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Scott Semegran is an award-winning writer of eight books. BlueInk Review described him best as “a gifted writer, with a wry sense of humor.” His latest novel, The Benevolent Lords of Sometimes Island, is about four middle school friends who sneak away to an abandoned lake house to evade the wrath of high school bullies, only to become stranded on the lake’s desolate island. His previous novel, To Squeeze a Prairie Dog: An American Novel, was the 2019 Readers’ Favorite International Book Award Winner: Silver Medal for Fiction - Humor/Comedy, the 2019 Texas Author Project Winner for Adult Fiction, and the 2020 IBPA Benjamin Franklin Award Gold Medal Winner for Humor. His book Sammie & Budgie was the first place winner for Fiction in the 2018 Texas Authors Book Awards. His book BOYS was the 2018 IndieReader Discovery Awards winner for Short Stories. He lives in Austin, Texas with his wife, four kids, two cats, and a dog. He graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a degree in English.
Scott Semegran is one of the hosts of the web series Austin Liti Limits along with fellow award-winning writer Larry Brill.
Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite
The Benevolent Lords of Sometimes Island is a work of fiction with suspense and literary themes and was penned by author Scott Semegran. Inspired by the work of William Golding on the classic Lord of the Flies, this novel takes us on a journey with a group of young boys who become stranded on an island and must fight for survival, either together or against one another. Woven into this classic set-up are the individual stories of the characters, as well as the central plot wherein leader William has acquired the very incriminating backpack of a teenage gang leader, Bloody Billy. What results is a tense action novel of survival, the hope of rescue and everything that lies in between.
Author Scott Semegran stretches his literary muscles in this highly accomplished and well-crafted read. It’s clear to see the influence of Golding in the piece, but its classic mid-1980s setting also gives it a rural Stephen King atmosphere, and with that comes true horror and tension in some of the most grisly moments of the boys’ ordeal. The atmospheric touches are a particular highlight, painting the scene for us as if we are there to experience every scrape and smell of the roughness of their new lives on the island. I also really enjoyed the dialogue, which seemed genuine to the ages of the boys and not at all precocious. Overall, The Benevolent Lords of Sometimes Island will give its readers a modern classic with layers of brand new intrigue and tension aplenty.
