Y’all, I have exciting news! My book, Daughters of Muscadine, has just won the Tennessee Book Award in fiction! This is a huge honor. It comes with a $2,500 cash prize, and I’m invited to give a talk with Denton Loving and Rachel Louise Martin, the poetry and nonfiction winners, at the Southern Festival of Books this Sunday. I’m grinning big as can be! ❤️❤️❤️
Here’s a pic of the plaque I received. It’s gorgeous and made of solid wood.
Excited to announce I’ll be leading the memoir writing workshop for the Tennessee Mountain Writers. The workshop will be a mixture of craft lectures on writing about family and writing about place. More info here.
Proud to be at Hindman Settlement School this week. I’m teaching a short story workshop full of amazing writers. Feeling lucky today!
Books for Sale! I read with Marianne Worthington, and Matt Parsons sang and played the guitar. Stayed on campus in the Stucky BuildingMarianne’s poetry reading
Very homelike ambiance ❤️Some goodies at Yoder’s Bakery (a favorite among us conference goers!) ❤️Margaret Renkl gave the Keynote Address
I read Colm Toibin’s Brooklyn several years ago, and I also enjoyed that movie adaptation. Right now, I’m listening to the sequel, Long Island. This book follows Eilish and the events that occur after she and Tony have been married for twenty years. They are living in New York with their two children, and they live near Tony’s brothers and mother. The opening of the book really hooked me. A complete stranger with an aggressive posture shows up at Eilish’s door. The stranger sounds like an Irishman, and he says that Eilish’s husband has impregnated the Irishman’s wife. He goes on to say he refuses to raise the bastard and that he will deliver the baby to Eilish’s door once it is born. Eilish is shocked and hurt. She doesn’t want the baby, and she’s surprised and mortified to learn that her mother-in-law is considering adopting the baby.
This book reminds us that Eilish also had an affair in the previous book. We catch up to Eilish’s previous lover in here, and I like that I don’t know where exactly the author is going with these two storylines.
I’m only about six chapters along so far, but I’m really enjoying it. It’s a good premise for a book. I like the family dynamics in the story, and I have always loved domestic novels! I look forward to finishing this one.
A few people have contacted me on here to congratulate me on my book publication, and several of you have told me you enjoyed reading Muscadine. If you haven’t already, please consider rating my book on Goodreads or Amazon. Thanks! ❤️
Proud to announce that the Georgia Center for the Book has chosen Daughters of Muscadine for their list entitled, “Books All Georgians Should Read.” Yay!