Wayne Brady Launches Debut Science Fiction Novel HARD TIMES

Wayne Brady is entering into uncharted territory with Hard Times, the debut science fiction novel co-authored by the Broadway performer. Described as "a time-bending sci-fi thriller," Brady wrote the book alongside acclaimed author, Afrofuturist, and community organizer Maurice Broaddus. It will be published by Erewhon Books in early 2027, with a sequel coming in 2028.

For readers of Chain Gang All-Stars by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah and Octavia Butler’s Kindred, Hard Times is a near-future time travel adventure about an estranged father and son who must bridge their turbulent history while trying to escape “The Farm,” a for-profit prison that exists outside of time. Inspired in part by Ava DuVernay’s documentary 13th, the novel draws parallels between Jim Crow-era policies and today’s school-to-prison pipeline, confronting the systemic injustices of mass incarceration in the United States.

“This is what happens when H.G. Wells meets Huey Newton—a time-bending sci-fi epic that tears through the past, present, and future to confront one of America’s greatest sins: the systemic incarceration of Black bodies,” said Brady. “It’s my answer to every story that left Blackness out of the future. At its heart, Hard Times is a reclamation—for anyone who’s ever felt erased from the narrative.”

Broaddus added, “Wayne and I wanted to tell a story that centers Black fatherhood, explores generational pain and healing, and goes up against the systems that seek to break those bonds. Hard Times is the romp I wish I’d grown up reading.”

Editor Diana Pho said, “I’m not surprised that Maurice and Wayne connected on their shared love of speculative fiction, social justice, and authentic representation of the Black experience through storytelling. Erewhon Books is immensely excited to publish Hard Times: an opportunity to address the timely and universal issue of incarceration and the oft-buried history of America in the guise of this thrilling time-travel adventure.”

ABOUT THE AUTHORS:

Wayne Brady is a multiple Emmy Award-winning and twice Grammy Award-nominated who has made his mark on stage and screen as an actor, producer, singer, dancer, songwriter, author, and television personality.

A five-time Emmy winner (the first to win Daytime and Primetime awards in two consecutive years), Brady has an impressive TV resume including Whose Line Is It Anyway?, The Masked Singer, Dancing With The Stars, Black Lightning, The Good Fight, and Showtime’s American Gigolo. Brady is heavily active behind the scenes wearing the hats of host & executive producer for Let’s Make A Deal, Game of Talents as well as Comedy IQ and Wayne Brady: The Family Remix , both which he also co-created through his production company. All of this follows on the heels of the success of his award-winning daytime talk show The Wayne Brady Show.

This year Brady is back on Broadway as Harold Zidler in the long-running, Tony-winning Moulin Rouge! The Musical, off the heels of last year, where Brady earned his second Grammy Award nomination for Best Musical Theater Album for his role in the Broadway production The Wiz . He was also nominated for a Grammy Award for a version of Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come," from his debut album.

An accomplished author, Brady with his writing partner Maurice Broaddus, have contributed an original short story to The End Of The World As We Know It: Tales Of Stephen King’s The Stand. A long time champion of mental health awareness especially in the Black community, Brady also advocates for organizations including GLAAD, GLSEN, Big Brothers Big Sisters of America, Alzheimer’s Foundation of America and SAY The Stuttering Association for the Young.

MAURICE BROADDUS is an acclaimed author and Afrofuturist known for his Knights of Breton Court trilogy and short fiction published in dozens of magazines and anthologies, including Asimov's Science Fiction, Black Static, and Weird Tales. Born in London to a Jamaican mother, he grew up in Indiana and earned his B.S. from Indiana University-Purdue University. He previously worked in environmental toxicology, and is now an educator, school librarian, resident Afrofuturist at the Kheprw Institute, and writer in residence at the Center for Africana Studies at Indiana University. He lives in Indianapolis and can be found online at MauriceBroaddus.com.