Author: Claire Fullerton

Claire Fullerton is the multiple, award-winning author of four novels and one novella. She is a contributor to multiple anthologies and enjoyed her time reviewing books for the New York Journal of Books. A Shakespeare enthusiast, Claire is currently studying Shakespeare for the stage. Look into Claire on Goodreads.

Meet Sally Cronin!

It has been my great honor and joy to align with author and book-blogger, Sally Cronin, who lives in County Wexford, Ireland and spearheads the wildly popular WordPress blog, Smorgasbord. If you’re unfamiliar with Smorgasbord, don’t miss out. Look into it here!

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine

Blog magazine for lovers of health, food, books, music, humour and life in general

Recently, Sally released an E-Book that I want to tell you about:

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Book Description: Life is Like a Bowl of Cherries: Sometimes Bitter, Sometimes Sweet is a collection of short stories with scattered poetry, reflecting the complexities of life, love and loss.

The stories in the collection dip into the lives of men and women who are faced with an ‘event’ that is challenging and in some cases life changing.

Even something as straightforward as grocery shopping online can be frustrating, and a DNA test produces surprise results, the past reaches out to embrace the present, and a gardening assistant is an unlikely grief counsellor. Romance is not always for the faint-hearted and you are never too old for love. Random acts of kindness have far reaching consequences and some people discover they are on a lucky streak. There are those watching over us who wish us well, and those in our lives who wish us harm.

I enjoyed this e-book immensely and left this review on Goodreads, Amazon, and Book Bub!


Author Sally Cronin wields heartwarming magic in this delightful collection of short stories, each written with a keen eye focused on the nuances of human nature. Life is Like a Bowl of Cherries: Sometimes Bitter, Sometimes Sweet is a series of lovely vignettes written with a clean hand as Cronin builds her common man, everyday stories. It’s the little things in life that matter, and Cronin depicts such topics as random acts of kindness, unforeseen good fortune, falling into and out of love, and the magic of animals in such an optimistic way that the reader is morally encouraged and given great hope. Each story lulls the reader with neat, simplistic beauty even as it takes an unexpected turn. In Cronin’s The Scratch Card, Elsie Thompson wins twenty pounds on a scratch card, which she puts to use in such a way that events are set in motion and change a young man’s life. In Friday Night, a young woman is taken for granted by her clueless boyfriend, until a stranger whispers a line that puts her life on another course, and in the satisfying The Gaffer, a duplicitous wife-abuser gets creative comeuppance.
Interspersed throughout this e-book are poems and photographs that poignantly highlight the collective spirit of the book. The characters persevere, help each other, and come to their senses in a manner suggestive of hard-won insight, and written with all the impact of a parable. A pleasurable, enchanting read with a heart of gold, Sally Cronin’s latest release is nothing short of a charming assembly of uplifting stories.
Sally Cronin

Behold: the delightful Sally Cronin!

Here’s a little something about Sally you’ll want to know! She writes:

“I have been a storyteller most of my life (my mother called them fibs!). Poetry, song lyrics and short stories were left behind when work and life intruded, but that all changed in 1996.

My first book Size Matters was a health and weight loss book based on my own experiences of losing 70kilo. I have written another twelve books since then on health and also fiction including three collections of short stories. My latest collection is Life’s Rich Tapestry : Woven in Words.. verse, micro fiction and short stories.

I am an indie author and proud to be one. My greatest pleasure comes from those readers who enjoy my take on health, characters and twisted endings… and of course come back for more.

As a writer I know how important it is to have help in marketing books.. as important as my own promotion is, I believe it is important to support others. I offer a number of FREE promotional opportunities on my blog and linked to my social media. If you are an author who would like to be promoted to a new audience of dedicated readers, please contact me via my blog. All it will cost you is a few minutes of your time. Look forward to hearing from you.”

I read and enjoyed Sally Cronin’s book, Tales from the Irish Garden!

Tales from the Irish Garden
Book Description: The queen of Magia and her court have fled their sun filled Spanish homeland and the palace beneath the magnolia tree.

Arriving on the backs of geese and swans, they seek sanctuary in the magic garden of The Storyteller who welcomes them to the Emerald Island, a place where rain is almost a daily feature.

Grateful for their safe haven and the generosity of their host, the queen and her courtiers embrace their new surroundings with delight.
As the seasons change throughout the year, they come into contact with many of the human and animal inhabitants of the garden and the surrounding forest, all of whom have a story to tell.

This is a magical fairy story infused with fantasy and romance, as well as opportunities for mischief in the company of goblins, witches and Lerpersians.

My Review of Tales from an Irish Garden:


I was attracted to this book because of its title. Show me a title concerning Ireland, and you’ve got my attention! I had seen good reviews of this book and, as are legions of others, have been a devoted fan of author Sally Cronin’s blog Smorgasbord on WordPress for years. And so it was that I bought Tales From the Irish Garden, not fully knowing what to expect. To say I was roped in from the onset puts it mildly! I was immediately bowled over by the minute details in this highly creative story, one part fantasy, one part fairy story and all parts sheer, delightful suspension of belief. Only, and here’s the kicker, as I read this engaging story, lured along by its romantic, magical undercurrents, I began to intuit the deeply human parables! Sally Cronin is a writer gifted with insight, humor, whimsy, and unparalleled story pacing abilities. Tales From the Irish Garden invites the reader to enter a plausible, magical realm so real as to make the reader want to stay there

I also read and enjoyed Life’s Rich Tapestry:

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Book Description: Life’s Rich Tapestry is a collection of verse, microfiction and short stories that explore many aspects of our human nature and the wonders of the natural world. Reflections on our earliest beginnings and what is yet to come, with characters as diverse as a French speaking elephant and a cyborg warrior.

Finding the right number of syllables for a Haiku, Tanka, Etheree or Cinquain focuses the mind; as does 99 word microfiction, bringing a different level of intensity to storytelling. You will find stories about the past, the present and the future told in 17 syllables to 2,000 words, all celebrating life.

This book is also recognition of the value to a writer, of being part of a generous and inspiring blogging community, where writing challenges encourage us to explore new styles and genres.

My Review of Life’s Rich Tapestry!

We come to know a person’s mind through the words they speak; their personality through what they create, and their heart through what they write. Put this all together and you’ve been gifted a glimpse into an artist’s soul. This is how Life’s Rich Tapestry Woven in Words impressed me. Author Sally Cronin’s precious gem of a book is nothing short of fluid insight into all that it means to be human in a round-robin way as to address the entire sphere in bits and pieces that leave a lasting impression. These are musings delivered artfully, the perfect melding of heart, mind, and soul. In sharing her personal views, the author invites us to examine our own impressions of the day-today by shining light on life’s rich nuance. There is something profound in these meditative pages, something joyous and real that takes nothing for granted by sheer virtue of the fact that Sally Cronin has called them by name. In addressing the natural world, celebrating pets, seasons of the year, and random thoughts, Cronin speaks to the reader conversationally in such a manner that told me I’d revisit the pages. Her flash fiction, speculative fiction, and short stories are vignettes to savor—all told, this book is a work of art at its finest. All praise to author Sally Cronin, who has earned a constant and significant place in the blogging world by selflessly serving as the fulcrum of focus for so very many. That she has stepped forth by assembling and publishing this collection of letters has gifted us all with the awe-striking opportunity to see a writer’s career shine at its brightest. 

