Works by
Derek McCormack
(Writer)

The Haunted Hillbilly: A Novel (2003) -- Finalist, 2004 Lambda Literary Award for Male Fiction
The Haunted Hillbilly reads like both a vintage 1950s issue of Tales from the Crypt and a 21st-century re-imagining of Michael Ondaatje's The Collected Works of Billy the Kid. This historical first-person narrative is told by Nudie, "The Rodeo Tailor" (perhaps most famous for dressing Elvis Presley), a gay couturier who, in Derek McCormack's world, also happens to be a vampire. As the story evolves with its magical poetic cadence and minimalist style, Nudie makes and then breaks the career of Hank, a country-and-western singer at the Grand Ole Opry. Inspired by the real-life observations of country music promoter Oscar Davis, who saw it all and told it all in a series of tapes suppressed by the Country Music Foundation, The Haunted Hillbilly conjures the seamy queer underbelly beneath country music's sparkling, sequined surface.

Grab Bag (2004)
Grab Bag is comprised of two interrelated novels, Dark Rides and Wish Book, from one of Canada's most important young writers. Both books are set in the same small rural city, in different eras (1950s, 1930s), each characterized by McCormack's spare and elliptical prose.

Christmas Days (2005) with Seth, Illustrator
What do the doors of Advent calendars conceal? Chocolates, sometimes, or toys. Sometimes there are illustrations of chocolates and toys. And holly. And snow. Things that make Christmas Christmas.

Derek McCormack's Christmas Days is an Advent calendar in words and images. The chapters are doors, each wittily illustrated by Seth, and each offering a behind-the-scenes look at the making of something quintessentially Christmassy. Wrapping paper, toy stockings, tree stands. When did they become part of Christmas? Where were they made? Who made them?
A blend of history and reportage, Christmas Days includes a cast of incredible characters and a sampling of festive holiday treats from the past and present.