Fiction
Beyond music, La Botz is also a fiction writer. His stories have appeared in a variety of lit mags and have been shortlisted for the J.F. Powers Prize and nominated twice for the Pushcart. He is the author of story collections, Your Place in This World (Cornerstone Press, 2026) and The No Name Guitar (Sagging Meniscus Press, 2027).
Jake La Botz writes like the bastard spawn of Denis Johnson, Hubert Selby, and Flannery O’Connor…haunting and deep.” —JERRY STAHL, author of Permanent Midnight
"La Botz is a writer to watch. What he describes can be hard and brutal, but there’s also an abiding lyricism, a dancing quality in his sentences. He may be writing the down and dirty blues, but he doesn’t forget to make it sing."—MARY WISNIEWSKI, NEWCITY LIT
“La Botz wields his novella like a well-tuned guitar….He illuminates the human heart in all its flawed and luminous complexity.” —MARK MASSARO, COMPULSIVE READER MAGAZINE
“Fierce and kinetic, La Botz ferries us through his collection with the precision of someone who’s lived every note, every scar, every song.”
—MEG TUITE, author of Planked by the Abyss
“Your Place in This World has an emotional depth and street-smart verisimilitude reminiscent of works from writers like Saul Bellow. . . . An absolute feat of a debut.”
—DANIEL PEÑA, author of Bang: A Novel
“…a vibrant and delightful ride through a ramshackle realm…” —LOUIS GREENSTEIN author of The Song of Life
Read more on my Substack page: https://substack.com/@jakelabotz