Many of us who follow Sally on Smorgasbord are familiar with the storied life of her collie, Sam, of whom Sally wrote ANOTHER book!

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I’m sharing the effervescent D.G.Kaye’s review here of Sam: A Shaggy Dog Story!
D.G. Kaye rated it it was amazing
This book, a memoir from Sam, the Lassie-like Collie, will warm anyone’s heart. Cronin tells the story through Sam’s voice in this delightful read. If you’re not already a dog lover, you will be after reading Sam’s story.

If you want to know how a dog views his life, Sam shares his adventures as a dog, how he learned manners, how he learned to speak a few human words, and even he even shares his opinions on going to the vet.

Sam is truly a heart-warming read for everyone.
Love this photograph!

Another of Sally Cronin’s 10 published books!

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Whatever the name there is always a story behind it. In What’s in a Name? – Volume One, twenty men and women face danger, love, loss, romance, fear, revenge and rebirth as they move through their lives.

Book Reviewer Darlene Foster writes: An awesome collection of short stories based on the names of the main characters. We don’t normally choose our own names, but they tend to define us. Names like Jana, Zoe, Hector, Hannah, Emma, Lily, Isobel, Fionnuala and many more, each have a story to tell. Some happy, some sad, some bittersweet, and some heartbreaking. F. Scott Fitzgerald said, “Find your key emotion, this may be all you need know to find your short story.” Ms. Cronin has certainly found the key emotion in each story in this enjoyable book.

Sally has a grand total of 10 published books, which you can learn about on Goodreads:

Sally Cronin (Author of Just an Odd Job Girl) | Goodreads

And one last time: do yourself a favor and follow Sally Cronin on WordPress at:

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine | Blog magazine for lovers of health, food, books, music, humour and life in general (wordpress.com)

https://linktr.ee/cffullerton

Smorgasbord Blog Magazine – Christmas Party 2020 – Invite a pet with guests Diana Wallace Peach, Patty Fletcher, Mary Anne Edwards and Claire Fullerton.

Always a delight on Sally Cronin’s Smorgasbord 🙂

Meet Author Johnnie Bernhard!

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A former teacher and journalist, Johnnie Bernhard’s passion is reading and writing. Her work(s) have appeared in national and international publications, including: University of Michigan Graduate Studies Publications, Southern Literary Review, Houston Style Magazine, The Mississippi Press, the international Word Among Us, and the Cowbird-NPR production on small town America. Her entry, “The Last Mayberry,” received over 7,500 views, nationally and internationally.

Her first novel, A Good Girl, is a 2017 finalist in the national Kindle Book Awards, a Pen/Bingham nominee, and shortlisted for the 2015 Wisdom-Faulkner international Writing Competition. It was chosen for panel discussion at both the 2017 Louisiana and Mississippi Book Festivals.

In 2018, A Good Girl was nominated by the Institute of Mississippi Arts and Letters for Fiction of the Year and accepted into the Texas Center for the Book permanent collection.

Her second novel, How We Came to Be, was released in 2018. It is a finalist in the 2017 Wisdom-Faulkner international Writing Competition. Chosen for panel discussion by the 2018 Louisiana Book Festival and the Mississippi Book Festival, it has received stellar reviews, including being named a “Must Read” by Southern Writers Magazine and listed as a 2018 Summer Reading List choice by Deep South Magazine. It was awarded the Summerall Book Prize by Lamar University in 2019.

Johnnie’s third novel, Sister of the Undertow was named a book of the month by the international book club, The Pulpwood Queens. It was a featured novel for panel discussion at the 2020 AWP and chosen as Best of the University Presses, 100 Books by Literary Hub and the Association of University Presses.

Johnnie was selected to be a speaker for the TEDWomen 2020: Fearless series.

Johnnie’s Third Novel, Sisters of the Undertow is making waves in the literary world,

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Sisters Kim and Kathy Hodges are born sixteen months apart in a middle-class existence parented by Linda and David Hodges of Houston, Texas. The happy couple welcomes their “lucky daughter” Kim, who is physically and mentally advanced. Following several miscarriages, Linda delivers “unlucky” Kathy at twenty-nine weeks, ensuring a life of cognitive and physical disabilities. Kathy enters public school as a special education student, while Kim is recognized as gifted.

Both sisters face life and death decisions as Houston is caught in the rip current of Hurricane Harvey. Kim learns the capricious nature of luck, while Kathy continues to make her own luck, surviving Hurricane Harvey, as she has survived all undertows with the ethereal courage of the resolute.

Sisters of the Undertow examines the connotations of lucky and unlucky, the complexities of sibling rivalry, and the hand fate delivers without reason. 

Image may contain: ocean and water, text that says 'Available on Audible, iTunes & Amazon Johnnie Bemhand "One sister beautiful, brilliant, and fearful of love. The other ordinary appear ance, learning disabled, and open- hearted. Itwill take Texas-sized hurricane move the parometer this relationship. well- paced, urgently narrated tory about the powerful under- tow sibling uck and love -MINROSE GWIN, author of The Accidentals Sisters of ANOVEL the yudertow'

Fans of audiobooks! Johnnie Bernhard’s latest novel is out today for your listening pleasure. Narrated by Emmy Award winning book narrator, Theresa Bakken, Sisters of the Undertow will appeal to those who love stories about sisters, families, and the human struggle to fit in. Theresa’s voice is smooth and carries you right into the story. Come download your copy. A 2020 Pulpwood Queens Book Club selection and published by Texas Review Press.

Image may contain: 2 people, including Johnnie Bernhard, people sitting, table and indoor

Like Ted Talks? Listen to Johnnie Bernhard here!

The Human Story | Johnnie Bernhard | TEDxLenoxVillageWomen

(1) The Human Story | Johnnie Bernhard | TEDxLenoxVillageWomen – YouTube

Image may contain: Johnnie Bernhard, text that says 'TEDxLenoxVillageWomen 11.21.2020 Johnnie Bernhard The Human Story'

SISTERS OF THE UNDERTOW has been chosen for the Texas Center for the Book Collection, State Library Austin.

Below: Ginger Smith, Johnnie Bernhard, Yours Truly, Kim Moon at The 2020 Pulpwood Queens Girlfriend Weekend in Jefferson, Texas.

