ROSCOE – Hound Books is hosting a reading event on August 13 at 6pm for the novel, Drought. LGBTQ+ novel Drought, which recently won the Publishing Triangle Ferro-Grumley Award for Best LGBTQ+ Fiction.

Drought (Rebel Satori Press; June 3, 2025) continues author Scott Alexander Hess’s impressive backlist of queer historical fiction. Previously, Hess has penned the Lambda Literary Award Finalist Skyscraper, a Kirkus Reviews “Best Book of 2015,” The Butcher’s Sons, and the #1 Amazon bestselling The Root of Everything & Lightning.

Known for his compelling and lyrical prose that invites readers into richly-drawn and character-driven worlds of high emotion—infidelity, long-lost loves, forbidden relationships, and more are often explored—Hess was a semi-finalist for the forthcoming “America’s Next Great Author” TV show, and his writing has appeared in HuffPost, Genre Magazine, The Gay & Lesbian Review, Thema Literary Review, and elsewhere.

Hess co-wrote “Tom in America,” an award-winning short film, starring Sally Kirkland and Burt Young, and now teaches fiction writing at Gotham Writers Workshop and curates Hot Lit, an LGBTQ+ themed monthly newsletter. Originally from St. Louis, Missouri, Hess lives in New York City with his husband.

Drought follows Parnell, a recluse from Newark, New Jersey who inherits a dilapidated tobacco farm in Kentucky from his estranged Uncle Willy. Hoping to jump start his empty life, Parnell moves to the farm—but his isn’t the only story we follow. With a dual narrative that blends and weaves together, Uncle Willy also shares about his deep love for a man named Phil, and a violent curse born from hate and intolerance. Parnell discovers there are more than tobacco leaves buried in the fields, and as he unearths a long-hidden crime, to his surprise, he gains a new sense of self.

Hound Books is located at 3 Union St, Roscoe.