Evangeline and her dramatic wheel circles round and spins out a breathtaking, opalescent tale that gives brilliant witness and testimony of the author's journey ~from beleagured child to wise woman. In particular we learn of her musical group, the Discarnates, the chaotic turning of their caravan wheels and the indentations they leave upon society's road, her comrades, and Evangeline's soul in the process. With refreshing clarity, the authoress is able to impart her experiences, all the while bridging her dichotomy of sweet vulnerability and amused, Buddhist like detachment of the highjinks that take place around her and inside of her. She delivers the tale with a literary wit and insight rarely glimpsed in today's modern, gothic literature, usually heavily encumbered with narcissistic self pity and nihilistic dullness. If we are lucky, this is just the beginning of a long literary career for Ms. Toxicat.

Combining elements of stream of consciousness, Gothic flavored metaphysical mayhem, and more subtle wisdom than your cat on a Saturday afternoon, Evangeline and the Drama Wheel is like James Joyce and Neil Gaiman wrapped up in a blanket and tossed down the stairs. In a good way. :)

Being a musician who had a minor road show in my 20s, I was wholly captivated by exploits of "the band." Serena's writing was addictive -- I found myself drawn to her universe, not wanting the story to end. I purposely rationed my time reading Serena's story, to savor each & every word. WHEN IS THE SEQUEL COMING OUT!!!!

This book should be read by those who enjoy the beauty of fluid writing and poetic imagery; are taken with clever wit and touched by human endeavor and frailty; and/or those who've been in close quarters with bandmates. The talent is evident. The tale is fanciful, but realistic, and woven throughout with love (also known as pain).

Evangeline & DW is a unique and very interesting work.





The Rev. Toxicat is a highly imaginative individual, and she creates characters who exist simultaneously as works of art and as real people with entirely believable emotions and motivations.





The structure of the novel is different from something like say, Jane Eyre, where a number of characters and situations evolve into a neat conclusion. It is a story of a band that comes into existence, and then unravels as the persons who comprise it are moved by their feelings toward their own destinies. Much as things happen in real life, where things don't really begin or end, but continuously converge and reconverge in ever shifting realities.





When you start reading this book, you are immediately confronted with highly imaginative, brilliant and mystical flourishes of language. The Rev. Toxicat has infused her work with a deep craving for a mystical ground of being; not all the characters are simple human beings of the basic earth as we see it. Where above I mentioned her characters existing as works of art and as real people, I could say that with reference to the characters as written on the page, but in another sense I mean it as these characters distinctly have the feel of being like people you'd meet in real life if you knew where to look for them. People who have lots of creativity and complex visions, and who at the same time have some unpretentious good-hearted emotional dimensions, as would give their touring vans names like "backseat betty" and "meep-meep".





The Rev. Toxcat's forays into mystic realms are in my opinion, very intelligent and deeply considered, having an unusually well wrought integration with entirely believable human psychology and with natural science.





The stories of relationships and betrayals, and he complex dynamics thereof, carry the story along and make it a very human story, in addition to its being a vehicle for flights of imagination. All in all, it is a highly successful integration of mystical and imaginative flights with the real emotions of real human beings that make this book quite successful, in something of its own genre.

Impressionist, psycho-psychic road trip of minds, an unabashed freefall into the world of a catgirl who is seduced and troubled by her past, her unbalanced present within a ragtag troupe of travelling rock musicians, and a future uncertain. Rich in multi-dimensional characters and literary texture (a foul description of rank odours within a touring van, a mother's chaotic mood swings gone wild down a wishing well), Toxicat pens her retractable claws along an original and madcaphighway of hard luck and even harder decisions...join the band and hold your breath!

Evangeline & The Drama Wheel is a must read for anyone that can appreciate hybrid catgirls, dysfunctional relationships and life on the road. Serena Toxicat has painted a colorful picture of each one of her characters. She has created an excellent visual experience for those of us that have not lived it, and made us wish we had.

READ IT, ENJOY IT and APPRECIATE THIS WORK OF ART!!!!!!!!!!!!