Image may contain: Ginger Smith, Johnnie Bernhard, Claire Fullerton and Kim Kunkel Moon, people smiling

Johnnie’s 2nd, world-class novel: How We Came to Be

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Here’s my book review of How We Came to Be:

How We Came to Be is a triumph of order from chaos as told in the most accessible first-person voice I’ve had the good fortune to come across in ages. I was under narrator Karen Anders’ spell from the first because author Johnnie Bernhard came out swinging by gifting the reader with this engaging novel’s premise by the third page. Karen doesn’t look good on paper. She is a fifty-year-old, high school English teacher living in Houston; a divorced, single mother facing empty-nest syndrome, well aware of her dependency on alcohol, but nowhere near ready to quit. Why should she? Karen’s life is a mess. One would think this is a recipe for a down on its heels story, but the reader is captivated by Karen’s tell-it-as-it-is persona and—dare I say it, identifies when Karen summarizes her circumstances by confessing, “I’m hating every moment, but pretending I’m having the time of my life.” When I got to this line, I knew I was hooked.
We all have that sardonic friend who manages to smile through the egg on her face. This is Karen in a nutshell, and she keeps on keeping on, trying for the upper hand, while her adopted daughter, Tiffany’s first three months away at college become a study in bad choices, of which Karen has no say beyond putting out the fires. Karen’s dilemma is a common one and raises the question of how to be an effective single parent without chasing her daughter away.
In the meantime, back at the empty nest, Karen knows she must forge a life beyond the rat-wheel of predictable sameness centered on her Houston high school’s schedule. In an uncanny act of timing, Karen’s world is widened when she is befriended by WW11 Hungarian refugee, Leona Supak from across the street, and an unlikely alliance is formed that challenges Karen to grow. Having been single for decades and barely hanging on, it probably isn’t the best time for a man to come into Karen’s life, yet when Matt Broussard pursues the surprised Karen in an Austin bar, she thinks, maybe?
How We Came to Be is a brass-tacks, contemporary story without a moment of campy pretention. The events are cause and effect, but the story is what goes on in the likable Karen’s head. She is not so much a victim of circumstances as she is a neophyte at growing into her own. How We Came to Be is the story of a woman drowning in deep waters, who has the sense to learn how to swim.
I applaud author Johnnie Bernhard for her wizardry in crafting this perfectly paced story in a voice so unique and compelling. This is a book to read and return to. It is perfect for book clubs because there is so much in it to discuss!

Image may contain: Johnnie Bernhard and Minrose Gwin, people smiling

And Johnnie’s first novel, A Good Girl:

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I have found Johnnie Bernhard’s book to touch a powerful chord in my heart.  Masterfully written with deep insightinto the journey of family and forgiveness, I’m a better person for having read this book. – Cynthia Garrett , The London Sessions & The Mini Sessions (airing regularly on TBN Network), Author ofThe Prodigal Daughter
 

One of 2017’s best will surely be A Good Girl by Johnnie Bernhard, who as much as any writer since Flannery O’Connor and Walker Percy, offers a breathtaking tour of the human heart in conflict with itself ,desperately searching for grace and redemption in the face of unremitting loss. Bernhard’s sentences are filled with the stuff of what blues and country music singers refer to as “soul” and “high lonesome.” -Jim Fraiser, The Sun Herald, March 12, 2017

A Good Girl is a raw, real, and relatable gift to the soul onevery level. Ms. Bernhard’s writing is so descriptive, reading this book istruly a visceral experience. One cannot help but reflect on their own family legacy and life journey. Prepare to be riveted by this heartbreaking, yet healing story about family, self-discovery and learning how to love. -Eva Steortz, SVP, Brand Development, Twentieth Century Fox



Book Description of A Good Girl:

A Bible’s family tree and an embroidered handkerchief hold the key to understanding the past as six generation Texan, Gracey Reiter prepares to say goodbye to her dying father, the last surviving member of the Walsh-Mueller family. The present holds the answer, and the last opportunity for Gracey to understand her father’s anger, her mother’s guilt, and her siblings’ version of the truth.

The Walsh-Mueller family begins in Texas when Patricia Walsh leaves the famine of nineteenth century Ireland, losing her parents and siblings along the way.  She finds a home, love, and security with Emil Mueller in a German settlement near Indianola on the Texas Gulf Coast.  They begin their lives on a small cotton farm, raising six sons. From the coastal plains of Texas, five generations survive hurricanes, wars, The Great Depression, and life, itself.  

An all-encompassing novel that penetrates the core being of all who read it, A Good Girl pulls back the skin to reveal the raw actualities of life, love, and relationships.  It is the ageless story of family.

One of the highlights of 2020 for many writers was watching this!

For more about Johnnie Bernhard, please visit the author’s web site at http://www.johnniebernhardauthor.com

All of Johnnie’s books are available wherever books are sold!

https://linktr.ee/cffullerton

Malibu California Artists Neel and Virginia Muller!

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Sketch by Neel Muller

I want to introduce you to two beloved artists who live in Malibu, California. Neel and Virginia Muller divide their time between Malibu and Antibes, France, both incredible artists who live a wonderful, creative life!

Artist Neel Muller is the author of Going to the Dogs: Drawings to Help you Get Through the Day

Going to the Dogs: A collection of dog drawings to help you get through the day.
Wonderful Drawings for Dog Lovers with whimsical captions! One reviewer writes: ” The very essence of doggishness! Neel Muller captures the inner dog. The things about dogs that have made them so special to we humans for thousands of years. If you love dogs, you’ll love this book. Study each drawing and you’ll see exactly what I mean. If you have friends who love dogs as much as you do, do them a favour – send them a copy of this book!”

And This Lovely Book!

Drawings of Women: A celebration of women of all shapes and sizes by [Neel Muller]
A Celebration of Women of All Shapes and Sizes!

And for a Daily Dose of Artistic Inspiration : Daily Drawings of Women. One reviewer writes: “Mr. Muller has a delightfully witty, dry and very understated sense of humor. His approach is simple and direct and in this age where most things are over-the-top, makes this collection of thoughts, unique and beautifully refreshing.”

Neel Muller has loved drawing since he was a little boy. Using his drawing skill in the ad business has helped pay the bills, but he eventually decided to draw much more just for the enjoyment of it. So he promised himself he would do a drawing every day, no matter what. As a result, many have had a great time following his daily drawings. This book is on Neel’s favourite subject to draw: Women. He jokes that most of his drawings are from memory and that is mostly true. The important thing is that he celebrates women of all shapes and sizes in a fun, sometimes tender and sometimes dramatic way.

You can see more of Neel Muller’s art here: Check it out at futuretribal.com

Neel Muller’s FutureTribal artwork is now all over clothes, plates, towels, bags and shoes.  Neel was born and raised in South Africa and can’t shake off that African dust. These designs emerge from his colorful, vivid dreams : modern, primitive and graffiti.

More Art by Neel Muller:

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Rue Brûlée Antibes by Neel Muller

Below is artist, clothing designer, and etiquette teacher, Virginia Muller. She is the author of The Unforgettable Woman and Aubergine the Glitter Queen!

Virginia Muller

Neel Muller and Virginia Muller collaborated on the book The Unforgettable Woman, a gorgeous, delightful, whimsical series of drawings with pithy captions pertaining to the attributes of an unforgettable woman! A thought-provoking pleasure with stellar drawings to savor; the ultimate gift for artists and women!


One book reviewer writes: “I loved The Unforgettable Woman because she is in a few words or two manifests such a woman and the drawings are such wit in expressing such an unforgettable lady. I hear music and want to dance with each page.”

Image may contain: text that says '4045 uyb uodisueL OWNER'S WOMAI UNFORGETTABLE THE MANUAL FABER-CASTELL ASTELL VIRGINIA MULLER'

Virginia released the genre-crossing book that has something for everyone: Aubergine the Glitter Queen! A children’s story that encourages perseverance in the pursuit of one’s dreams!

