Chris McClelland, multiple award-winning short story writer and novelist

A little action on the book review front. The results are mostly encouraging and positive. It makes me feel good, knowing my voice is being understood by some.  See the links below for the critical reception thusfar:    https://www.associationmormonletters.org/2026/10/chris-mcclelland-introduces-contrition-a-novel-of-healing-and-redemption/    https://leovidalbookreviews.blogspot.com/2026/10/review-contrition-novel-of-healing-and.html    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/9017393456

As some of you may know, I have just published my second novel, Contrition: A Novel of Healing and Redemption.  It has been a total of ten years in the making, and if you read "Under Old Glory" my YA novella, getting yourself a free digital copy of Contrition: A Novel of Healing and Redemption is a MUST, to see how Hyrum's story turns out.  It will be available free digitally on October 11th, and 12th, 2026 As the great war novelist once told me: "Peace." Click here

  A Novel 10 Years in the Making Hyrum Fratelli is a typical sensitive Mormon young man at the turn of the 20th Century. With his older brother, he signs up for the US Army with dreams of glorious heroics and colorful war stories like his father had told him and his brothers after the father had served with Teddy Roosevelt’s Rough Riders. Hyrum’s time in the trenches of Belgium and France teach him about a much more brutal side of war. He returns critically wounded, and in a coma. Will he awaken, wonders Leigh, his nurse, family friend, and future spouse, and will he be able to ever walk again? He will do much more, but his spirit has been damaged in deeper, more fundamental ways. A walking spiritual shadow, he meets his fellow apparitions along the way. A demonic seemingly possessed man attacks him in a dank dimly-lit VA mental ward. A ghostly man repeatedly visits him at home in the Rocky Mountains, and speaks healing words to him in a German accent. Also at his side from the day...

  As a lead up to the release of my first novel in ten years, called Contrition: A Novel of Healing and Redemption, I wanted to put together a few posts on this website. First, I wanted to say my short fiction has gained some traction in the last couple of years.  Although Contrition definitely could be considered a "Mormon" historical fiction, most of my short stories have been set in contemporary times, and any references to Mormonism are usually incidental.  My main aim, as always, is the human spirit, the heart.  The ways in which we are affected by the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune, to quote the bard.  Here is a link to a fairly recent review of my collection of stories, Physician, Heal Thyself. https://www. associationmormonletters.org/ reviews/older-reviews/ mcclelland-physician-heal- thyself-a-compact-collection- of-contemporary-stories- reviewed-by-andrew-hamilton/ And earlier this year in the same publication, a review appeared of my poetry c...

  This week marks the 10th Anniversary of my releasing my first novel.  It has been a long time, and now I am coming close to releasing a second historical novel, in which Brigham Fratelli's uncle plays a key role.  For now, I am making copies available for FREE for a very limited time, From 9-24 to 9-29.  If you have never read it, now would be a great time to take advantage of this opportunity... click https://www.amazon.com/portal/ customer-reviews/B01M1GYM9U/ ref=cm_cr_dp_d_show_all_top?_ encoding=UTF8&ie=UTF8& reviewerType=all_reviews Anyone interested in reviewing Contrition, my latest novel, please contact me here: provocanyonreview@gmail.com

  Charlie Kirk Poem (Sadness) By Chris McClelland   His name meant “church” in Scottish, Oddly enough for the man who stood for God and Country, Faith and Family, Pick your sound bite.   He was killed literally in my backyard, Little old Orem, Utah, Family Town, USA. He maybe thought, that September day, “How unseasonably hot, for the Mountain West,” as he was struck down.   Leaving forever unanswered larger questions and dying dreams. Down the highway, they called it, DOA, And closed a too brief chapter, A historical footnote. A very small ER in a small suburban hospital Growing, now, on the move, new buildings going up everywhere. While all the Talking Heads fight tooth and nail, Left and Right Extreme, I recall Donne’s words: “any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde, And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee.”  

  The air here in central Utah has a crisp bite to it these days, just a hint of chill and freshets of breeze  heralding cooler air ahead. Autumn is definitely promising to arrive soon. And here in my home in Utah  the Provo Canyon’s leaves are turning brilliant shades of yellow, red, and rust. And I continue to make progress on the final edits of Contrition.  The development of two nearly supernatural characters, I hope, bring an other-worldly flavor, where Hyrum is literally visited by an angel and a demon. Not in the stereotypical way. But both  of these antagonistic characters speak to the struggle within him as a thinking, feeling spiritual man. My religion believes, like many Christian faiths, that men and women have an animal nature that keeps them bound to earthly impulses, and a more elevated self draws them closer to God and more brotherly love. This book concerns itself also with how to deal within a world where bloodlust is ritually encouraged and ch...