Alec Clayton – Mud Flat Press

Join us for Mud Flat Press’ Lit Chat #6 With Alec Clayton, Author of The Descendants of the Pirate Pegleg Josiah Johnson

April 5, 2026April 4, 2026 by Mud Flat Press

At Mud Flat Press’ Lit Chat #6, April 26th on Zoom, Alec Clayton will read a brief selection from and discuss his twelfth novel, The Descendants the Pirate Pegleg Josiah Johnson. Get to know the crazy Johnson family from Hairless Harlan to Billy, the oldest who has never fit in, to Lizzy the dancer, to Larry the New York citified artist whom everyone loves; to sensible Eva and her wife Helen; and to Bryce the football player and history professor who tried to eat a hat.

Locked In, a Review of Sorts

February 7, 2026 by Alec Clayton

Almost daily I get emails from book clubs saying they want to feature one of my books. They are scams. If I reply, they’re going to want money for featuring my book. I delete them without reading more than the first line. But the one I got Wednesday included a purported review of my novel … Read more

The Descendants of the Pirate Pegleg Josiah Johnson Reading and Book Signing

February 6, 2026January 14, 2026 by Mud Flat Press

Alec Clayton will read a selection from his latest novel, The Descendants of the Pirate Pegleg Josiah Johnson at the Olympia Friends Meetinghouse (Quakers), 3201 Boston Harbor Road NE, Olympia, on Tuesday, March 3, starting at 6:30 p.m.

The Descendants of the Pirate Pegleg Josiah Johnson Is Published at Last!

August 21, 2025 by Mud Flat Press

After more than three years in the works, Alec Clayton has finally finished his twelfth novel, The Descendants of the Pirate Pegleg Josiah Johnson.
Get to know the crazy Johnson family over time and one summer when all hell breaks loose and brothers and sisters learn anew how to love one another despite it all.
https://mudflatpress.com/the-descendants-of-the-pirate-pegleg-josiah-johnson/

Creating (hopefully) Memorable Characters

August 3, 2025June 3, 2024 by Alec Clayton

It takes me a year or two to write a novel, which means I spend that much time getting to know each of the characters in my novels. And then I forget about them. I go on to my next novel and a new set of characters, and tend to forget the earlier ones. Literally. … Read more

New Books In the Works

August 3, 2025November 8, 2023 by Alec Clayton

I just finished the third complete rewrite of my latest novel, The Descendants of the Pirate Pegleg Josiah Johnson. Before we can publish it, Gabi Clayton has to edit it and design the cover, and before that, we have to publish two new books we’re working on: Mud Flate Verse, a collection of poems by … Read more

Fourteen first sentences by Alec Clayton

August 3, 2025October 25, 2023 by Mud Flat Press

“Painting can be an evil mistress. She can love you tender and she can love you raunchy, and she can rip your guts apart.” — Until the Dawn (fiction by Alec Clayton, 2000) “Art has been a part of my life for as long as I can remember.” — As If Art Matters – Modern … Read more

Mud Flat Press’ Lit Chat #1 – Alec Clayton’s Locked In

August 3, 2025October 2, 2023 by Mud Flat Press

Our first Lit Chat on October 1, 2023 was a reading from and discussion with Alec Clayton about his novel, Locked In, the story of newspaperman Willie Ray Rivers’ fight for justice in the little town of Hub City, Mississippi. Completely paralyzed and unable to talk after a stroke, Willie Ray’s story is told through … Read more