Charles McCain

Essays on the South, my Southern Gothic Youth, World War Two and my “Not Your Usual Houseguest” podcast

Family, friends, fans, and supporters:

Welcome to my website.

I hope you will subscribe because of the quality of my work and because I need your financial support to keep writing.

I had a run-in with cancer some years ago and that monster demolished my personal finances. I have have stacks of unpublished writing which I would like to publish on this site but need your help so I can spend time on my own work and not spend all my time writing for others to generate income.

There are eleven different monthly subscription rates and since all tiers except the last two get the same content, I respectfully ask you to consider a monthly subscription rate consonant with the strength of your finances.

I would be most grateful for your assistance.

Charles

True and Loyal Supporter

Exclusive subscriber-only content (all writing and podcast episodes).

You’re Wonderful

Exclusive subscriber-only content (all writing and podcast episodes).

True and Loyal Supporter

Exclusive subscriber-only content (all writing and podcast episodes).

True and Loyal Supporter

Exclusive subscriber-only content (all writing and podcast episodes).

You’re Wonderful

Exclusive subscriber-only content (all writing and podcast episodes).

True and Loyal Supporter

Exclusive subscriber-only content (all writing and podcast episodes).

True and Loyal Supporter

Exclusive subscriber-only content (all writing and podcast episodes).

You’re Wonderful

Exclusive subscriber-only content (all writing and podcast episodes).

True and Loyal Supporter

Exclusive subscriber-only content (all writing and podcast episodes).

True and Loyal Supporter

Exclusive subscriber-only content (all writing and podcast episodes).

You’re Wonderful

Exclusive subscriber-only content (all writing and podcast episodes).

True and Loyal Supporter

Exclusive subscriber-only content (all writing and podcast episodes).

Comments from subscribers on my work:

“I’m shocked you have such a hilarious sense of humor since you seem so serious I thought you were a professional assassin.”
Thank you.
“I laughed so hard at your podcast Not Your Usual House Guest that I spit my coffee across the room and burned the cat.”
This happens a lot.

“Your writing about the South is so vivid, so bittersweet, so ineffably sad, and so wildly funny it makes me glad I’ve never been there.”
Good. Best not to visit.

“Is being a writer lonely?”
Yes. It’s like sex. You do it by yourself when no one’s around.”

Podcasts from my manuscript The Frat House Fire Escape Plan:

I wrote and rewrote this manuscript over the last few years and I am now looking to place it with an agent or publisher.

My agent for my first novel, An Honorable German, who discovered Tom Clancy, and then discovered me, no longer reps fictionor manuscripts like Frat House. These days she only reps serious books by policy wonks.

If you know an agent or editor who might be interested in the mnsucript please let me know.

Excerpts from Frat House:

“Charles raised undergraduate misbehavior at Tulane to an art form.”

Statement made in a letter of reccommendation for me by one of my frat brothers. Not only is this a scurrilous falsehood. It isn’t true.

“What was the frat house fire house escape plan?”

Jump out of the window.

“What fraternity are you a member of?”

Sigma Nu

“Where did you attend college?”

I matriculated and graduated from Tulane University in New Orleans. To say I attended would imply a closer relationship than I had with the university.

The South and My Southern Gothic Youth

“Your writing about the South is so vivid, so bittersweet, so ineffably sad, and so wildly funny it makes me glad I’ve never been there.”  Good. Best not to visit.

“Your teenage years seem to have been a series of traumatic events of epic proportions. How did you manage to get through them all?”
My older sister and drinking.

“Was your great-grandfather almost eaten by wolves?”
Yes.

“Are you really and 8th generation South Carolinian?”

Yes.

“What do you think about the state?”

I think this: “South Carolina is too small to be a republic and too large to be an insane asylum.”

a quote by former SC Attorney General James Pettigrew giving an accurate summary of the state upon the secession of South Carolina.

****
“Are you….”
Yes.

“Do you have a…”
No.
****

The South and My Southern Gothic Youth

“Your writing about the South is so vivid, so bittersweet, so ineffably sad, and so wildly funny it makes me glad I’ve never been there.”  Good. Best not to visit.

“Your teenage years seem to have been a series of traumatic events of epic proportions. How did you manage to get through them all?”
My older sister and drinking.

“Was your great-grandfather almost eaten by wolves?”
Yes.

“Are you really and 8th generation South Carolinian?”

Yes.

“What do you think about the state?”

I think this: “South Carolina is too small to be a republic and too large to be an insane asylum.”

a quote by former SC Attorney General James Pettigrew giving an accurate summary of the state upon the secession of South Carolina.

****
“Are you….”
Yes.

“Do you have a…”
No.
****

My blog on the dusty corners of World War Two history:

“Did a stoker on the battleship HMS Rodney really get court martialled for shagging a sheep?”

Yes. He said he thought it was a WREN (women in the Royal Navy) in a duffle coat.

All my blog posts are footnoted with the source of the subject and where I found the photographs.

Are you really a commericially published novelist?

Yes, I am, and I’m very good at it. I’m also a freelance financial writer

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0446538981?linkCode=ogi&…

My first novel is An Honorable German, a World War Two naval epic, published in May 2009 by GCP/Little Brown/Hachette. Please buy a copy or a kindle edition. Hundreds of readers have told me that couldn’t put it down.

What else do you do?
I’m an expert on wealth management and I write about those issues for a wealth management training firm.

I’m looking to do voice over work because I once worked as a radio talk show host and have a very good voice for that kind of thing.

Do you have other qualifications and distinctions?

Yes. I’m one of the few people in Washington DC who has a letter from my psychiatrist confirming that I am sane which is more than most people can say.