James Toothman, West Virginia native, met his first love in grade-school: writing.
He filled the pages of his wide-ruled notebook with poetry and prose. Into his teen years and beyond, he did some lyrical writing for metal bands.
As of Dec. 21, 2023, Toothman has published his debut novel, “Three Sixes and a Forked Tongue or Cold Medicine and a Liar,” through a publishing company in Denver, Colo., known as Millions of Colors Publishing.
Toothman’s novel is based in 1971 in the coal-country backroads of West Virginia.
But before Toothman put pen to paper to a now-published 553-page coming-of-age horror novel, he had to go through a turn of life-changing events.
In September 2017, Toothman witnessed a man run into a three-story fire to kill himself at Burning Man Festival in Nevada. The following month, Toothman had a friend pray over his arthritic hand. As an anti-Christian, Toothman’s beliefs were questioned when his pain went away. The same friend tried to set himself on fire in a suicide attempt. He survived and went back to his home in another state to work on a healthier mental lifestyle.
In December, his mom died at age 52. Before she died, Toothman’s mother — who had always encouraged his writing — said it was his time for him to finally take the next step.
The loss of Toothman’s mom helped ignite him to start the manuscript in the following February.
“Because of [my mother], I put everything I had into it; gave it my absolute all. I like to think it shows,” Toothman said. “I would have written a book eventually but it wouldn’t have been this one. This one took some suffering first.”
Pricilla, the protagonist of the story, was inspired by many characteristics his mother had, “giving her a new life,” he said.
The writing process took up to five years of drafting and an additional two years of editing.
As for his writing method, Toothman did not plot anything ahead of time when he was laying out the bones for his novel.
“I’m always writing, so some of the dialogue and things came from writings written before I conceptualized this book but most of it came as I went along,” he said. “Each chapter I came to, I had to decide where to take it. The ending didn’t come to me until I was at the ending.
“Aside from publishing a book, I’m proud to have lived my life on my own terms. It’s not easy, not following the crowd, not listening to seemingly sound advice, and instead going with your heart and your gut,” Toothman said. “Trying to make something of myself, having come from a place where nobody makes anything of themselves. I trusted my instincts and escaped the narrow West Virginia mindset and I traveled the world, geographically and otherwise.”
Kirkus Review said Toothman’s novel is “A wild, if occasionally slow, brew of sorcery, Satan and rural America.”
Since its release, “Three Sixes and a Forked Tongue” has received five-star ratings. The book has been so highly received, Toothman said he has been developing a spin off.
Toothman is in the process of getting his book stocked on shelves. He recently announced an art gallery, Art Garden AVL, in Asheville, N.C., as the first business to stock his novel. He’ll be doing a book-signing there later this month.
“Three Sixes and a Forked Tongue” is available as an audiobook, narrated by Toothman himself and his friend Joe Parsons Jr., who narrates all introductions. Physical copies can be purchased online through Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