Aubergine the Glitter Queen

The lure of having to know what comes next propels you through this one-of-a-kind story. The elegant illustrations have a touch of feminine whimsy and are poignantly placed as emphasis to highlight one Hollywood hopeful’s dream, who has come all the way from Paris with her little dog. An uplifting, gem of a book for children and adults in equal measure, Aubergine The Glitter Queen has an encouraging message that will appeal to those who appreciate a heart-warming story with illustrations that will knock off your socks!

Aubergine the Glitter Queen by Virginia Muller | Goodreads

Both of Virginia’s Books will delight the artist in all of us!

All books by Neel Muller and Virginia Muller are available on Amazon!

https://linktr.ee/cffullerton

The Pulpwood Queens Virtual Girlfriend Weekend: January 14-17 2021

2021 International Pulpwood Queens and Timber Guys Virtual Online Zoomathon Book Club Convention that we call our Girlfriend Weekend Slumber Party!

From Founder, Kathy Murphy: We really like to roll out the red carpet, or should I say leopard print carpet, for all the authors that grace us with their presence during our annual book club convention that we call Girlfriend Weekend.  The books of authors that I select are made either Official Pulpwood Queen Book Club Selections or Bonus Book Club Selections.  These authors are invited to attend and be featured at our annual convention always held Martin Luther King Weekend.  This year marks our 21st Anniversary and will be the first virtual event in the history of The Pulpwood Queens. I love to treat all our authors royally, and bow to the feet of our author Kings and Queens!

Pulitzer Prize winners, Edward Humes and the late great Doug Marlette, Pat Conroy, Fannie Flagg, John Berendt, Alice Hoffman, Lisa Wingate, and even Supermodel Paulina Porizkova have been featured at our Girlfriend Weekend.

These authors provide a great draw, but our real mission is to include the first time, first book author, and the undiscovered author who we like to help to get discovered in a big way.

We showcase all of them each year, close to 50 authors who always grace our annual book club hosted festival which we call GIRLFRIEND WEEKEND, always held Martin Luther King Weekend in January of each year. The dates for the 2021 online event are:

January 14 – 17, 2021

We will have Keynotes, Marilyn Simon Rothstein, Mary Morris, Caroline Leavitt, and more plus panels of authors with blogger and special moderators for three days of events.

Look into The Pulpwood Queen Girlfriend Weekend information, and how to join us at the online Book Club Event here:

Pulpwood Queen Girlfriend Weekend Packages and Tickets! (thepulpwoodqueens.com)

See you there with TIARA ON, they are mandatory!

Kathy L. Murphy, whose vision became 800 International Book Club Chapters all under the banner of The Pulpwood Queens Book Club!

Artist/Author/Founder of the Pulpwood Queens and Timber Guys Book Clubs and Author of “The Pulpwood Queens’ Tiara Wearing, Book Sharing Guide to Life”

From The Pulpwood Queen Girlfriend Weekend 2020

Author Kathleen Rodgers ( The Flying Cutterbucks) is a 2021 Featured Author

Members of The Pulpwood Queens Book Club Houston, Chapter!
Authors being interviewed on stage talking about writing and their books, and afterwards signing their books!
Dressed up for the theme: How the West Was Won at the Pulpwood Queens Girlfriend Weekend. At left, author Johnnie Bernhard of Sisters of the Undertow and others; far right, author Susan Cushman, Friends of the Library and others!

I wrote this for Southern Writers Magazine in 2019

For the uninitiated, first I’ll answer the question, “What in the world is meant by the Pulpwood Queens?” Thank you for asking. The Pulpwood Queens is a book club. It is the brain-child of one fabulous woman from Texas, Kathy L. Murphy, a painter and hair stylist who owned a salon in Jefferson, Texas, worked as a publisher’s rep until she lost the job, and, rather than lying down, bounced back by consolidating her talents. She opened Beauty and the Book, the world’s only combined hair salon and bookstore. From there, she founded The Pulpwood Queens of East Texas Book Club, which exploded into a nation-wide success. Today, The Pulpwood Queens has 765 book club chapters comprised of the most enthusiastically dedicated readers under the sun. I know this because many of the book club members showed up last weekend in Jefferson, Texas for the annual Pulpwood Queens Girlfriends Weekend. They brought their giddy-up in their get-along, wore tiaras and full costume for 2019’s How the West was Won theme, and, for the first time, I was there as a featured author. I will tell you in no uncertain terms that the weekend was the Mardi Gras of the book world. Three days of back-to-back panels comprised of authors introducing themselves and their latest work to a rapt audience of readers eager to discover new books. And in the middle of it, Kathy Murphy: the hub of the wheel, the Pulpwood Queen herself, her magnanimous heart on her sleeve in the middle of her mother-hen joy.

The Pulpwood Queens Girlfriends Weekend was an organized, over-the-top, combined book and love-fest. It’s not so easy to corral unbridled enthusiasm into a manageable space, though we all made the trip to Texas for the same reason. We came to fraternize with each other in an arena without hierarchy. We were there because we love books, the people who write them, and all those who read. All this reported, there was a plan. There was structure, lest the two hundred or more participants melt into a fawning, neck-hugging puddle of ecstasy over meeting a long-admired author in person for the first time, or someone known only through Facebook, now within arm’s reach.  For months prior, Kathy Murphy’s right-hand administrator, Tiajuana Anderson Neel, sent notice via social media about what to expect from the weekend and when. She posted a list of recommended lodging, suggested costumes, and shared the weekend’s schedule of events on the Pulpwood Queens Website, where she instructed all authors on how to donate an item pertaining to their book, for silent auction, whose proceeds were to benefit everyone’s favorite non-profit, The Pat Conroy Literary Center, in Beaufort, South Carolina.   

On a personal note, I wasn’t going to miss this. No fire, torrential rain, nor threat of mudslide could keep me from leaving Malibu, California and making my way to LAX. I was going to Jefferson, Texas on January 17, if I had to walk, spurred by the fire of anticipation over a three-day book festival aimed at mingling authors and readers.  Every second it took to get from Malibu to Atlanta to Shreveport then make the forty-nine- minute drive into Jefferson, Texas was worth it, and I knew it for what it was when I checked into the Excelsior House Hotel.

I’d be hard-pressed to envision a better backdrop for a book festival than Jefferson, Texas. Everything in the historic town was within walking distance to the convention center, where the party was held. Ambling down the spacious sidewalk on my way to the opening ceremony, I passed restaurants, a coffee shop, and the fully-realized General Store, which had a sign out front reading, “Welcome to the Pulpwood Queens.” It seemed the entire town was behind Girlfriends Weekend. So much so, that even Jefferson’s mayor showed up. Local shops contributed discount codes to the weekend’s attendees, and area restaurants remained open long past their closing schedule because word of the weekend’s festivities was all over the streets.

One foot inside the convention center, and the party was in full-swing. People milled about in cowboy hats and tiaras, smiling ear-to-ear, wearing boots. It was like being in a bee-hive holding the reins of a live wire, until the introduction of each featured author ensued, and the eight Southern Writers on Writing panelists took the stage, then the entire room suddenly felt like being in church. The audience was riveted as each of the panelists shared their thoughts on what it means to be a writer—a Southern writer, certainly, yet the breadth and scope of the discussion was also far-reaching, setting the tone for the following two days.

