Writing for Halloween

By Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor for Southern Writers Magazine

Every year, as Halloween approaches, it seems all my TV dramas adopt a Halloween theme. I am not opposed to Halloween but it is hard to pull off a believable drama with the same characters that have been doctors, nurses, police officers, firemen and the like. Their strong drama characters overpower their short-lived Halloween characters.

Overcoming the distraction of my favorite character appearing to be something different is hard enough but many times the writers don’t make things any easier. The plots vary from offbeat, to comical, to scary or even cute. I say cute because my grandchildren just saw the “Adam’s Family” and thought it was cute. Another set of grandchildren saw “IT Chapter 2” and described it as creepy. I’m not sure what the writers had in mind on either film but I would be willing to guess it wasn’t “cute” or “creepy”. 

Hearing their description of these movies I thought, I have never heard anyone describe one of Stephen King’s movies as cute or creepy. It seems to me the descriptions of his movies are more like scary and horrifying. King has been noted as the author of horror, supernatural fiction, suspense, and fantasy. No cute or creepy.

Frightening movies are not necessarily written with Halloween in mind but they are very often released around that time. It is the time of year we are all looking for a scare so why not indulge us? But let’s think back to what was mentioned earlier. Horror and even terror have its place but there are also places for cute and creepy. We may not be of the mind set to write the greatest of horror stories but there is also a place for us if we like writing scary, creepy or even cute. With most genres there are various ways to approach it. Writing horror has many levels as well.

As we enjoy this upcoming Halloween be aware of the stories you see and hear. Look them over and put them in a category you can name, such as horror, scary, creepy or cute. If you decide which one is your forte and you want to give it a try, go for it. It would be great to have it finished and out in time for Halloween 2020. Happy Halloween!     

    

A Word …About Words

By Larry Gildersleeve

When I began writing fiction five years ago, I read that readers, agents and publishers all required 80,000 to 100,000 words for me to have any chance at success. 50,000 would be a minimum; anything less was somewhat disparagingly referred to as a novella. My first two novels are 65,000 each. My about-to-be-released third is 53,000, and I’m happily heading toward Novella Land. 

Since it ranked #1 on the NY Times bestseller list for over a year, and sold more than 50 million copies worldwide, I doubt the late singer/songwriter/author James Robert Waller agonized much over The Bridges of Madison County being a novella. 

Stephen King has published 58 books, including several under his nom de plume Richard Bachman, yet a reviewer of his 2018 novella Elevation derided it as “A mere slip of a book.” Really? That critic likely never authored a book and forgot or never read Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning Of Mice and Men or Hemmingway’s The Old Man and the Sea.  

I understand James Patterson, arguably the world’s most prolific successful writer at work today, has said his future releases will be around 125 pages. His reason? The shrinking time people are willing to devote to reading, as well as the proliferation and popularity of reading on electronic devices like Nook and Kindle, even cell phones.

The best-selling book of all time is the Bible. In it, the account of creation in Genesis is told in only 400 words. The Ten Commandments needed just 179 words; the Lord’s Prayer a mere 66 words.

I believe country music songwriters, especially those in years gone by, are some of the world’s greatest poets and storytellers. Their few words capture a listener in seconds, and unfold an entire story of wonderous joy or painful heartbreak in less than three minutes. Oh, and the brief lyrics of Bob Dylan’s songs won the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Literature.

Just sayin’.

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Larry B. Gildersleeve is a father of two and grandfather of four who turned to writing after a four-decade career as a corporate executive. He lives in Kentucky and is the author of Dancing Alone Without Music and Follow Your Dreams. His third novel, entitled The Girl on the Bench, is scheduled for release in mid-2019.www.larrygildersleeve.com

Why Go to Writing Conferences?

By Paul Atreides 

I was speaking on the phone to a member of our writer’s group, and conversation rolled around to the upcoming conference. She happens to be putting the finishing touches on a follow-up to her previous Indie best-seller. She wasn’t planning on attending for a variety of reasons. Then she asked why conferences are important. “What’s the point?” she asked.

Outside of landing an agent or publishing deal, there will be an expansive array of subjects on the craft and business of writing. The experiential effects are accumulative; success stories from faculty and attendees alone can inspire.

“I’ve had a top-notch editor tell me my work is exceptional. She said, ‘you don’t need classes or workshops.’ And I ran a newspaper, too.” Her response took me aback.

Whoa, whoa, whoa. I’ve heard that about my novels, plays, and published non-fiction work (Thanks, Honey! Thanks, Mom!). My response to anyone heaping such praise: “Stop blowing smoke up my back end.”

Regardless of how many novels you sell, regardless of how many shows up on best seller lists, regardless of how high they rise in the Amazon ranks, there is always something to learn. Our industry changes, it’s in constant flux. If we don’t change with it, we’ll eventually find our work hitting the bottom of the slush pile. And that’s not a pretty place to be.

