Johnny Appleseed

Johnny Appleseed is the tale of a group of merry pranksters who live off the grid—no credit cards, no cellphones—and travel the country, selling marijuana for cash and living it up in the shadow of their charismatic leader, Johnny Appleseed, who has something of the miraculous about him. But when Johnny steals the fiancee of a powerful but deranged Baptist preacher on the way through Memphis, all hell breaks loose, as the preacher feels like this is a sign from God, and drops off the grid to give chase and bring Johnny to justice. With the Feds closing in as well, the hijinks get increasingly hairier in this fun but complex story of love, betrayal, injustice and murder.

Johnny Appleseed is the tale of a group of merry pranksters who live off the grid—no credit cards, no cellphones—and travel the country, selling marijuana for cash and living it up in the shadow of their charismatic leader, Johnny Appleseed, who has something of the miraculous about him. But when Johnny steals the fiancee of a powerful but deranged Baptist preacher on the way through Memphis, all hell breaks loose, as the preacher feels like this is a sign from God, and drops off the grid to give chase and bring Johnny to justice. With the Feds closing in as well, the hijinks get increasingly hairier in this fun but complex story of love, betrayal, injustice and murder. Johnny Appleseed explores the growing tension of resisting a societal "system" that's increasingly hostile to resistance of any kind. The human drama and sexual tension playing out within Johnny's gang is set against the backdrop of a titanic struggle between two charismatic individuals: one a fearless outlaw king, the other a hellfire Baptist preacher bent on his destruction.

Keith Blanchard is a writer, editor, and storyteller who's led teams at Maxim, Rolling Stone, Thrillist, Us Weekly, and Story Worldwide. His first novel, The Deed, was published by Simon & Schuster while Keith was editor-in-chief of Maxim; CNN called it "A brisk, funny, and inventive romp..." and the New York Times Book Review praised it for "a winning sentimentality and a lot of fun." He lives in suburban New Jersey with his wife and three children.