The novel “Bats of the Republic” (Doubleday) reimagines Texas’ independent infancy before zooming ahead 300 years to a dystopian Lone Star State. The book is the creation of Texan Zachary Thomas Dodson, a designer by trade who’s filled its pages with hand-drawn maps, scientific diagrams and other illustrations. This hour, we’ll talk with him about expanding a novel’s potential ahead of his appearance at this weekend’s Texas Book Festival.
