When I begin a novel, I sense of the story. So I start writing. It's good, and I like it, but it still feels like me crafting. Then, magically, the story takes over. The story is coming faster than I can write. The characters beg for their voices to be heard, and I am just a scribe.

Discover and explore three of our notable authors and novels: A History of Saints by Julyan Davis, Banana King Ngôo Tsín-suī written by Want Tai-Lee and translated by Timothy Smith, and Blessed by Sherry Robinson Author. smpbooks.com #shadelandhousemodernpress

At the Knoxville Book Festival today and tomorrow.

Review on Amazon

Echo the Lovely Bones is an extraordinary novel that captures the lives of a series of women….Robinson’s prose is beautiful and draws the reader deeply into each story. This novel is greater than the sum of its parts creating a stunning reading experience.

Spending a mental health day immersed in the fictional world of my current writing project.

I worked all month on one scene in a chapter. My mind processed every movement, slowing the pace of the scene and my writing. But unexpectedly a detail about my main character emerged that I'd never considered. I suspect it will become an important detail. I love the magic of creativity.

I'm loving the writer community I'm finding here on Bluesky. Writers talking about writing always inspires me.

Zuckerberg owns Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp.

Jeff Bezos owns the Washington Post.

Elon Musk owns Twitter/X.

When multi-billionaires take control of our most vital platforms for communication, it’s not a win for free speech. It’s a win for oligarchy

First Sentences. Chapters in the new novel. Chapter 4.
The only reason I didn’t turn around and go back to my bedroom was knowing that Nicky was waiting for me down the street.

What are you currently reading? I'm in the middle of Beware the Tall Grass by Ellen Birkett Morris.

First sentences. Chapters in my new novel. Chapter 3.
Nicky was supposed to be gone by then, but there he was at the church’s annual back-to-school cookout.

First sentences. Chapters in my new novel. Chapter 2.
From the moment I saw Nicky Caldwell, his arms spread like tan wings on the back of a pew in the Calvary Baptist Church, my destiny was bound to his.

First sentences. Chapters in my new novel. Chapter 1.
From the rusty chair on my front porch, I can see everything that happens on my street.

When I was a public health employee, if a federally funded program was "given back to the states" that just meant funding was cut. Then the states gave it back to local gvnmt. The result? Poor areas had less healthy spaces, less access to health care & therefore poorer health status.

I'm just saying, if you constantly decried and defied pandemic disease prevention mandates for your church, but are now quoting Romans, saying everyone is subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established, then you have zero credibility in my eyes.

Having worked in public health, it's my experience when the federal government says they're "giving" something back to the states, what they mean is they're cutting funding.

It's just like covid. So many of us worked really hard to warn people of the risk of toddling recklessly into danger, only to find it impossible to convince them it was for their own good, but even more importantly, good for others who were even more vulnerable.

First sentences. Chapters in my new novel. Chapter 1.
From the rusty chair on my front porch, I can see everything that happens on my street.