by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Oct 10, 2019 | Appalachian, Nature
Fairy Diddles are alternately real woodland creatures or mythical rodents depending on who you ask. In West Virginia, they probably refer to small red squirrels but in North Carolina they’re more likely a Carolina northern flying squirrel. Regardless,...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Oct 7, 2019 | Appalachian, Writing
One of my great joys in writing is naming my characters. I don’t have children and my brothers didn’t let me name any of my nieces or nephews so I’m left with naming my characters. Which is fine. There are more of them! I particularly enjoyed naming...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Oct 3, 2019 | Appalachian, History
I love getting mail. Well, REAL mail. And there’s so little of it anymore. Email has become a nuisance (often a convenient one!) and even physical mail is diluted with catalogs, flyers, and other junk mail. But when I get a real package, card, or the oh-so-rare...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Sep 30, 2019 | Appalachian, Waiting, Writing
You would think that after reading a book 16 times, having it edited by a raft of talented folks at a publishing house, and knowing readers are already pre-ordering it would give an author a smidge of confidence. But something happens between the time I sign off on...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Sep 26, 2019 | Appalachian, Family, Food, Friends, Memories
We had friends over for supper on Sunday and I didn’t serve bread. It took nerve, I know. Whether you serve biscuits, cornbread, or light bread, there should ALWAYS be bread on an Appalachian table. Maybe because it helped simple ingredients go a long way. Maybe...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Sep 23, 2019 | Appalachian, Reading, Writing
The Christy Award has been around since 1999. And while I try not to put too much stock in winning awards, I’ll confess to really, really hoping for a Christy. And last week A Shot at Love from The Christmas Heirloom novella collection was nominated. The award,...
