Tuscola author publishes two books in April

By Editor | April 29, 2025 |

Tuscola’s David Porter published two books in April and now has three books on the market. The latest book is a dark psychological thriller published under the name Harlan Porter.

Who is Harlan Porter, and why did you choose to use that name?

Harlan is my first name, which has been a closely guarded secret for many years. Previously, the only people who call me Harlan are classmates and bill collectors. I use it on formal documents, but I’ve gone by David all my life. I’m even listed as David on my first family reunion roster before my first birthday. My dad named me Harlan, and my mom didn’t like it, so she called me David from the start.

I used Harlan on the novel because it’s so different from anything I’ve written before. Most people know me by my Ramblin’ Man newspaper column and other newspaper work. I didn’t want someone who likes that work to pick up the novel thinking it’s more of the same. It is not at all the same.

What prompted you to write a dark novel?

I think my wife and I watch too much crime TV. She reads a lot of thriller novels, too. It’s a huge market. Authors like Stephen King, James Patterson, John Grisham, Harlan Coben — they all write about crime and murder and other bad stuff. As far as popularity goes crime thrillers are second only to romance novels, and I don’t know enough about romance to write about that — not that I have much experience with crime and murder either.

I’ve had an interest in crime novels for a long time and have started and stopped writing them for decades. When I was still in high school, more than 40 years ago, I wrote to Stephen King and asked him for advice on writing. He actually wrote back to me, and his note is one of my most prized possessions.

Funny story — when I wrote to Stephen King, I used the name Harlan because I wanted to sound more grown up. Now I use it just to distinguish the work from other work I’ve done.

What is the novel called and what is it about?

It’s called Kill Seeker. On the cover, it looks like it was titled Thrill Seeker, but the first three letters are crossed out with a dripping, blood-red K placed on top. It explores the balance of nature versus nurture when it comes to psychopathy.

The story follows the life of a character named Cole Cummins, who kills his best friend on impulse at an early age. He then sort of takes over his friend’s life, which only bolsters his ego. He’s a master manipulator but also a sad and broken individual. The book is a prolonged confession of his multiple murders interspersed with details about the crimes.

We’ve heard you say it’s a bad book. What makes it a bad book?

Well, there’s the killing stuff. There is a lot of adult subject matter. You’re never going to see this book in a school library. It’s not the kind of story you want your mother to read. I don’t want my mother to read it, which is a problem because she wants to read it. I just feel like I should warn people who know me that this is not what they would expect from me. Other than that, I think it’s a pretty good book, but maybe that’s just my ego talking.

Anything else you want to tell us about the novel?

It is neither a how-to book nor an autobiography.

Tell us about the other book you published in April.

There’s not much to tell about it. It’s a how-to book with a very limited market. I don’t expect to sell any copies of it locally. It’s called How To Publish a Newspaper In Print and Online.

Why did you choose to write a book that has such a limited audience?

Throughout the country, newspapers have been folding at a fast rate leaving many communities and whole counties without any local newspaper. There are one or two counties in Illinois with no newspaper. This creates what is called news deserts.

There is a lot of talk within the industry about this problem and how it has happened, but what I haven’t seen much are solutions. I looked on Amazon, which has 40 million books available, and there was only one that addresses how to publish a newspaper, and it included other types of publications like newsletters and magazines. It was also pretty dated.

It’s my belief that in many of these news deserts, there will be local people who want to establish a newspaper, but they may not have the journalism or business background to do it. There’s no one-size-fits-all solution, but they will need to know about postal regulations, public notices, cameras, computer hardware and software, etc. This book can help get them started.

I figured I’m as qualified as anyone to write such a book. I’ve been in the newspaper business for 40 years and have owned three newspapers. I’ve managed both daily and weekly newspapers and worked 12 years as the communications director for one of the largest state press associations in the U.S. I’ve won more than 60 first-place awards for my newspaper work and am well-versed on reporting, design, and photography.