To bare witness to authors, nationally known and otherwise, talking about the premise of their books was a study in the passionate fires that lead a writer to pick up a pen in the first place. Throughout the weekend, there were key-note speakers that brought down the house: Revis Wortham, Paula McClain, Ann Weisgarber, Ann Wertz Garvin, Lisa Wingate, River Jordan, and we were all thrilled by the repeated participation of author Patti Callahan Henry, who appeared wearing a black, bouffant wig as the singer, June Carter Cash. One after another, Kathy Murphy moderated panels, giving a forum to authors who introduced themselves and their books in what seemed an intimate setting. Primarily, the Pulpwood Queens Girlfriends Weekend is geared toward readers; it was to them that each author gave their all, before taking a position at a table to shake hands and sign their book.

A highlight of Girlfriends Weekend was the group that came from Beaufort, South Carolina to share the stories about beloved author, Pat Conroy, who was written about in a series of essays assembled in the engaging book, Our Prince of Scribes. Pat Conroy, many knew, was a proponent of and participant in Girlfriends weekend. On the last day of the weekend, the pillars of The Pat Conroy Literary Center gave a talk about Conroy, with an attendant video that touched the hearts of everyone in the room.

Girlfriends Weekend concluded with a party unlike any other. Billed as The Big Hair Ball, it was all that and more. I’ve never seen such thought go into a bevy of costumes aimed at a western theme: cows, Indians, a pioneer woman, Annie Oakley, outrageous wigs, studded cowboy hats, and a mustache to rival actor Sam Elliot’s swirled on the dance floor in a celebratory vortex to the beats ranging from country to disco to pop.

The Pulpwood Queens Girlfriends Weekend was simultaneously an education and a blast. I’m thinking I made life-long friends there, in a jury of my peers. Three days in a weekend that felt too short by half, the first thing I did when I got home was mark my calendar for next year’s Pulpwood Queens Girlfriends Weekend.

Reavis Wortham, Kathy Murphy, Betty Hunt Koval, Lisa Wingate, Julie Cantrell, Bren McClain

A 2021 Featured Book Club Selection!

The Official 2021 International Pulpwood Queen and Timber Guy Book Club Selections

January Book of the Month:
Spellbound Under the Spanish Moss: A Southern Tale of Magic by Connor Judson Garrett and Kevin N. Garrett

January International Book of the Month:
King of Bollywood: Shah Rukh Khan and the Seductive World of Indian Cinema by Anupama Chopra

January Bonus Book Club Selections:

How to Be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

The Book of Longings: A Novel by Sue Monk Kidd

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind and Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow by Yuval Noah Harari

The Exiles: A Novel by Christina Baker Kline

February Book of the Month:

My Pursuit of Beauty: A Cosmetic Chemist Reveals The Glitz, The Glam, and The Batsh*t Crazy by Vince Spinnato and Mickey Goodman

February International Book of the Month:

Think Like A Monk: Train Your Mind for Peace and Purpose Every Single Day by Jay Shetty

February Bonus Books of the Month:

The Paris Library: A Novel by Janet Skeslien Charles

Her. Vol. 1 and Her. Vol.2 by Pierre Alex Jeanty

What? And Give Up Show Business? by James Hampton

Knock! Knock!: Lessons Learned and Stories Shared— 

 A Ride-Along with Sales Superstar Doug Thompson by Douglas Thompson and Echo Montgomery Garrett

March Book Club Selection:

The Chanel Sisters: A Novel by Judithe Little

March International Book Club Selection:

Paradise Road: A Memoir by Marilyn Kriete

March Bonus Book Club Selections:

The Mermaid Mahjong Circle: A Fairy Tale for Women by Claudia Grossman

The Lost Spells by Robert MacFarlane

The Heirloom Garden by Viola Shipman

The Book of Lost Friends: A Novel by Lisa Wingate

April Book Club Selection:

The Flying Cutterbucks: A Novel by Kathleen M. Rogers

April International Book Club Selection:

The Takeaway Men: A Novel by Meryl Ain

April Bonus Book Club Selections:

The Fallen Girls: Book 1 and Her Final Prayer: Book 2 Detective Clara Jefferies by Kathryn Casey

A Child Lost by Michelle Cox

The Ride of a Lifetime: Lessons Learned from 15 Years as CEO of the Walt Disney Company by Robert Iger

Cold Reading Murder by R. J. Lee

May Book of the Month:
A Boob’s Life: How America’s Obsession Shaped Me…And You by Leslie Lehr

May International Book Club Selection:

Dreaming in a Time of Dragons by G. Claire

May Bonus Book Club Selection:

Temple of Eternity (Bobby Ether Series) by R. Scott Boyer

Greenwood: A Novel of a Family Tree in a Dying Forest by Michael Christie

Crazy Brave: A Memoir by Joy Harjo and An American Sunrise: Poems by Poet Laureate of The United States Joy Harjo

When Stars Go Dark: A Novel by Paula McLain

June Book of the Month:

Pearl River Mansion by Richard Schwartz with Wendy Carter

June International Book of the Month:

Among the Maasai: A Memoir by Juliet Cutler

June Bonus Books of the Month:

The Madwoman of Preacher’s Cove by Joy Ross Davis

The Small Crimes of Tiffany Templeton by Richard Fifield

Sharp as a Serpent’s Tooth: Eva and Other Stories by Mandy Haynes

Outbound Train: A Novel by Renea Winchester

July Book of the Month:

The Gumbeaux Sistahs: A Novel by Jax Frey

July International Book of the Month

Come Sunday: A Novel by Isla Morley

July Bonus Book Club Selections:

A Million Little Lies: A Novel by Bette Lee Crosby

Copper, Iron, and Clay: A Smith’s Journey by Sara Dahmen

What Lies Ahead (Fireside, Texas Book II) by Marci Henna

Crescent City Sin by Nola Nash

August Book Club Selection:

The Last Blue: A Novel by Isla Morley

August International Book Club Selection:

Suspension: A Novel by Andrea Faye Christians

August Bonus Book Club Selections:

The Last of the Moon Girls: A Novel by Barbara Davis

Boop and Eve’s Road Trip: A Novel by Mary Helen Sheriff

A Season in Lights: A Novel in Three Acts by Gregory Erich Phillips

What’s Not Said by Valerie Taylor

The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams

September Book of the Month:

Bookish Broads: Women Who Wrote Themselves Into History by Lauren Marino

September International Book of the Month

The Ancient Way: Discoveries on the Path of Celtic Christianity by River Jordan

September Bonus Book Club Selections:

Hippie Chick: Coming of Age in the 60’s by Ilene English

Always A Song: Singers, Songwriters, Sinners, and Saints/My Story of the Folk Music Revival by Ellen Harper with Sam Barry

From the Summer of Love to the Valley of the Moon: A Memoir by Nancy J. Martin

Luz: A Novel by Debra Thomas

October Book of the Month:

With or Without You: A Novel by Caroline Leavitt

October International Book of the Month:

All the Way to the Tigers: A Memoir by Mary Morris

October Bonus Books of the Month:

The Illusion of Leaving: A Novel by Jeannette Brown

A Visitation of Angels: A Pluto’s Snitch Mystery #4 by Carolyn Haines

Switchback: A Patrick Flint Novel by Pamela Fagan Hutchins

Champagne Widows: Veuve Clicquot and Napoleon by Rebecca Rosenberg

November Book of the Month:

The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop: A Novel by Fannie Flagg

November International Book of the Month:

The Cowboy and The Indian: A Novel by Joseph M. Marshall III

November Bonus Books of the Month:

Drawing Lessons: A Novel by Patricia Sands

An Unfinished Story: A Novel by Boo Walker

Scattered Lights by Steve Wiegenstein

The Girl in the Tree by Sebnem Isiguzel

December Book of the Month:

The Menu by Steven Manchester

December International Book of the Month:

The Quisling Factor by J. L. Oakley

December Bonus Books of the Month:

Solo in Salento: A Memoir by Donna Keel Armer

The Art of Storykeeping: Saving History—One Family at a Time by Tamra McAnally Bolton

Evening in the Yellow Wood by Laura Kemp

Some of these books have garnered awards and some have already been optioned for film or TV series, but all have won 5 diamonds in the Pulpwood Queen’s tiara and my new official seal of approval.