Honing your craft is about more than learning proper punctuation, or when to use upper case or italics from the AP Style Guide (a new edition is out, by the way). It’s about more than being able to join the Grammar Police on Facebook (we know that can be fun, but still…).

Agents and acquisition editors who attend conferences as faculty, and are there to accept pitches, know you’re serious about your craft. That’s why you’re there. To soak up every scintilla of information. To head home with your head spinning, drunk on new knowledge and eager to put it to work, your publishing track record notwithstanding.

Perfecting craft, though there is no such thing, is the ability to build a new world, or even describe the one we live in with just the right words to captivate readers. Finding the right turn of phrase that makes a character pop and remain in readers’ minds makes you, as an author, remain there as well. That helps sell the next book. And the next.

These are all the things faculty at a conference is there to teach you. No matter how long you’ve been at this writing game. The most surprising thing I ever witnessed at a conference, though it shouldn’t be, was faculty slipping into a workshop. I mean, these are the experts. These are the folks who control the whole shebang. They decide which queries get the rejection letter and who receives the multi-book deal. What in the world are they doing in someone else’s workshop?

Believe it or not, they’re honing their craft. Just like that member should. And there is no better place to do that than a writing conference. Unless, of course, you convince Stephen King, John Grisham, Jodi Picoult, or the like to mentor you one on one.(And, if that happens, give me a call, would you? I’d like that inside track.)

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Paul Atreides is a theatre critic and columnist for EatMoreArt!Vegas.com, and contributor to Desert Companion, a NevadaNPR/PBS publication.  He is the author of the series World of Deadheads, a paranormal humor series. Social Media: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/paul.atreides.391

and https://www.facebook.com/WorldofDeadheads/?reg=bookmarks

https://twitter.com/atreides_paul?lang=en Gallery of Stars http://authors.southernwritersmagazine.com/paul-atreides.html

Exploring the “What Ifs”

By Doyne Phillips, Managing Editor for Southern Writers Magazine

Following the attack on U.S. forces at Pearl Harbor Admiral Nimitz was sent to assess the damage. Upon looking over the damaged ships, aircraft and structures his main concern was the loss of life. He was asked what were his thoughts? He said, “The Japanese made three of the biggest mistakes an attack force could ever make, or God was taking care of America. 

Which do you think it was?” 

Fortunately, it was Sunday, most of the men, 9 of every 10, were off duty on leave and on shore away from the ships. Otherwise our loss of some 3800 could have been closer to 38,000. He went on to say they didn’t bomb our dry dock across the harbor or otherwise the damaged ships would have needed to be towed to America to be repaired. The Japanese third mistake was every drop of fuel in the Pacific theater of war was stored five miles away in above ground tanks. All our fuel could have easily been destroyed by one fighter plane strafing them.      

The 75^th Anniversary of D-Day was recently remembered. Loss of life was great there as well. Of the 150,000 troops involved in the invasion, casualties of the landing have been estimated at 10,000 which consist of British, Canadian and American troops. It was estimated during the planning phase of the landing that losses could reach 80%.

With those thoughts of battle the “What ifs” come to mind. Both cases direct us to how much worse it could have been. Considering the circumstance, it must be noted how fortunate we were. On the other hand, the Japanese could look at the “What ifs” with regret. What if we had attacked on another day? What if we had sent another wave of planes and hit their dry docks and fuel supplies? 

Personal “What Ifs” are many times those of regret. We tend to dwell on our loss or perceived loss rather than how fortunate we were and our good situation we are in today because of the occurrence. Writers “What ifs” must not only be looked at from both regret and fortune but from a whole new angle. Many writers have had a great career taking an occurrence in an entirely new direction.

Stephen King comes to mind. There is scary then there is horror. King has taken the “What ifs” of scary to an entirely new level. I cannot fathom how his mind works or even begin to understand some of his stories but I do know with an estimated 87 books to his credit it is working.

King may not be your cup of tea but his methods are something to be noted. I play a game with my grandchildren we call “And Then”. One will begin a story and pass it on to the other by saying “And Then”. This could easily relate and be an exercise for “What If”.

With “What If” your options have never been greater! Fiction writers couldn’t write as successfully as they do without it.

Never let it get too far from your writing. Otherwise what if it did?     

EMBRACE THOSE REJECTIONS

By Vicki H. Moss, Contributing Editor for Southern Writers Magazine

On May 2 on the Suite T blog, I wrote about the children’s writer Madeleine L’engle, author of the children’s book A Wrinkle in Time; how she kept writing after rejections because she couldn’t stop. 

Most of you know that A Wrinkle in Time, a young adult novel in the science fantasy genre and first published in 1962, won the Newbery Medal. It also won the Sequoyah Book Award, and Lewis Carroll Shelf Award, and was a runner-up for the Hans Christian Andersen Award. The book also inspired two film adaptations, both by Disney: a 2003 television film directed by John Kent Harrison, and a 2018 theatrical film directed by Ava DuVernay.

