Local resident turns pitch into print

By Sam Waller

An offhand remark has resulted in Albany resident Zach Harmon becoming a published author.

Harmon’s novella “The Top of the Stairs” is now available on Amazon. It is his first published work.

“It’s a supernatural noir piece of fiction,” Harmon said. “I have been a big fan of David Lynch’s ‘Twin Peaks.’ That’s kind of what I had in my head, that noir style on top of the supernatural side of the show.”

The novella tells the story of John Fey, a young man who travels to a small town in Texas to arrange his late father’s funeral.

“In going through that process, the young man starts having disturbing dreams,” Harmon said. “Throughout the story, he starts learning more about family secrets as he goes back to the small town where he was born.”

The novella is available in paperback from Barnes & Noble or as an e-book or Kindle download from Amazon, or from several other sellers.

Harmon said he jokes that he wrote the story to “spite” his wife, Brittney, a counselor at Albany Junior-Senior High School.

“She had said that she wanted to write a book, so I pitched an idea for her,” he said. “She told me to write my own book, so I did. That’s essentially where the book came from.”

Harmon, an environmental health and safety manager at Abilene Christian University, also performs music in his spare time with appearances several local stages and venues over the last few years.

“I was in a band for years, but I really didn’t perform for about 10 years until I moved to Albany,” he said.