Writings

This site houses a sampling of my novels and stories, spiced with some photography and odds and ends.
Inquiries to andykass@siwriter.com are welcome.

Novels

Displaced Persons

When you are new to America, your life can change in a moment of terror far across the continent.

Novapolis

You are taken with your family by the State to a walled city where all your needs are supplied, as long as you can work. Feran Jezraeg fights the loss of his family and his past, challenging the power and the future of the State.

Tottenville

June 1973 was a turning in the life of a small town at the extreme southern tip of New York City:  The Vietnam War is approaching an end.  The Supreme Court has decided Roe v. Wade, legalizing abortion.  Development is coming. High school graduation is approaching for the Smyte and McVay families of Satterlee Street. The stories build upon each other, telling the story of two weeks that change lives in a sleepy town in a big city.

The Case Runner

Jay Smerlow did time as a teenager in Florida for harvesting credit cards. He now uses his skills as a case runner, to research and refer plaintiffs for lawsuits. Client Kyle Wayland has a case against a doctor misusing a skin regeneration substance from a military lab to treat failing organs. The case appears headed to settlement when plaintiffs and then Jay's client disappear, and he is stalked by a prison enforcer from his past. Jay has to figure out what has happened to his client and his referrals and who is behind a horrific threat to him and his family before he too disappears.

Raging City

Ever wonder what your city would look like in time of civil war?  This novel juxtaposes a near-future New York City with Beirut of recent past, and follows a chain of people from uneasy peace to open war, triggered by a simple object that falls by accident into the hands of a decent man.
Songs
These are rough demos of some songs I have written ...
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> Mask - Swirling images of enclosure in a time of pandemic: Mask your face...
> Absent Friends - It's about loss, here specific to Staten Island and one day in 2001.
> Bethlehem - A meditation in Open C tuning, tribute to John Fahey.
> Forever - My return to songwriter after a lengthy hiatus brought about by life.
> The Time Is Now - In the style and spirit of Phil Ochs, still relevant.

Stories

Snark and Various Humors