In his debut novel, The Midnight Man, David Eric Tomlinson weaves basketball, law enforcement, self-realization, and the bombing of the Murrah Federal Building into a tapestry of Oklahoma culture and attitudes. The unexpected intersection of such diverse lives gives us a glimpse of what we can learn from each other if we keep ourselves open to possibilities. From K.L. Romo’s review at The Writers’ League of Texas. Read the full review here.
Posts by David Eric Tomlinson
Shortlisted for the PEN Southwest Book Award
I’m incredibly honored that The Midnight Man has been shortlisted again, this time for the PEN Southwest Book Award in fiction.
Finalist in the 2018 Texas Institute of Letters Literary Awards
I’m so honored that “The Midnight Man” has been named a finalist in the 2018 Texas Institute of Letters Sergio Troncosco Award For Best Work Of First Fiction. Earlier this year, Austin’s great independent bookstore BookPeople also named it one of the top crime debuts of 2017.
“The Oklahoman” Reviews THE MIDNIGHT MAN
A generous review of THE MIDNIGHT MAN in today’s The Sunday Oklahoman: “Tomlinson … weaves a fictional portrayal of five diverse Oklahomans in an ambitious novel about overcoming racial, social and political differences.” Read the full review here.
The Dallas Morning News recommends THE MIDNIGHT MAN
A wonderful, insightful review in today’s The Dallas Morning News discusses my debut novel THE MIDNIGHT MAN in relation to the deep-seated political divide resulting from this year’s election: “Tomlinson has nice timing, and a good handle on voice … The characters are nicely fleshed out – real human beings with flaws that never lapse into cartoon two-dimensionality. It’s a book about hope, which comes at a good time. After last year’s polarizing election, it feels good to see through the eyes of his creations — people who are really interested in understanding one another’s lives as opposed to just…
Oklahoma Sociological Association Keynote
On Friday, November 6, I gave the keynote address at the annual meeting of the Oklahoma Sociological Association, at the University of Oklahoma. The talk concerned recent research I conducted into the death penalty, while writing my first novel The Midnight Man. Below is the full text of that speech. Oklahoma Sociological Association Keynote November 6, 2015 Hello everybody. Thanks for having me. My name is David Tomlinson. I was born in Stillwater, which pretty much doomed me to life as an Oklahoma State fan, and grew up in the town of Perry, about fifteen minutes from there. I’ve lived…