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WORK TITLE: A God in the Shed
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WEBSITE: http://www.jfdubeau.com/
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PERSONAL
Born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Graphic designer and novelist. Web comic The Eldritch Age writer and illustrator.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
A Montreal, Quebec, Canada, native, J.-F. Dubeau is a graphic designer by trade, but he also writes science-fiction novels, including The Life Engineered and A God in the Shed. He also writes and illustrates the web comic called The Eldritch Age. Dubeau says that the clash of thought and science, and speculating on where these can lead humanity as a species, is where he gets ideas for his fiction. On the J-F. Dubeau Website, he explained: “My focus has always been on narratives, characters, plots and tales.”
In 2016 Dubeau released his first novel, The Life Engineered published by Sword & Laser, which won a Sword & Laser writing contest and was nominated for a Dragon Award. In the fight between humans and robots, Dubeau takes the perspective of the robots. His science-fiction tale of the future begins in the year 3594, when the artificially intelligent Capeks run the galaxy in a utopian civilization they created for when their human creators return. One denizen of this society is Dagir, a former cop in Boston, whose personality is reborn into a Capek. When a sentient robot-making facility is destroyed, the peaceful Capeks now know the concept of murder. Dagir searches for answers amid a potential civil war and finds uncomfortable truths about the human race.
Dubeau followed this work up with his 2017 book, A God in the Shed. In the deceptively quiet village of Saint-Ferdinand, farmhouses and quaint cafes hide the fact that a serial killer is loose. The local cemetery is filled with the killer’s victims. Inspector Stephen Crowley believes he has caught the killer, but teenager Venus McKenzie knows she has the real culprit. It is an otherworldly demon caught in her garden shed in the backyard. The entity becomes paralyzed when it is caught on the house’s security cameras. More horrific secrets are revealed about the town leaders and a mysterious traveling circus.
Reviewers were mixed in their critiques of the book. A Publishers Weekly contributor found the clichés numerous, the subplots unnecessary, the many characters superfluous, and the length of the book not up to the quality of horror greats like Stephen King or Peter Straub, who write with heart. The contributor noted: “Dubeau’s attempt at building suspense balloons the book into a chaotic clunker.” On the other hand, Kevin Beach at Voice of Youth Advocates found the small-town conspiracy tale and village secrets scary, the book well-written, and chapters that develop individual characters intriguing. Beach called the book “An adult read with clever teen characters and some very grisly scenes, this story may strike a chord with occult fans.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Publishers Weekly, April 24, 2017, review of A God in the Shed, p. 74.
Voice of Youth Advocates, June 2017, Kevin Beach, review of A God in the Shed, p. 78.
ONLINE
J.-F. Dubeau Website, http://www.jfdubeau.com (January 31, 2018), author profile.
ABOUT
WHO AM I
By profession, I'm a graphic designer. I've always been somewhat good with images and visual communications and I've been making my living using those skills for nearly two decades. I'm pretty good at it. Especially branding and integrated design. It puts a roof over my head and food on the table.
...and I really don't like doing it that much.
By vocation, I'm a story teller. For as long as I can remember, I've been trying to tell stories. Comics, role playing games, even through illustrations, my focus has always been on narratives, characters, plots and tales. A few years ago I started writing long form fiction and novels.
... and I really can't stop doing it anymore.
WHAT IS 'THE ELDRITCH AGE'
The Eldritch Age is a webcomic that I've been developing for a year or so. It's the easy to access, free of charge story that I want to tell people. It's my gift to you, if you're interested. A way to introduce myself and get some practice writing, drawing and building an audience. I have some pretty cool plans for the characters and places I want to take the story that I think will be fun for me as the writer and creator and you as the reader.
MINIATURES WAR GAMING
One of my passion in the past decade and a half has been miniature war gaming. It is another way through which I love to build narratives. Not only do I get to play cool 'tactical' board games, but I can customize my models, give them back stories and write backgrounds for whole armies of soldiers and monsters. While I'm nowhere near the best at painting these models, I do pretty well for myself none the less.
ADEPTICON COMICS
Miniature War Gaming has also given me the opportunity to write small comics for my team when we visit the awesome Adepticon Gaming Convention. Yet another way for me to tell stories.
Dubeau, J.-F.: A God in the Shed
Kevin Beach
Voice of Youth Advocates.
40.2 (June 2017): p78.
COPYRIGHT 2017 E L Kurdyla Publishing LLC
http://www.voya.com
Full Text:
4Q * 3P * S * NA * A/YA
Dubeau, J-R A God in the Shed. Inkshares, 2017. 450p. $15.99 Trade pb. 978-1-942645-35-1.
This novel puts a wily, sometimes ghastly, twist on the "small-town conspiracy" tale, and what a secret this
little village keeps--perhaps protecting humanity from the ultimate unspeakable evil. Outwardly, the village
of Saint-Ferdinand is a sleepy hamlet with farmhouses stretching through a beautiful countryside to the
forest, including a quaint main street and a cemetery that is far too large. This small town also has a serial
killer who has eluded police for nearly two decades. When a suspect is finally apprehended, the sheriff is
skeptical that he is the real culprit; and then, the real villain is discovered. One of the towns teens discovers
that she has unknowingly captured a dark spirit who, due to an ancient agreement, cannot move if being
watched (a video camera recording a birds nest in a shed happened to entrap the demon, putting a modern
twist on securing the entity). Now, two factions in the town battle each other over the fate of the spirit, as
they also deal with mysterious out-of-town visitors, including a creepy travelling circus that may have
something to do with the demon's history.
This scary book is well written, and each chapter develops individual characters. An adult read with clever
teen characters and some very grisly scenes, this story may strike a chord with occult fans who can handle
the graphic violence.--Kevin Beach.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
Beach, Kevin. "Dubeau, J.-F.: A God in the Shed." Voice of Youth Advocates, June 2017, p. 78. General
OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A497860381/ITOF?
u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=f710788d. Accessed 24 Dec. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A497860381
12/24/2017 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1514150169335 2/2
A God in the Shed
Publishers Weekly.
264.17 (Apr. 24, 2017): p74.
COPYRIGHT 2017 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
A God in the Shed
J.-F. Dubeau. Inkshares, $15.99 trade paper
(418p) ISBN 978-1-942645-35-1
Dubeau's (The Life Engineered) second novel reads like a super-cut of every small-town horror trope of the
last 40 years. Eldritch horror in a cave? Check. Town leaders are actually a cult? Check. Creepy circus?
Check. The story follows several characters as an ancient, bloodthirsty being, previously contained for
decades, is let loose on the sleepy village of Saint-Ferdinand. It finds itself trapped again in a shed--an
actual, literal shed-in the backyard of Venus McKenzie, a teenage daughter of hippies. She must find a way
to kill the monster as others in the town try to track it down and use it for their own purposes. Subplots
accumulate like snowdrifts in a blizzard; new characters are introduced just long enough to die messily or
impart some important information. Dubeau's attempt at building suspense balloons the book into a chaotic
clunker, with the word count of horror greats such as King or Straub but none of the heart. (June)
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"A God in the Shed." Publishers Weekly, 24 Apr. 2017, p. 74. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A491250831/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=31498500.
Accessed 24 Dec. 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A491250831