Humorous and heartbreaking, Bad Questions, the Fiction Award Winner from Washington Writers' Publishing House, is a coming-of-age journey toward redemption and self-awareness, skirting the lines between spirituality, skepticism, and faith-and asking the big questions. From the light of the memorial candle back to 1971 in suburban Washington, DC, Bad Questions is the story of Billy Blumberg, who carries guilt over the recent death of his father, a Hebrew school principal. After Billy and his mother move across Montgomery County, he encounters Ms. Marvin, a former teacher notorious for her macabre eccentricity. A séance in her apartment veers out of control, leading to a deadly "hex list" and Billy's discovery of his father's fatal secret.

Len Kruger lives in Washington, D.C., and is a graduate of the MFA Program at the University of Maryland. His short fiction has appeared in Zoetrope-All Story, The Barcelona Review, Gargoyle, Potomac Review, and the anthology This is What America Looks Like. He was the fiction winner of the 2021 annual writing contest sponsored by the Inner Loop and District Fray Magazine. Like Billy Blumberg, the main character in Bad Questions, Len grew up in Silver Spring and Rockville, Maryland in the 1960s and 70s. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, Len worked for thirty-seven years at the Library of Congress where he did research for Congressional offices. In addition to writing fiction, Len is a storyteller and has performed on stage at many Washington, D.C. area storytelling venues, including The Moth DC, Story District, The Story Collider, and Better Said Than Done. Bad Questions is his debut novel. Find out more at www.lenkruger.com.