Excellent Awkward, a new independent publishing imprint, announces its debut novel Last Ride at Elysian Park, a mystery set in early-1990s Omaha, Nebraska.
— Independent author Jonathan Murnane has launched Excellent Awkward, a self-publishing imprint designed to bring debut novels to readers outside the traditional publishing pipeline. The imprint’s first release, Last Ride at Elysian Park, is a mystery novel set in Omaha, Nebraska during the early 1990s. With three additional novels from other authors planned for release later in 2026, Excellent Awkward positions itself as a platform for voices that have not had access to conventional literary agents or major publishing houses.
A Different Kind of Mystery Story
Last Ride at Elysian Park arrives at a time when the mystery genre remains one of the most widely read categories in fiction. Rather than centering the narrative on a detective or investigative journalist, Murnane takes a different approach, placing the focus on the community members left behind after a tragedy occurs. The novel examines grief, loss, and the difficulty of processing a crime without having full access to the facts surrounding it.
“I love mystery stories, but too many focus on the investigation from police detectives or reporters,” Murnane said. “I wanted to tell a story about grief, about those left behind and processing a tragedy without necessarily having access to the full picture of the crime. I wanted to focus on the characters and not the crime.”
Set against the backdrop of early-1990s Omaha, the novel draws on a specific time and place to ground its emotional core. The period setting allows Murnane to explore how communities responded to sudden loss before the era of social media and instant information, lending the story a texture that is both nostalgic and emotionally immediate. Last Ride at Elysian Park is available for purchase through jonathanmurnane.com, where readers can also find additional information about the author and upcoming projects.
Building a Banner for Independent Authors
Excellent Awkward was founded with a clear mission: to create a viable path to publication for authors who have been shut out of the traditional route. The publishing industry has long been criticized for its gatekeeping tendencies, with literary agents and major publishers often favoring established names, marketable aesthetics, or authors with existing platforms. Excellent Awkward was built as a direct response to that reality.
The imprint is not positioned as a vanity press or a self-publishing service provider. Instead, it functions as a proper publishing banner under which multiple authors can release work. With three novels from different authors scheduled for 2026, Excellent Awkward is signaling that its ambitions extend well beyond a single title. The imprint represents a structural attempt to solve a systemic problem in the literary world, offering independent authors a credible home for their work.
Murnane brings more than two decades of marketing experience to the venture, having worked on campaigns for major entertainment and gaming properties including Call of Duty, Guardians of the Galaxy, Tony Hawk, Guitar Hero, Halloween, Disney, Marvel, Universal, Activision, and Roblox, among others. That background informs how Excellent Awkward approaches the positioning and promotion of its titles, applying professional-grade marketing thinking to independent literary projects.
“I have worked in marketing for over 20 years, pushing products and narratives in gaming and entertainment,” Murnane said. “For the first time, I am focusing my efforts on my own products and narratives.”
The Legacy Cinema Club Podcast
Alongside the launch of Excellent Awkward, Murnane serves as co-host of the Legacy Cinema Club podcast, available on platforms including Apple Podcasts and Spotify. The show grew out of a personal tradition in which Murnane and a group of friends gathered weekly to watch films in a theater setting and discuss them afterward. That informal ritual eventually developed into a structured podcast format.
Each episode revisits a film or television series, often one with personal or cultural significance to the hosts, and examines it through a contemporary perspective. The goal is to determine whether a title holds up under modern scrutiny or whether time and shifting cultural values have changed how it reads. The podcast fills a gap that Murnane sees in current entertainment media, where coverage tends to focus on celebrity personalities rather than the work itself.
“We do not have Siskel and Ebert anymore arguing about movies,” Murnane said. “We have Entertainment Tonight talking about the stars’ personal lives. My friends and I started a club where we get a group of people together every week to see a new movie and talk about it, which is where the idea for the podcast developed.”
The Legacy Cinema Club can be followed on Instagram at @legacycinemaclub and at legacycinemaclub.com.
Friday Afternoon Crime: A True Crime Podcast
Murnane is also co-host of Friday Afternoon Crime, a true crime podcast he produces alongside his co-host Kecia. The show covers both nationally recognized cases and lesser-known local stories, approaching each one with a combination of research and personal connection. Murnane traces his interest in true crime to a formative experience in his youth, when he learned that his seventh-grade teacher had been murdered near his home just before the start of a new school year.
The podcast explores cases ranging from unsolved campus murders to nationally covered stories such as the JonBenet Ramsey case and the Love Has Won cult. Each episode is accompanied by a thematically paired drink, a detail that gives the show a distinctive personality without diminishing the seriousness of the subject matter.
“Every week, my best friend and co-host Kecia and I grab a drink and take a look at stories that have piqued our interest,” Murnane said.
Friday Afternoon Crime is available for review on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, and can be followed on Instagram at @fridayafternooncrime. More information is available at fridayafternooncrime.com.
Storytelling as the Central Mission
Across all of his projects, Murnane maintains a consistent philosophy: the story takes precedence over the storyteller. In an industry that increasingly rewards personal branding and public visibility, his approach is deliberately product-focused. The work, whether a novel, a film discussion, or a true crime deep dive, is meant to generate conversations rather than cultivate celebrity. Murnane can also be followed on Instagram at @jonnymurnane for updates across all of his projects.
About Excellent Awkward
Excellent Awkward is an independent publishing imprint founded to support and launch debut authors who do not have access to traditional publishing channels. Its first release, Last Ride at Elysian Park by Jonathan Murnane, is a mystery novel set in early-1990s Omaha, Nebraska. Three additional novels from different authors are scheduled for release in 2026. Excellent Awkward is committed to telling stories that prioritize character, narrative, and reader engagement. You can send them a direct email to info@jonathanmurnan.com.
Contact Info:
Name: Jonathan Murnane
Email: Send Email
Organization: Excellent Awkward
Website: https://jonathanmurnane.com
Release ID: 89192452
If you detect any issues, problems, or errors in this press release content, kindly contact error@releasecontact.com to notify us (it is important to note that this email is the authorized channel for such matters, sending multiple emails to multiple addresses does not necessarily help expedite your request). We will respond and rectify the situation in the next 8 hours.