| |
I’m writing from the Mississippi Book Festival.
The festival, aka “The Literary Lawn Party,” is held annually in Jackson. If you’ll remember, I came down last year and wrote a column from the airport. This year I drove.
Throughout my second tour as a novelist, I’ve tried to make the most of my time. And let me tell you, flying from Little Rock to Jackson was a definite waste of time (mainly because there aren’t any direct flights).
So, yeah, this year I made the five-hour drive.
Luckily, it’s a route I’m familiar with. The Cranors cover the same ground each summer on our yearly beach trip. Along the way, we only make one real stop, and that’s at Lemuria Books in Jackson.
Lemuria also happens to sell all the books at the festival. Their tagline, “Real books. Real booksellers. Real bookstore,” just about says it all. Lemuria is as “real” as it gets.
At this year’s festival, owner John Evans and his hardworking crew weathered hundred-degree, South Mississippi heat as they distributed over twenty thousand books by some of today's coolest authors.
One of those authors is a man by the name of Brendan Slocumb (if you haven’t read his music-themed thrillers, get on it). I met “B” at last year’s festival. We hit it off and talked about our shared love of music.
This year, we kicked off the opening night party with a little music of our own.
I played guitar and sang while B wailed away on his fiddle. Did I mention that Brendan is also a classically trained violinist? It was tons of fun. We even performed a few original tunes.
The festival began in earnest early the next morning. I was paired with Peter Heller for my panel. Peter’s best-known novel, The Dog Stars, has now been published in over twenty languages. Prior to our pairing, I wasn’t familiar with Peter’s work. But I did my homework before our talk, and let me tell you, folks, Peter Heller can flat write.
He’s also a genuinely good dude.
Peter lives in a net-zero house near Sloan’s Lake in Denver, Colorado. He’s 64 but doesn’t look a day over 40. He’s also an avid fisherman.
As you might imagine, we hit it off.
We left our panel to sign books in a sweltering tent. We swapped fish stories and lake pictures. We broke bread. And then, when I felt the time was right, I asked Peter for some advice.
As a former quarterback and coach, I’m always looking for ways to get better. Not much has changed since I became an author. It’s just my nature. Which is why I asked Peter if he had any overarching career advice when it came to publishing.
It was a broad question, and Peter sat with it a moment, twirling his turquoise bracelet as he thought it over. Then, finally, he said, “Enjoy it,” and smiled. “I mean, you’re here, right? You’ve made it this far. Just keep going.”
I leaned back and gazed out upon the statehouse lawn. There were people everywhere. People who’d come there to hear us speak. People who still love books and were buying them by the dozens from Lemuria’s tent.
Peter left before the festival was over — he had to catch an early flight to Denver — but he was right. I was there already. Right where I always wanted to be.
Don't Know Tough
Buy the Book
In Denton, Arkansas, the fate of the high school football team rests on the shoulders of Billy Lowe, a volatile but talented running back. Billy comes from an extremely troubled home: a trailer park where he is terrorized by his mother’s abusive boyfriend. Billy takes out his anger on the field, but when his savagery crosses a line, he faces suspension.
Without Billy Lowe, the Denton Pirates can kiss their playoff bid goodbye. But the head coach, Trent Powers, who just moved from California with his wife and two children for this job, has more than just his paycheck riding on Billy’s bad behavior. As a born-again Christian, Trent feels a divine calling to save Billy—save him from his circumstances, and save his soul.
Then Billy’s abuser is found murdered in the Lowe family trailer, and all evidence points toward Billy. Now nothing can stop an explosive chain of violence that could tear the whole town apart on the eve of the playoffs. |
Ozark Dogs
Buy the Book
In this Southern thriller, two families grapple with the aftermath of a murder in their small Arkansas town.
After his son is convicted of capital murder, Vietnam War veteran Jeremiah Fitzjurls takes over the care of his granddaughter, Joanna, raising her with as much warmth as can be found in an Ozark junkyard outfitted to be an armory. He teaches her how to shoot and fight, but there is not enough training in the world to protect her when the dreaded Ledfords, notorious meth dealers and fanatical white supremacists, come to collect on Joanna as payment for a long-overdue blood debt.
Headed by rancorous patriarch Bunn and smooth-talking, erudite Evail, the Ledfords have never forgotten what the Fitzjurls family did to them, and they will not be satisfied until they have taken an eye for an eye. As they seek revenge, and as Jeremiah desperately searches for his granddaughter, their narratives collide in this immersive story about family and how far some will go to honor, defend—or in some cases, destroy it. |
| Previous columns: |
• Writing from Bed
• Writing from Witherspoon Hall
• Writing From: Coco
• Writing from the Beach
• Writing From: Crooked Creek
• Writing from a Nursing Home
• Writing from a Firework Tent
• Writing from a Boat
• Writing from the Stars
• Writing from the Pool
• Writing from the Kitchen
• Writing from Summer
• Writing from Kindergarten
• Writing from Mom
• Writing from a Plane
• Writing from Home
• My second novel’s publication
• A New Marriage Milestone
• An Invitation to the Party
• Writing from a Thunderstorm
• Writing from a Soundbooth
• Writing from “Jazz Beach"
• Writing from the Sabbath
• Writing from somewhere between Little Rock and Russellville
• Writing from my back deck
• Writing from the morning of my thirty-fifth year
|
• Writing on the day of the college football National Championship
• Writing from the space between breaths
• Writing from 2022
• Writing from the glow of a plastic Christmas tree
• Writing on a rollercoaster of triumph and disaster
• Writing from the drop-off line at my daughter’s elementary school
• Writing with Thanksgiving on my mind
• Writing from the crowd before the start of a Shovels & Rope show
• Writing from the depths of a post-book-festival hangover
• Writing from the Ron Robinson Theatre
• Writing to you on Halloween Eve
• Writing from my bed on a Saturday morning
• Writing from my office with two darts clenched in my left hand
• Writing from the shade of my favorite tree
• Writing from my desk on a Tuesday morning
• Writing from a pirate ship
• Writing from the airport
• Writing from the hospital
• I'm writing from the water
• Writing from my wife's Honda Pilot
• Writing from my office |
|
