Coroner Shawn Briggs discovers that the two adults on the bus were shot, while the girls were killed with a knife or other sort of blade.
The situation is kept as quiet as possible, with the deaths officially listed as accidental, in an attempt by the local sheriff to prevent racial tensions from erupting. Eventually, however, the truth comes out. Persons in high office get involved, including President Errol Clarkson, and a general, Anthony Sedgewick, a military leader who intends to use the event, and others, as a brutal reminder of the horrors of slavery in America.
A Kirkus Reviews writer called The Slave Players a “masterly indictment of America’s failed racial politics that remembers to entertain.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, August 15, 2017, review of The Slave Players.
ONLINE
Hype, http://www.thehypemagazine.com/ (May 14, 2018), “Who Is Megan Allen of Burn House Publishing?,” profile of Megan Allen.
Slave Players Website, http://www.theslaveplayers.com (May 14, 2018), biography of Megan Allen.
Who is Megan Allen
I’ve been writing stories since I was about seven. In fact, that’s when I created the first new version of the frog story to come along in years. One where it’s the frog seeking the princess instead of the princess seeking her prince. It’s very amphibiotic. She screams when he tries to kiss her, but he jumps down her bra and mingles with her boobs. My father was a bit uncomfortable with that, but in the end, the princess became a frog, so all ended well for the critters back at the pond. They even danced a little as I remember.
That pretty well sums up me as a writer. I like to change things up. And all my life I’ve railed against the premise that beauty begets happiness, or that one must possess a magic lamp or magic beans or long, golden tresses to find life’s ultimate fulfillment. Screw that. Happiness is not ambiguous. It sits there as a living thing, to be cherished like the golden egg. Or you can slice open the damn goose to search for more, and wind up bloodied and hopeless, and sad.
Who Is Megan Allen of Burn House Publishing?
Megan Allen
Megan Allen
Megan Allen is a young and successful California native who used her creativity and multiple degrees to write her debut fiction novel, The Slave Players. Allen became inspired to write her novel when she realized the United States has more racism than she realized, being that she grew up in California where diversity is embraced. The Slave Players is a story about racism in the south and has received phenomenal feedback from The Novel Reader, Kirkus, Weekly Review, Publishers Daily Review, and Readers’ Favorite.
Because Allen wrote about such a serious current and controversial issue, she received some hate mail from readers- some who were telling her she was “racist against her own race”. Allen seems not only unbothered by the negative comments, but also like she wants to take a stand and set an example for what is right for this country…even if it’s through her creative writing skills (which she is great at).
It takes courage to do what Allen did with The Slave Players and write a story based on what she has experienced in Alabama. It also takes a seasoned and committed author to turn real-life experiences into capturing fiction stories. Even though there was some controversy with Allen’s novel, that only means that she is doing something right as an author. It’s safe to say that The Slave Players is a must read. Megan Allen is a courageous trendsetter and readers should tune in to all her upcoming novels.
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Tags: #DarkAmerica, #WhoIs, https://www.theslaveplayers.com, racism, The Hype Magazine, The Slave Players
About the Author
Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, GRAMMY Member and internationally published arts & entertainment journalist. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture as well as the United States Press Corps.
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Print Marked Items
Allen, Megan: THE SLAVE PLAYERS
Kirkus Reviews.
(Aug. 15, 2017):
COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Allen, Megan THE SLAVE PLAYERS Burn House Publishing (Indie Fiction)
In this debut thriller, a series of murders leads a rogue general to take the U.S.'s racial strife into his own
hands. A bus from Blue Ash, Ohio, carries 12 black girls toward the Freedom Church camp in Alabama. It's
a steamy July evening, and as night falls, the vehicle gets lost. Before Tommy, the driver, can fix the
situation, two armed white men assault the bus. One of them breaks the front windshield, boards the
vehicle, and drags Elizabeth Courtier away screaming. The next day, the bus is found "crashed" by the
roadside, with 11 girls, as well as Tommy and the chaperone, Miss Marcy, dead. Enter coroner Shawn
Briggs of Harbor Springs, Alabama, who finds that the two black adults died from gunshot wounds and the
girls from brutal cuts inconsistent with the crash. Yet Colby County Sheriff John Parrish insists that the
deaths remain "accidental" to keep racial tensions from boiling over. This doesn't sit well with Briggs or his
precocious daughter, 15-year-old Olivia. As the coverup proceeds--and fails--various parties observe the
situation. One is President Errol Clarkson and another is the self-styled Gen. Anthony Sedgewick, a
charismatic--though egomaniacal--military leader who plans to shock America into remembering the
nightmare of slavery. In this unsettling tale, Allen displays the plotting chops of someone with five thrillers
under her belt. Tension jolts upward with each heinous act perpetrated by Parrish and, later, Sedgewick,
who revels in torturing his crop of white slaves in a besieged Colby County. The heroic coroner and his
daughter are joined by Willie Scarlett, an elderly black farmer who's spent a lifetime absorbing the slurs and
bullying of his miserable, insecure white neighbors. Allen's confident narrative rides higher by including the
careerist CBN reporter Samantha King and Mexican killer Manuel Ortiz, whom Sedgewick tests to see "just
how black" he is. Though the sadism of Allen's villains delivers pulpy thrills, the message that all must fight
racism "as children, not of color, not of God, but of right" rings loud and true. A masterly indictment of
America's failed racial politics that remembers to entertain.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Allen, Megan: THE SLAVE PLAYERS." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Aug. 2017. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A500364731/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=c4f81cd0.
Accessed 13 Apr. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A500364731