Local author prepares for book release

May 9—SOUTHERN INDIANA — David Kummer has been writing ever since he was a freshman in high school. He has published four books since then and one more is coming this summer.

"The Misery House" will be available July 7. It will be the first book in a three-book series that follows the Woods family.

It is a psychological thriller that takes place in a town called New Haven that undergoes the tragedies of a store being destroyed in a fire and a newlywed couple going missing, with all signs pointing to an abandoned house in the town.

With the threat to their friends and family, it is up to the Woods family to get to the bottom of the mystery and risk everything to get the answers they need.

"It's sort of like the typical haunted house story, but I wanted to take it and give some more nuance to it," Kummer said. "There's four point-of-view characters. It's all first-person point of view. It's all written from the point of view of this family."

"The Misery House" is available for preorder on his website at https://davidkummer.com/. His other books are available on the website as well.

Kummer got into writing horror novels as a way to deal with different emotions and situations.

"It's a very free genre, you can do anything you want, and there are lots of unique elements you can play around with more than any other genre," Kummer said. "I like to write horror novels that aren't too gore-filled and really focus on emotions and psychology, so they're more accessible. Lots of people who don't like horror will still read my books and enjoy them, which is what I aim for."

He is also an English teacher at Jeffersonville High School where he teaches freshmen. It has been a struggle for him to balance his writing with his teaching.

"I had this whole book written before the school year started and that's the only reason why I'm publishing it," Kummer said. "I think the focus is going to be different with the books moving forward."

Since he teaches freshmen in high school, Kummer, after the three-part series comes out, wants to change the focus of his future books to be at the freshman reading level so the books are more accessible to the students.

After "The Misery House" is released, Kummer will have book readings and signings in July to celebrate the release. July 15 will be the first event at Mickey's Bookstore, 624 Vincennes St, New Albany. The time for this event has yet to be announced. The second one will be on July 20 at the Floyd County Library, 180 W Spring St, New Albany, at 6 p.m.