Joe Clifford Faust (born 1957) is an

American author American literature is literature written or produced in the United States of America and in the colonies that preceded it. The American literary tradition thus is part of the broader tradition of English-language literature, but also inc ...

best known for his seven science fiction novels primarily written during the 1980s and 1990s, including '' A Death of Honor'', '' The Company Man'', the '' Angel's Luck'' Trilogy (all published by

Del Rey Books Del Rey Books is a branch of Ballantine Books, which is owned by Random House and, in turn, by Penguin Random House. It is a separate imprint established in 1977 under the editorship of author Lester del Rey and his wife Judy-Lynn del Rey. It ...

), and the satirical Pembroke Hall novels (published by

Bantam Spectra Bantam Spectra is the science fiction division of American publishing company Bantam Books, which is owned by Random House. According to their website, Spectra publishes "science fiction, fantasy, horror, and speculative novels from recogniz ...

). His novels are known for their tightly controlled plots and their sense of humor.Clute, John and Nichols, Peter,

The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction ''The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction'' (SFE) is an English language reference work on science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and f ...

St. Martin's Press St. Martin's Press is a book publisher headquartered in Manhattan, New York City, in the Equitable Building. St. Martin's Press is considered one of the largest English-language publishers, bringing to the public some 700 titles a year under si ...

, 1993, p.421. Like many authors, he draws inspiration from previous and current occupations, including projectionist, record store clerk, radio announcer, sheriff's dispatcher, and advertising copywriter. He currently works as a freelance writer alongside other creative projects such as occasional forays into cartooning and songwriting. From 2001 to 2008, he served as a freelance producer for a local cable music program, Random Acts of Music.

Biography

Faust was born in

Williston, North Dakota Williston is a city in and the county seat of Williams County, North Dakota, United States. The 2020 census gave its population as 29,160, making Williston the sixth-largest city in North Dakota. The city's population nearly doubled between 20 ...

, but considers

Gillette, Wyoming Gillette (, '' jih-LET'') is a city in and the county seat of Campbell County, Wyoming, United States. The town was founded in 1891 as a major railway town on the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad. The population was estimated at 32,030 a ...

, his adopted home town . He currently lives with his family in his wife's ancestral home in

Ohio Ohio () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Of the fifty U.S. states, it is the 34th-largest by area, and with a population of nearly 11.8 million, is the seventh-most populous and tenth-most densely populated. The sta ...

—a 140-year-old plot of land signed over to the family by President

James K. Polk James Knox Polk (November 2, 1795 – June 15, 1849) was the 11th president of the United States, serving from 1845 to 1849. He previously was the 13th speaker of the House of Representatives (1835–1839) and ninth governor of Tennessee (183 ...

. He works as a copywriter at an advertising firm while maintaining his career as a freelance writer. He is writing a new novel about

UFO An unidentified flying object (UFO), more recently renamed by US officials as a UAP (unidentified aerial phenomenon), is any perceived aerial phenomenon that cannot be immediately identified or explained. On investigation, most UFOs are id ...

Thief Media

On February 16, 2011, Faust announced on his blog that he had created a publishing company called Thief Media as an organ to distribute his out-of-print novels in ebook formats. Releases began with the

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version of "A Death of Honor" on June 9, the previously unpublished "The Mushroom Shift" on December 12, 2011, and "The Company Man" on July 14, 2012. Another previously unpublished novel, "Trust" is scheduled to for publication as well. Faust also announced the completion of a new novel in the same post.

Amazon Kindle Press

On December 13, 2014, Amazon's Kindle Press announced the selection of Faust's thriller "Drawing Down the Moon" from the Kindle Scout program for publication. As with all Kindle Scout participating writers, Faust had entered his novel into the program the previous month for a 30-day period in which readers could nominate his work. According to Amazon's Kindle Scout, "Kindle Scout is reader-powered publishing for new, never-before-published books. It's a place where readers help decide if a book gets published." ''Drawing Down the Moon'' 's publication marks the first time Faust has published a novel outside of the science fiction genre (with the exception of his own Thief Media's release of ''The Mushroom Shift'') as well as his first newly written published novel since 1997.

Bibliography

Series

Angel's Luck • ''Desperate Measures'' (1989) • ''Precious Cargo'' (1989) • ''The Essence of Evil'' (1990) Pembroke Hall • ''Ferman's Devils'' (1996) • ''Boddekker's Demons'' (1997)

Novels

• '' A Death of Honor'' (1987)
• ''The Company Man'' (1988)
• ''The Mushroom Shift'' (2011)
• ''Drawing Down the Moon'' (2015)
• ''The Smart One'' (2022)

Plays

• ''Old Loves Die Hard'' (1986)

Omnibus editions

• ''Handling It: How I Got Rich and Famous, Made Media Stars Out of Common Street Scum and Almost Got the Girl'' (1997) -

Science Fiction Book Club Bookspan LLC is a New York–based online Bookselling, bookseller, founded in 2000. Bookspan began as a joint endeavor by Bertelsmann and WarnerMedia, Time Warner. Bertelsmann took over control in 2007, and a year later, sold its interest to N ...

edition combining ''Ferman's Devils'' and ''Boddekker's Demons''.
• ''Fermans Devals'' (2023) - "Author's Intended Edition" combining ''Ferman's Devils'' and ''Boddekker's Demons'' as a single novel with bonus features.

Awards

Addy Award (Canton Ad Club) for Copywriting - 1988 - 1997 - 1998

References

External links

*
Fantastic Fiction author profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Faust, Joe Clifford 20th-century American novelists 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American satirists American science fiction writers Living people 1957 births People from Williston, North Dakota People from Gillette, Wyoming Writers from Canton, Ohio Writers from North Dakota Writers from Wyoming American male short story writers 20th-century American dramatists and playwrights American male dramatists and playwrights 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers Journalists from Ohio 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers Novelists from Ohio 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers American members of the Churches of Christ