Appleton author Josh Rank presents debut novel, 'The Present Is Past' | Lit Wisconsin

Lit Wisconsin is a sporadic series of stories in which we highlight the work of writers of Wisconsin or those with ties to the state.

Today we get to know Josh Rank of Appleton, an author whose debut novel, "The Present Is Past," will be released July 18.

About the author, Josh Rank

Growing up in Appleton, Rank aimed to be a musician, not a writer. After graduating from Appleton East High School in 2003, he enrolled in Milwaukee Area Technical College and the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, where he began studying music. That was before, as he writes on his website, "realizing I didn't need to know how to play an augmented G-major triad in the third inversion at eight different locations on the fret board."

Rank, 38, dropped the music major and took at year off from college. As he thought about his future, he chose creative writing when he returned because "I always enjoyed writing and figured getting into creative writing would be easier than just about any other major," he wrote in an email exchange with USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin. "Because instead of memorizing facts and dates, I could just make every thing up."

His professors at UW-Milwaukee made it pretty clear that although writing was making stuff up, it would not be easy, especially if he wanted to get his work published. But Rank found the deeper he got into the major and the work, the more he liked it.

"My first rejection letter was actually pretty exciting," he said. "Of course, that excitement wore off, but rejection is just part of the deal."

Right now, Rank earns a living as a content writer for a software company, producing blogs, website copy, that sort of thing. Of course, Rank has his own website, www.joshrank.com,

About the book, 'The Present Is Past'

"The Present is Past," published by the Portland, Oregon-based Unsolicited Press, is a work of fiction. Set in Appleton, the book is about a family dealing with a mother's illness, Alzheimer's disease. The narrative offers "a slightly off-kilter version of the city," Rank said in a press release announcing the book's publication.

"I wanted to highlight the unreality of the situation, since that's exactly how it feels to watch someone deal with this disease," he said. "Pieces of the novel are slightly removed from the real world to put the reader in that headspace of trying to figure out what's imaginary and what's not."

Rank said he's always been attracted to stories that "skew just a bit outside of normal life. (Haruki) Murakami, (Kurt) Vonnegut, (Douglas) Coupland — these types of authors have been huge influences on my writing. This story felt like a perfect opportunity to make use of magical elements as devices."

The book is told through a third-person point of view, but the perspective revolves with each chapter through members of the family.

"The book is undeniably sad," Rank said. "But the whole story is driven by love. I tried to inject a bit of hope to the narrative even though Alzheimer's is a hopeless disease. Things only get worse. So how can you hold onto hope in the face of something so unyielding?"

Writing "The Present Is Past" helped Rank confront his mother's Alzheimer's, he said.

"I was worried I'd be depressed the whole time I worked on it, but found I actually felt better by the end of the process," Rank said. "It helped me process what was happening, which was the goal, but still a surprise when it worked."

How to purchase the book

"The Present Is Past" officially will be released on July 18. But it can be preordered for $18.95 from Unsolicited Press.com, and from Bookshop.org, BarnesandNoble.com and Amazon.com. He'll be appearing at book-signing events at The Book Store in Appleton on July 18 at 6 p.m.; at Mother Fools Coffeehouse in Madison on July 21 at 7 p.m. and at Lion's Tooth in Milwaukee on Aug. 5 at 5 p.m.

Contact Keith Uhlig at 715-845-0651 or kuhlig@gannett.com. Follow him at @UhligK on Twitter and Instagram or on Facebook.

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