Male witches? Batavia author gives them a story

“I never had an interest in books until I started writing my first one at age 10,” said the Batavia resident. “Now, I’m almost never without a book in my hand.” The book he is carrying around the most these days is his own. Neth has self-published “The Blood Moon,” a novel released on Aug. 1. It is the story of two brothers, who are witches. He admits “witch” usually refers to a female, but calling the brothers in his book “witches” was a creative decision he made when he was 15. He said the idea to write a book came about when he couldn’t find any reading material which fit his interests. Neth, 24, grew up in Pembroke. He graduated from Pembroke High School, then attended Medaille College for communications. He thought he would like to live in New York City, so enrolled at Pace University to study publishing. “I spent a year there, then realized I didn’t like New York,” he said. So he moved back to Batavia and finished his last semester online. He landed a dream job in Buffalo — as assistant editor of Western New York Heritage Magazine. In addition to editing, he has also written stories for the magazine. He credits his 10th grade English teacher, Jane Early, for encouraging him. He has dedicated the book to her. “She had read some of my book and urged me to keep going,” Neth said. He decided to self-publish his book when he heard in college how the trend was becoming more popular. “Even ‘Fifty Shades of Gray’ was originally self-published, as well as ‘The Martian,’” Neth said. He is already working on his next book, a prequel to “The Blood Moon,” which will be called “The Full Moon” and released in February. After this series, Neth said he might explore other genres, but his books will always have fantasy in the background. He hopes to be able to write a book every six months. “The Blood Moon” is available at Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble and other online retailers, which can be found on his website at www.davidnethbooks.com.