English professor Charles McLeod wakes up at 5 a.m. to write or edit six days a week while still fulfilling his duties as an educator. Ultimately, it resulted in the publishing of two of his works.

One of the books, McLeod’s first novel, is entitled American Weather, a sociopolitical satire of two things that plague contemporary California: excessive media/advertising and capital punishment. The story follows Jim Haskin, the wealthy head of a successful San Francisco ad firm who’s devised a kind of get-rich-quick scheme that involves a California death row inmate, Pay-Per-View and a few of the largest corporations in the U.S. The book has already been released in the U.K. and received a number of positive reviews for McLeod’s “sharp writing” and “original voice,” as well as his brutally honest insight into American consumerism. It’s been hailed as courageous, darkly funny and difficult to put down.

The other book, National Treasures, is a collection of 12 short stories depicting many different facets of modern American life as well as a large diversity of people with varying personal issues, some of whom are “male escorts, a widowed farmer, a drug-addled orphan, an ex-amish kid on Rumspringa, and a lonely man auctioning off his most personal items.” The stories take place all over the country, including Wyoming, Cape Cod, Seattle, Fort Worth and San Francisco. There is even a mention of Grand Junction in one of them. The book experiments with a number of different writing styles, ranging from the more traditional narrative to three-page long paragraphs.

McLeod finished the stories for National Treasures in 2008, and American Weather was completed a little over a year later. The books have endured a bit of publishing trouble in the U.S., which is why they were first released in the UK, but now they will finally be available to the American public. McLeod has taught English and writing at many different schools, including the University of Virginia, San Jose State, California College of the Arts and Western Illinois University. This is his second year as a professor at CMU, teaching both English 111 and 112 as well as an Intro to Creative Writing class in the spring. In addition to his teachings at CMU, McLeod has a second novel coming out next year and is currently working on a third novel along with another short story collection.

McLeod will read his work at 6 p.m., Oct. 26, in Houston Hall, Room 104. The reading will consist of both excerpts from American Weather and a number of the short stories found in National Treasures. McLeod will also be signing copies of both books for those who are interested.