Once again, here’s where to look into the Pulpwood Queens 2021, online Girlfriend Weekend!

Pulpwood Queen Girlfriend Weekend Packages and Tickets! (thepulpwoodqueens.com)

Happy Holidays!

Christmas, in the house in which I grew up in Memphis’s Morningside Park, was a festive season. My mother, whose name was Shirley Crossan Francis, was a member of the tribe my contemporaries and I now consider the last of the true Southern belles. Were my mother alive, she’d be ninety. She didn’t believe in half-measures, and was a champion of tradition and perfect form. When I think of her now, I think of her many graceful gestures.

Lately, I’ve been going through what seems like endless mounds of scrapbooks my mother kept. They are huge volumes, all dated, and the space these forty-some-odd books take up is staggering. Organizing the scrapbooks has been one of the tasks I’ve put by the wayside “for another day,” but I’ve run out of excuses during the pandemic. Because we’re approaching Christmas Day, I’m sharing some of the photographs I’ve come across. It’s my way of saying happy holidays. May you all make the most of the holidays and create wonderful, new memories. Don’t forget to hold your memories of the past in your heart, and to build that foundation with joy!

The dining room set for Christmas Eve dinner.

The alcove at the end of the dining room.

Another angle of the dining room that goes into the parlor.

The Christmas Tree in the Parlor
The House in which I grew up

In speaking of my mother, above is a portrait Memphis artist, Charles Inzer, drew of her. She was never partial to this portrait, and I do have others, but I took the liberty of using it for a graphic for my novel, 12-time award winner, Mourning Dove. In seeing these photographs, it may be clear to you from where I drew inspiration for Mourning Dove, which I set “on the genteel side of 1970’s Memphis, where all that glitters isn’t gold.” When one writes a novel with a particular point in mind, one draws from what one knows!

Happy Holidays!

https://linktr.ee/cffullerton

The Power of Story: Author Experience

Unexpected and Long-Tail Gifts: You Never Know the Difference Your Book Might Make …

December 9, 2020 By Barbara Linn Probst 1 Comment

Barbara Probst

When we publish a book, we want it to be read. Obviously. But what else do we want?

At the most concrete level, we want our book to be bought, liked, recommended, and reviewed. We want to see it on lists; we want lots of reviews (and stars) on Goodreads and Amazon. But we want something else, too—that connection with specific human beings who’ve been touched and changed by what we wrote.

When I published Queen of the Owls, I wanted all of those things, and I got many of them. The book earned awards, made it onto several “best of” lists. And yet, the most important outcomes are ones I never could have foreseen. They’re what I’m calling “unexpected, long-tail gifts”—responses from readers, often months later, that let me know how much my story meant to them.

My experience isn’t unique. When I reached out to other authors I knew, I found that all of them had a story (or two) about an encounter with a reader that left them humbled, honored, even moved to tears. Pondering what they told me, I’ve identified several themes that I’d like to share with you, along with some of their stories, as this year-to-end-all-years draws to a close. My hope is that these examples will help to remind us how much our writing really does matter and why it’s so deeply needed—especially now.

Finding the strength to go on

Therese Walsh tells how her novel, The Moon Sisters, found its way to a woman whose son had taken his own life. Though hesitant to read the book since she knew it was framed around a death in the family, the woman did read it and then reached out to let Therese know that it helped her to see a path forward for herself. She wrote: “What my heart appreciated the most was that the search eventually morphs into what the quest must be when answers remain elusive:  Where do we go from here?”  For Therese, “the book was written exactly for a person who needed hope after loss. That it found her, and that it resonated for her and hopefully brought some measure of comfort—helped her to find hope, despite the absurdity and sometimes even the brutality of life— well, gratified isn’t the right word for what I felt. It’s so much bigger than that.”

I’d venture to say that Therese is talking about the feeling of purpose, and of awe. There’s a sense of being of service—of playing a role in something that was meant to be—as someone picks up our book at just the moment when it’s needed most. As Caroline Leavitt, author of With You or Without You, said to me: “I got this astonishing email from a stranger who told me that she’d been going through a really hard time. She was stuck in a bad marriage and thought her life was over, but she read my book and told me, ‘I swear there was magic in that novel of yours’ because she suddenly felt that there might still be possibilities for her.”

Several authors told of equally extraordinary moments, when a reader shared how knowing that someone else—even if it was “just” a character in her book—had not only survived, but found a path forward, helped them find a freedom and a hope that had seemed unattainable. Kathryn Craft, author of The Far Side of Happy, told me: “The most touching comments I received were from people who had survived family suicides that no one ever spoke about, or had attempted suicide themselves. One young woman admitted to attempting suicide more than once—and then, after my event, she posted about our interaction on her Facebook page, amazed that I had held up the signing line to come around the table and hug her, and how this simple act had meant the world to her.”

Validating their own experience

When a reader bonds with one of our characters—feels that the character is not only credible and alive, but is someone just like me—it can bring a powerful sense of not being alone, not being the only one who’s gone through something painful and difficult. Randy Susan Meyers shared her experience after publishing her debut novel, The Murderer’s Daughters. “So many people wrote that they’d never told anyone about the domestic violence in their family, the murder of their mother, sister, daughter. Wherever I went, once people heard about my novel and the story behind it, family stories that broke my heart rushed at me. I learned that the only thing required of me was listening, bearing witness, and always giving the message that they were not alone, and the shame was not theirs to bear.”

So too, Barbara Claypole White, who writes about mental illness in families, told me: “I’ve received incredible messages from readers that often start, ‘I’ve never told anyone this before, but …’  Sometimes they see family members in my characters, or they’re in a dark place themselves and find connection and hope.”

This sense of validation can also help someone take an important step. Barbara related the story of an email she received shortly after The Promise Between Us was published. “A reader stumbled on a copy of the book. Through my heroine’s journey, the reader realized that she wasn’t crazy; she was suffering from postpartum OCD. My novel led her to a therapist. That’s a pretty amazing feeling, to see that fiction can and really does make a difference.”

Similarly, Randy Susan Meyers tells of an encounter when she was a keynote speaker at an event. “Afterward, a couple asked to talk to me as I signed books. They told the story of how they lost their daughter when her husband killed her, a story they had never shared before. They wanted to know how they could help to prevent other deaths.”

