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When Silence Sings Cover Reveal 2.12.19
My next novel, When Silence Sings, releases November 5. I know, I know, that's SO FAR away. It's like my birthday, Christmas morning, and vacation all rolled into one big, long WAIT. Of course, I also know my grandmother was right when she told me that time picks up...
Appalachian Thursday – You’uns or Y’all?
A reviewer recently commented that she really enjoyed one of my books but took issue with my use of you'uns instead of y'all. Now, in both of our defenses, I'd like to point out that she thought the story was set in Wise, Virginia. Now, that's a real place where...
Redeeming My Characters
Like children, I'm not supposed to have a favorite character. But Frank Post (along with the Talbot sisters) stole my heart. Frank is a blend of so many men I knew growing up. Men who were tough, flawed, opinionated, and most of all tender-hearted beneath those gruff...
Appalachian Thursday – An Empty Larder
It's January. In case you hadn't realized. At the grocery store these days, I can buy strawberries and asparagus. This (along with an occasional warmish day) adds to my delusion that spring is just around the corner. The sun stays up just a little longer, rises just a...
Five Years an Author
This year will be the fifth anniversary of the release of my first novel--Miracle in a Dry Season. Which is kind of hard for me to believe! Half a decade as a published author. And while I fall in love with each and every character I write, Casewell and Perla will...
Appalachian Thursday – John Henry’s Big Bend Tunnel
I love researching my stories. Especially when I turn up something fun that I just flat out didn't know. Like that John Henry, the mythical "steel driving man" of folk ballads, took on a steam drill in southern West Virginia. My next novel, When Silence Sings, is set...
Live Like You’re Dying
You've probably heard the advice to live like you're dying . . . because you are. And it's true, so far as it goes. We're all going to die one day. One day. You know it, I know it, we all know it. Or do we? I have a friend who has a fatal illness. She's already lived...
Appalachian Thursday – Pocketknives
I had no idea something as common and everyday as a pocketknife could stir such passion. Last week I posted a link to an essay in Appalachian Magazine titled "The Kind of Men Who Carry Pocketknives." Man--the clicks that link got! Since I don't see men whipping out...