How have sales been going for the new books?

Both books are doing better than I expected. The book on publishing has sold a handful of copies including five copies in three foreign countries. I didn’t expect that.

The novel sold more than a hundred copies in its first 15 days, which is really good for a self-published book. It even broke into the top 10 list for e-books about serial killers available on Amazon. It broke into the top 40 on three different lists. It has also sold copies in four other countries.

Why did you decide to self-publish the books?

Impatience. You have a better chance of hitting the lottery than having a best-selling book. Even finding an agent is extremely difficult. Harry Potter, one of the best-selling book series of all time, got turned down a dozen times before it was published, and its first print run was 500 copies. I’d like to have one of those copies today. It has since sold more than 100 million copies.

By comparison, self-publishing is easy. I have an advantage because I can do all the formatting and cover design myself. So, there’s no out-of-pocket cost for me. From there, it’s a matter of marketing, which is the hard part.

Another reason I went the self-publishing route is because all of my books are in different genres. Publishers look for writers who write within a box, and they like book series. You see a lot of that with novels — like the Jack Reacher books and Bosch series. Even the Hardy Boys and Nancy Drew novels from long ago succeeded because they were series.

Readers respond well to series and singular genres as an author builds an audience. My three books have three different audiences. That’s a hard sell.

You mentioned that you design your own covers. How do you do that?

I used AI images and photo editing software to design the two most recent covers. There is a lot of debate about using AI, but I view it as a tool like anything else. In the printing business, letters used to be carved out of wood and pressed onto paper. Then the Linotype machine came along and made that easier using molten lead. Then came offset printing and typesetting computers. Each advancement is a new tool.

Using AI allowed me do in 30 minutes what used to take weeks or months to do, but it’s still under my control and direction. I told AI what I wanted and pieced together multiple images to get to the final product.

My first book’s cover was illustrated by Lana Hill, a classmate who illustrated the children’s book Ten Little Sisters. I helped with the concept, but the design was Lana’s.

Tell us about that book.

That book is titled The Make-out Room & Other Stories. It’s a collection of Ramblin’ Man columns. The title is taken from a column that won first place for Best Humor Column from the National Newspaper Association.

Do you have any other books on the horizon?

I want to do another Ramblin’ Man compilation. I won another first place in the national competition, so I want to use that as the title story. I have another novel in editing titled Telling Secrets. It’s more of a murder-drama set in the fictional town of Telling, Illinois, in the 1930s and 40s. I have two other novels I’m working on. One is a modern-day Tom Sawyer story while the other is kind of a thriller drama; I haven’t written enough of it yet to define what box it goes in.

Anything else you want to tell us about your books.

If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to give a couple of shout-outs. My sister, Roberta Brennan, read the first several drafts of Kill Seeker, which was originally titled Murder Book. She made a lot of really good suggestions that made the book better.

Although the novels are fiction, every writer draws on life experiences. I had a fabulous childhood growing up with my best friend, Eric Adams, so I sent the draft to him, partly to make sure he’s OK with any shared memories that I fictionalized but also for additional support and motivation. The novel I’m working on now is a plot line that he suggested. I don’t work in a vacuum, so it’s important to note that I have a support group that I lean on.

Where can people buy your books?

All of the books are available on Amazon.com. The first book is also on the Barnes & Noble website. There are a couple of copies at The Vault Art Gallery in Tuscola. The most recent novel will go on Barnes & Noble in a few weeks, and I’m working on putting some copies out locally.

Mike Carroll has a book out, and there are other Tuscola writers, so Mike is wanting to put together a shelf for local authors. I’ll be a part of that. If you’re looking online, you can search by title and author.

Kill Seeker is available in hardcover, paperback, and e-book. The publishing book is in paperback and e-book formats. The Make-out Room is in paperback and e-book on Amazon and hardcover and paperback on Barnes & Noble.

Porter is regional managing editor for Better Newspapers, Inc., which publishes The County Chronicle.

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