This sense of validation can also come from “finding one’s tribe” in the story world—reading a novel set in a place, culture, or social environment that rings familiar and true. Author Claire Fullerton set her book Mourning Dove “on the genteel side” of Memphis in the 1970’s. As Claire told me: “I wanted to depict a particular milieu and the price one pays for living in a culture where bad things are not discussed. Because I laid bare that side of Memphis, I couldn’t help wondering about the book’s Memphis reception.” Would it feel authentic?

Her concern abated when she received an email from someone she’d known decades earlier, asking if she had time to speak with him about the book. Claire wrote to me: “We had what turned into an hour-long conversation about the Memphis we knew in our coming of age. He said that my depiction of the social and economic strata we were raised in was as accurately described as anything he’d ever read and thanked me profusely for putting it into words.”

Bringing a new understanding and appreciation

Certainly, there are books that open us to cultures and eras we know nothing about, enriching us by showing other ways of living. At their best, these books do two things at the same time: they show us something new and different, while also helping us to see and feel that these “different” people are very much like us in their struggles and joys. Ellen Notbohm’s The River by Starlight, for example, shines a light of understanding and social justice on how the human experience in another era—the American West of a century ago— both differs from and mirrors our own. Ellen told me that at nearly every reading she’s done, someone has approached her with tears in their eyes, thanking her “for telling my mother’s story, my grandmother’s story—finally.” Through Ellen’s novel, they understood, at last, what the women who came before them had gone through.

Debra Thomas also relates how this “new understanding and appreciation” can be deeply personal. The most moving response she received to her novel Luz was from a young Latina woman who saw herself and her mother in the characters of Luz and Alma. As Debra writes: “Reading Luz prompted a discussion with her mother about her crossing, and for the first time, my reader learned intimate details of her mother’s difficult journey from El Salvador, along the length of Mexico, and then through a desert crossing at the border—including being lost in the desert for ten days. She came away with a renewed respect for her mother and an appreciation for the struggle she endured so she could provide her daughter—herself—with a better life. “

Literally, saving a life

I end with my own story, which is what prompted me to reach out to these authors.

In my debut novel, Queen of the Owls, the “bookworm” protagonist reveals, sees, and comes to claim her body through studying—and re-enacting—the nude photos that Stieglitz took of artist Georgia O’Keeffe.

I’ve received many messages from people who found the book to be deeply liberating, but an email from a woman I’ll call Cynthia was by far the most important. Cynthia won a copy of Queen of the Owls in a Facebook giveaway. Weeks later, she sent me an email.

“My connection to your novel is so surprising and totally unexpected … I’m uncomfortable looking at nude photos of women and reading descriptions of them. Nevertheless, I did quickly look up the photos of Georgia O’Keeffe that you mentioned in the book. The bigger deal is the book prompted me to do a breast examination of myself, which I know I’m supposed to do monthly, but don’t usually do. I found a small bluish-purple discoloration and a slight indentation. I called and had the physician’s assistant check me last week. She said it was not my imagination and scheduled me for a mammogram. They will also do a biopsy, if necessary. I am extremely grateful that I won a copy of your book and it prompted me to do this.”

Indeed, the doctors found a lump, and Cynthia was able to receive early treatment, including chemotherapy. She wrote again, later, to tell me she would never have had this early detection, and subsequent life-saving treatment, if she hadn’t read my book and been open to what it offered her.

Her story brought me to tears, reminding me that what we do through our writing has far more important consequences than how many stars, awards, reviews, or sales our books might collect. There are profound purposes we serve, as authors.

Cynthia’s is one story that I learned about. There may be other stories that I’ll never hear.

Our work as writers really matters. It might even save someone’s life.

What about you? If you’re an author, was there an unexpected gift you received from a reader? If you’re a reader, was there an unexpected gift you received from a book?

Mourning Dove
https://linktr.ee/cffullerton

What’s Your 2020 Pandemic Story?

Image may contain: text that says 'The Pandemic of 2020 What's YOUR Story?'

Can you write a 500 WORD ESSAY and share your pandemic story? Scare Your Soul would love to read it!

Lost & Found in 2020 is a project of the Scare Your Soul social-benefit courage movement.

People everywhere are invited to courageously reflect, write, and share some essential story of your life during the pandemic, and to connect people everywhere through shared human experience.

You are invited to reflect on what YOU have learned or discovered about yourself, others, or the world in 2020.

What have you lost and found?

People everywhere are invited to submit stories with their names, initials, or anonymously. We encourage a courageous sharing of real, authentic personal stories. No writing experience is necessary, and the submissions can be a poem, prose, or whatever best expresses your story.

We will design and make available a special free e-book containing as many submissions as possible.

Submissions are due by December 31, 2020. We have prompts and resources to assist you.

And, we have a special contest, too.

The Contest

From the collected story submissions, a team of Scare Your Soul ambassadors will select the most compelling ten to receive top billing in the e-book.

Those top ten will have their submissions read by professional actors to be part of a special free audio book, offered with the e-book.

Finally, each of these top ten writers will be awarded two courage-based life-coaching sessions.Learn More

Lost & Found in 2020 (lostandfoundin2020.com)

Submission guidelines are on the above link!

Come on! Get writing!

https://linktr.ee/cffullerton

Nick by Michael Farris Smith is Coming!

The Buzz around this book is staggering!

Critically acclaimed novelist Michael Farris Smith pulls Nick Carraway out of the shadows and into the spotlight in this fascinating look into his life before Gatsby!

Before Nick Carraway moved to West Egg and into Gatsby’s periphery, he was at the center of a very different story-one taking place along the trenches and deep within the tunnels of World War I.

Floundering in the wake of the destruction he witnessed firsthand, Nick delays his return home, hoping to escape the questions he cannot answer about the horrors of war. Instead, he embarks on a transcontinental redemptive journey that takes him from a whirlwind Paris romance-doomed from the very beginning-to the dizzying frenzy of New Orleans, rife with its own flavor of debauchery and violence.

An epic portrait of a truly singular era and a sweeping, romantic story of self-discovery, this rich and imaginative novel breathes new life into a character that many know but few have pondered deeply. Charged with enough alcohol, heartbreak, and profound yearning to paralyze even the heartiest of golden age scribes, Nick reveals the man behind the narrator who has captivated readers for decades

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=michael+farris+smith+Nick&docid=608048785560767329&mid=1D907FB70A21EB4662F51D907FB70A21EB4662F5&view=detail&FORM=VIREPRE-ORDER TODAY

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PRE-ORDER IN THE UK

Pre-order the UK Edition

“Anybody who believes that the war is over when the enemy surrenders and the troops come home needs to read Michael Farris Smith’s masterful new novel Nick. Its stark, unvarnished truth will haunt you.”

Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize winning author of 

Empire Falls and Chances Are…

​

“An evocative glimpse into life amidst World War I…Smith sculpts Carraway’s life in the most remarkable of ways.”

Southern Living

​

“Nick is so pitch-perfect, so rich in character and action, so remarkable a combination of elegance and passion, so striking in felt originality that I am almost tempted to say—book gods forgive me—that The Great Gatsby will forever feel like Nick’s splendid but somewhat paler sequel.”

Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize winning author of A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain and Paris in the Dark

​

“Nick is, sentence by sentence, scene by scene, an atmospheric masterpiece of imagination and prose. With scenes that take your breath away and forget to give it back, Smith takes us on an immersive and redemptive journey that travels from the trenches of the Great War, to Paris, to New Orleans and beyond.”

Patti Callahan, New York Times bestselling

author of Becoming Mrs. Lewis

​

“Nick offers a soul for the ages, one that finally and deftly slips into the canon.”

Jeffrey Lent, New York Times bestselling author

of In the Fall and A Slant of Light

​

“Stylish, evocative, haunting and wholly original, Michael Farris Smith has paid tribute to a classic and made it his own. Nick is a remarkable achievement.”

Chris Whitaker, author of We Begin at the End

​

“A dark and often gripping story that imagines the narrator of The Great Gatsby in the years before that book began …The new Nick is a man fully realized, with a mind tormented by the war and by a first love that waned too fast to a fingernail moon of bitter memory…A compelling character study and a thoroughly unconventional prequel.”

Kirkus Reviews

​https://www.youtube.com/embed/w_IpCW-l7qg?autoplay=0&mute=0&controls=1&loop=0&origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.michaelfarrissmith.com&playsinline=1&enablejsapi=1&widgetid=3

Before Nick Carraway moved to West Egg and into Gatsby’s periphery, he was at the center of a very different story-one taking place along the trenches and deep within the tunnels of World War I.

Floundering in the wake of the destruction he witnessed firsthand, Nick delays his return home, hoping to escape the questions he cannot answer about the horrors of war. Instead, he embarks on a transcontinental redemptive journey that takes him from a whirlwind Paris romance-doomed from the very beginning-to the dizzying frenzy of New Orleans, rife with its own flavor of debauchery and violence. 

An epic portrait of a truly singular era and a sweeping, romantic story of self-discovery, this rich and imaginative novel breathes new life into a character that many know but few have pondered deeply. Charged with enough alcohol, heartbreak, and profound yearning to paralyze even the heartiest of golden age scribes, Nick reveals the man behind the narrator who has captivated readers for decades.

US RELEASE DATE: 1.5.2021

UK RELEASE DATE: 2.25.2021

-Richard Russo, Pulitzer Prize winning author

“Masterful”

of Empire Falls

US RELEASE DATE: 1.5.2021

UK RELEASE DATE: 2.25.2021READ MORE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

MFS official author photo.jpeg

Michael Farris Smith is an award-winning writer whose novels have appeared on Best of the Year lists with Esquire, Southern Living, Book Riot, and numerous others, and have been named Indie Next List, Barnes & Noble Discover, and Amazon Best of the Month selections. He has been a finalist for the Southern Book Prize, the Gold Dagger Award in the UK, and the Grand Prix des Lectrices in France, and his essays have appeared with The New York Times, Bitter Southerner, Garden & Gun, and more. He lives in Oxford, Mississippi, with his wife and daughters.

Smith is represented by Ellen Levine of Trident Media Group. All foreign rights are handled by Trident Media Group.

Film/television rights are represented by Jason Richman of UTA (Los Angeles).

Author River Jordan

Many of my friends and peers in the book world are all atwitter with the news that River Jordan has a new podcast on Spotify! River Jordan, an eminently applauded author known, paradoxically, for her common-man, every-day appeal and profound esotericism, is both a drink of fresh water and a taste acquired as in the most sophisticated of wines. A no-nonsense, laser-sharp writer of deep fathoms, she has an uncanny knack for bringing the world to its brass tacks in a manner that highlights the ordinary as extraordinary. Her versatility as fiction and non-fiction author has gained her legions of devoted followers, myself among them, and I’m introducing River Jordan here for the uninitiated!

A few endorsements that will make a case in point:


PRAISE FOR RIVER JORDAN

 “River Jordan is like Thomas Merton, Patti Smith, and Anne Lamott all rolled up into one compassionate, timely, and bracingly honest gift.” Silas House, author, Southernmost

​”River Jordan is the South’s Anne Lamont.” Joy Jordan-Lake, author, A Tangled Mercy

“This author writes with a hard bitten confidence comparable to Ernest Hemingway. And yet, in the Souther tradition of William Faulkner, she can knit together sentences that can take your breath.” Florida Today

​”Author River Jordan conjures up the traditions of Flannery O’Connor, Harper Lee, and Peter Straub.” The Tampa Tribune

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Above is one of River Jordan’s books that I highly recommend!

In my book review, I wrote, in part: “Praise for Confessions of a Christian Mystic! This is a writer who asks the big questions for us; who owns a steady faith base yet thinks outside the box. Confessions of a Christian Mystic is devout and dauntless. It is sonorous, beautiful, soul-deep, and fearless.”

A little background about River Jordan:

River Jordan is an author, speaker, teacher and radio host. As a southerner with a global perspective she is a passionate advocate for the power of story.

 River’s writing career began as a playwright and she spent over ten years writing and directing. She is the best-selling author of four novels and a three spiritual memoirs.  As a critically-acclaimed author her work has been most frequently cast in the company of such writers as Flannery O’Conner, William Faulkner, and Harper Lee.

Ms. Jordan lives on a hill just beyond Nashville city limits surrounded by her wild, southern family. When not on the road you’ll find her on her porch at night watching the moon move through the star-filled sky and contemplating all manner of things human and divine.

Her latest release came out in October:
 

The Ancient Way, Discoveries On the Path of Celtic Christianity is her most recent book written about her pilgrimage to the Isle of Iona in Scotland.

 ​

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In first-person, nonfiction narrative readers will think familiar for its intimate, accommodating style, River Jordan combines everything that makes both memoir and travelogue captivating.

More on why so many are thrilled with the news of River Jordan’s Podcast!

I encourage you to listen to River Jordan on Spotify, where she gifts the listener with short, insightful, pithy insights that ring with universal resonance on subjects common to us all. Her offerings are short vignettes I find both delightful and deeply profound. I’ve made listening to Jordan’s podcast, titled Saints in Limbo, a regular practice. They are nothing short of uplifting messages. Saints in Limbo is on Spotify, Monday through Friday. The example below will give you an idea of the podcasts’ soul-stirring depth of field.

“A podcast to help get through these days that seem neither here nor there, before or after, what used to be or what will come after.
 A poem, a prayer, a story, a few good words for all good Saints who feel they’ve fallen into a strange new place called limbo.

Look into River Jordan’s website: https://www.riverjordanink.com/

I’ll add here a lagniappe, as they say in Louisiana:

Another of River Jordan’s wildly popular books:

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“River Jordan’s Saints in Limbo is a compelling story of the mysteries of existence and, specially, the mysteries of the human heart.”
–Ron Rash, author of Serena and Chemistry and Other Stories

And then there is this!

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In Praying for Strangers, River Jordan tells of her amazing personal journey of uncovering the needs of the human heart as she prayed her way through the year for people she had never met before. The discovery that Jordan made along the journey was not simply that her prayers touched the lives of these strangers, but that the unexpected connections she made with other people would be a profound experience that would change her life forever.

And you’ll enjoy this!

One more chance: If you haven’t listened to the 12 minute example yet, here it is again!

See you on Spotify, Monday through Friday at Saints in Limbo!

https://linktr.ee/cffullerton