John Santana, '95 BA Communication Studies, saw his debut novel novel, Bastards of Young, released in May by Black Opal Books. In it, Nick Karenka is lost in Sin City. His band’s singer has navy SEAL aspirations, his dad’s marrying a young stripper, and why does his girlfriend’s family make such a big deal about eating with your elbows on the table? Nick holds LA as some sort of utopia, until a chance encounter with a kilt-wearing, hearse-driving, drum-playing college freshman named Gremlin starts to bring out who Nick really is. They begin to explore the world beyond the desert island that is Las Vegas until they finally realize that their future isn’t in Southern California, but with a bunch of lumberjack-dressing misfits in the Pacific Northwest. Santana lives in Nassau, New York.