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Kickback – the backstory – by John Knold, lead author (writing as Tracy Gunn)
For the second time, and for the second author, the book came to a point where inspiration trailed off. Where to turn? Morris and I had become good friends. We shared a number of interests. Both of us had been teachers. (Morris was a retired UCLA professor of psychology. I had taught grades 9-12, and … Read more
Jenni Prange Boran Talks About Her Story ‘Stage Four’
We asked Jackie Cassella, founder of Creative Colloquy to recommend writers for Mud Flat Shorts (mostly fiction). She recommended three writers, all of whom graciously accepted our invitation and all of whom submitted stories that were just right for the anthology. There are two stories by Jenni Prange Boran. Here she talks about her story … Read more
Nineteen World Class Writers
“Emmolene’s Bones” by Jack Butler may well be the strangest love story ever written. “Hawk Gumbo,” also by Jack Butler, is the quintessential Southern Gothic or Grit Lit story. “Godsend” by Samuel Snoek-Brown is the story of a woman obsessed with the thought of murdering her neighbor because the neighbor has irritating habits and sings horrendously. Both … Read more
Teacher, teacher, what do I do? (book announcement)
Yesterday I finished what I think was the third (can’t keep count) complete rewrite, start to finish, of my new novel Teacher. With deep thanks to Brynn Garman, Rin Westcott, Steve Tarry, Cameron Combs, Bryan Willis, Mian Carvan, Margaret Culbertson, Brady Olson, SJ Boyle, Nancy Sigafoos, Diane Sawyer, Don Orr Martin, Megan Kruse, Bev Sykes, … Read more
Ink – A new book of drawings and poetry
Ink is Ricker Winsor’s latest book of poetry and drawings with approximately 150 drawings with poems, captions and comments and two essays: “Drawings and Wabi-sabi” and “What I Know About Art.” Winsor says, “Using reed pens and brushes, I made the effort over all those years to get out into the world and make my … Read more
Sniper, a Dog Story
by Ricker Winsor – In Bali, we adopted a village-dog puppy we named Nana. She and her sister found their way, at about seven weeks of age, to the workplace of our neighbor. The office security people there were about to throw them against a wall, the customary way to kill puppies. The dog situation … Read more
Newt Carter Comes to Town
Excerpt from Angels Sleep Alone by James Robert Peery With introduction by Alec Clayton Newt Carter was a “Holy Roller” preacher in North Mississippi in the 1930s and ’40s whose revival tent filled with worshipers was destroyed in a tornado in his novel God Rides a Gale (Harper and Brothers 1940). Peery died in 1954 … Read more
Women and Girls 1942-2020
Over the past week or so I have been typing into my computer, word-for-word, the manuscript of a novel written in the early 1950s. It is tedious work but worth the effort because it’s a damn fine novel. It is set in 1942, and the narrator and all the characters use language and express commonly … Read more
James Robert Peery: Lost and Found
I never knew my uncle James Robert Peery, or if I ever did meet him I was too young to remember. He died when I was 11 years old, and for reasons I never knew, our branch of the family seldom visited his branch of the family. Nevertheless, he was my hero when I was … Read more
