We have a fantastic, timely book and fascinating author interview to share with you today!
Unbalanced Ledger, by Mitch Ryan, offers a deep look into true community, philosophical ideals, and survival necessities.
This novel offers a thoughtful exploration of moral choice in times of political uncertainty, confronting the conflict between personal integrity and institutional allegiance. As Tommy’s journey unfolds from detached observer to engaged participant, he is forced to face what it means to act ethically within systems that demand compliance. His transformation reveals how genuine human connection can overcome the dictates of power and expose the moral cost of unexamined loyalty.
Richly layered and intellectually rigorous, this timely work of alternative historical fiction probes enduring questions of conscience, community, and responsibility, reminding readers that true patriotism may not be what it appears.
Highly recommended!
Mitch Ryan is a software engineer who writes experimental fiction for himself. He grew up with a difficult homelife and only later discovered what community and family could actually mean through his wife's family. That experience shaped Unbalanced Ledger, a novel about refusing to settle for injustice just because it's familiar. This is his debut novel, written to prove he could do it. He lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan with his wife Mil and dog Chewie.
We were lucky enough to catch up with Mitch, and ask him about his book, writing and researching, community, and more. Here’s what he had to say...
Please tell us about your new book, Unbalanced Ledger...
Unbalanced Ledger is in a lot of ways an experimental novel. My favorite author is David Foster Wallace, who has a very particular style of writing that’s very cerebral, literary, and sometimes bordering on pretentious. I set out to honor his style as best as I can, though I’m sure I pale in comparison to his genius.
With that in mind, Unbalanced Ledger is an alternative history, post-world-war 2 novel, starring Tommy Kellerman, a returning soldier who has been bequeathed a farm from his fallen comrade. This mostly takes place in rural Illinois; however the true setting of the novel is Tommy himself. Due to mounting financial pressures, Tommy is roped into spying on a mutual aid group that the government believes are communists, or at least communist sympathizers. Tommy finds out his friend was very involved in this group, and has to grapple with honoring his friend, protecting the community, or fulfilling his ‘civic duty’.
Ultimately, when the bombs drop, in order to rebuild society, they rely heavily on the mutual aid group, and rebuild society in a much more ethical way.
What was your process for writing and researching your book?
I’ll tackle the research question first, as that will be a little more straightforward. I, perhaps surprisingly, perhaps not, did not do a ton of research. One of the best, or at least most unique aspects of post-modern and meta-modern fiction is that you get to lean into the absurd. There are several historical inaccuracies, the farming aspects probably do not make much sense, and a political slogan shows up about a decade too soon, just to serve the story. The point was to focus on the psychological effects and the ‘why’ of it, not as much on the how.
Writing this book was difficult. The recursive nature of the prose, the deliberate retelling of the same, or similar events, leaving seeds that Tommy’s reality may be fracturing was a difficult place to live, and I did for a few years. In an effort to maintain the voice, I re-read Broom of the System and Infinite Jest, trying to lock in.
I also have this quirk where I have to write in order. If I get an idea for a later scene, I can jot it down, but I can’t actually write it until I reach it chronologically. Because of that, there were stretches where I was stuck inside Tommy’s darkest moments until I could write my way out. It made for a challenging, but deeply immersive, process.
Unbalanced Ledger builds upon the concept of community. How did this writing unfold for you?
Oh good, I get to be a little political. Reading the book probably makes it pretty obvious that I’m critical of both capitalism and authoritarian governments. When I look at society in an honest way, I just know there has to be a better way. We are so focused on financial gains; companies care more about infinite growth than they do their employees. Everyone is expendable.
The government, likewise, seems more interested in moving further and further into a surveillance state. It’s important to note that administrations on both sides of the aisle have continued such legislation as the Patriot Act, and other ‘security measures’. Instead of helping our citizens, we’ll spy on them. Instead of spending resources to help the poor and unhoused, we’ll invest in anti-homeless architecture. We can fund the war machine, bail out corporations, shove money at private prisons, but heaven forbid we forgive student loan debt. After all, an educated society is harder to control.
So yeah, I have some grievances. I also have hope. I think about how when things seem the bleakest, we pull together and make it through. I look towards the community response to natural disasters, the amazing emergency responders in tragic events like 9/11. Mr. Rogers credits his mother with the quote “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”
I think that’s our natural state. We yearn to help each other, but due to the unnatural competition we are forced live in, we have been re-wired. Remove us from these conditions, and the helpers will come out in force.
What do you hope readers take away from this book?
That’s a big question. Writing this, I never imagined anyone else would read it. I wrote this book to prove to myself that I could. I have struggled with writer’s block for over a decade, but eventually this clawed its way out of me. I also picked a niche genre, one that I think more people would love if they gave it a try, but one that typically gets overlooked by your average reader. It’s difficult, it’s dense, and it forces you to hold conflicting ideas in a way that may make you uncomfortable. In fact, when I shared that I had published my book on social media, it was accompanied with almost a plea to not read the book because of what it was.
But that’s kind of the point: I made a book that criticizes capitalism, and did it in a genre that has almost no chance of profitability or popularity.
Staying within the theme of the book, I want people to hope. Hope that together we can build a better, more equitable society. Resistance. Reject that idea that injustice is inevitable just because it’s familiar.
And maybe this is too on the nose, but I also hope readers see that if I can do something like this, so can they. You don’t have to write what the market wants; you can write what your soul needs. Every act of creation — no matter how imperfect — deserves to exist. This book is far from flawless, but it exists. And I think that’s enough. Creating for creation’s sake is an act of defiance, and that’s a beautiful thing.
What’s next for you?
This may be a bit of an ironic answer, considering my last, but my next book will be much more marketable, I imagine, though probably equally as dangerous in this political climate. I am in the process of writing a fantasy novel that is sort of upending The Chronicles of Narnia. It’s a sort of retelling, but with LGBTQIA+ themes in the forefront. As a member of that community, we are overlooked so often, and there’s a shortage of books like the classics that we can see ourselves in.
This will be a YA novel, much like the books that inspired it, but will be a very personal story. The main character will be sort of autobiographical, struggling with their identity as I did. Learning how to navigate a new world, both the fantasy realm, but also our world with their true self. Much like the one that came before it, you can expect themes of compassion, community and hope, even when the world is at its darkest.
How can people find your work?
Well, Unbalanced Ledger is the only work that I have available to purchase, and is only available on Amazon. That being said, you can find my personal rantings at mryan150.substack.com. This blog is mostly about navigating the world and my hobbies with my disabilities, but I will be sharing more of my fiction and other tidbits there in the future.
Is there anything else you'd like to share?
There’s a particular character in the novel, Corn Weatherby, who is my absolute favorite. Despite my quirk of needing to write in chronological order, I knew that Corn had to exist as soon as I started writing. He is inspired heavily by James O. Incandenza from Infinite Jest, with just enough Old Man McGucket from Gravity Falls.
You can find Unbalanced Ledger on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Unbalanced-Ledger-Mitch-Ryan/dp/B0FSSLTK56/
All photos courtesy and copyright Mitch Ryan, published with permission