by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Sep 19, 2019 | Appalachian, History, Reading, Writing
My soon-to-release novel, When Silence Sings, is set in part in Thurmond, WV. While there’s plenty to make this southern WV town interesting, one of the main things is that in the early 1900s it was a rich boom town. Today, it’s essentially a ghost town...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Sep 12, 2019 | Appalachian, Hiking, Nature, superstition
It definitely feels like summer today in the mountains of Western NC. But even as I sweat, I’m noticing signs pointing toward a rough winter. Last week I saw my first wooly worm. All black. This morning I saw another just the same. Acorns are already falling and...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Sep 9, 2019 | Appalachian, Reading, Writing
My next full-length novel will release on November 5–less than two months away now. I’m excited to introduce readers to the Harpes and McLeans–feuding families in southern West Virginia. I found it oddly refreshing to write a character who’s ....
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Sep 5, 2019 | Appalachian, Family, Memories, Nature, Waiting
When my brothers and I were little we had a “play-house” inside a HUGE rotted out stump. The tree had fallen long ago, but the shell of the stump remained and it was big enough for all three of us to get inside. It was cool and mossy and taller than I was....
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Aug 29, 2019 | Appalachian, Family, Memories, Reading, Speaking
I’m always delighted when I’m asked to do a book event. But it doesn’t get much better than being contacted by the library I loved as a kid to come speak. Which is what happened to me this past week! The Upshur County Public Library contacted me to...
by Sarah Loudin Thomas | Aug 15, 2019 | Appalachian, Family, History, Poetry
If you’ve followed my blog very long, you’ve probably seen mention of the fact that I grew up on a farm that’s been in my family for seven generations. It’s a big part of why I write about Appalachia and have such strong nostalgia for the past....