But what most people don’t know is that it took Madeleine ten years to sell her manuscript. She kept writing during her perceived failure. “I’m glad I made this decision [to keep writing] in the moment of failure. It’s easy to say you’re a writer when things are going well. When the decision is made in the abyss, then it is quite clear that it is not one’s own decision at all.

“In the moment of failure I knew that the idea of Madeleine, who had to write in order to be, was not image.

“And what about that icon?

“During those difficult years I was very much aware that if I lost my ability to laugh, I wouldn’t be able to write, either. If I started taking myself and my failure too seriously, then the writing would become something that was mine, that I could manipulate, that I could take personal credit—or discredit—for. When a book was rejected, I would allow myself twenty-four hours of private unhappiness. I’m sure I wasn’t as successful in keeping my misery from the family as I tried to be, but I did try.”

Madeleine goes on to say she would take a walk and do her weeping. She could also play games with the children at dinner, but she couldn’t listen to Bach. Unlike Madeleine, I didn’t weep over rejections, nor did I nail my rejections to a timber like Stephen King. I did, however, keep every single rejection in a box and I also kept good records in a three-ring-binder pertaining to where each story was sent and if it sold or not. By keeping good records, I prepared myself for an eventual book sale—and a possible IRS audit. Because one day down the road, I planned on making some sales. Goalzzzzz! Before that day came, I kept myself in a positive frame of mind, and began writing for kids’ magazines to keep me pumped before a book deal.  

But if you must weep, go ahead. I’ve found weeping, however, makes me weak. I do better thinking about how many rejections Stephen King had before he made a sale; somewhere in the sixties. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig had 121 rejections. Chicken Soup for the Soul by Jack Canfield had 144 rejections. Kate DiCamillo had 473 rejections beforeBecause of Winn-Dixie (one of my favorites) was published. Louis L’Amour had 200 rejections before he was finally published.

Feel better now? Just remember, if you must write in order to be—like Madeleine L’Engle—weep if you must over rejections. Go all out on the gloom and despair bit for a few hours. Then get back to work pronto. What helped me was to say, “Yay, I got a rejection letter today! Now only 60 more before I’m up there with Stephen King’s rejection number,” or “200 more rejections until I’m up there with Louis L’Amour’s count!” I actually celebrated those first rejections and continued the countdown. Worked for me. Saved my mascara.

And after 57 rejections, I sold my first story. And *drumroll* bought the family hamburgers that night because it wasn’t enough money to go all the way with cheese. But hey, I still had my first writing paycheck.

I’ll say it again, weep if you must, but only for a time. Because time’s a wastin’. Go ahead and laugh and listen to Bach. While writing. Then send your manuscripts out. Those editors, agents, and publishers who accept unsolicited manuscripts are waiting for your masterpiece. It won’t get published unless you 1) send it out, or 2) self-publish. Those are your options. Success won’t happen unless you put yourself out there and embrace a few rejections.                         

Fear Itself

by Gary Fearon, Creative Director, Southern Writers Magazine


My neighbor goes all out for Halloween. His is the go-to house for trick-or-treaters, not just those from our neighborhood, but from the surrounding ones as well. This photo, taken mid-October, is nothing compared to what his yard becomes on Halloween night.

As in years past, he'll add an impressive walk-through funhouse populated by zombies and other assorted children of the night. A steady flow of kids and parents will line up outside his tarp-covered tunnel hoping for a good scare.

Each Halloween, as the resulting happy shrieks echo through the neighborhood, I once again ponder the appeal of the safe scare. 

Why do we get such pleasure out of being frightened? After all, we have a built-in survival instinct that wants to protect us from any harm.
The simple answer is that there are both physical and psychological feel-good benefits.

As long as we know we are not in any danger, the faux fear factor triggers a rush of chemicals that excite us, making us feel more alive. Margee Kerr, Ph.D. and author of Scream: Chilling Adventure in the Science of Fear, explains that our "fight or flight" mode kicks in during these times, but we are hijacking the flight response and enjoying it.

Or, if you want to get existential, it could be said that "surviving" a haunted house, a Stephen King movie, or a roller coaster ride gives our psyche the sensation of cheating death. At the very least, we can say that we embarked on an adventure, conquered it, and had a happy ending.

If the latter sounds familiar, is that not the essence of story? Our hero begins a quest, fights his way to victory, and survives. We identify with the protagonist and want to see him through to a satisfying resolution so that we can win right alongside him.

Within the safety of a book or screenplay, we relax and enjoy facing our fears. What type of things actually do frighten you? Health scares? Failure? An unexplained sound in the middle of the night? Everyday, true-to-life fears are something everyone feels, and if your hero faces them either as their main struggle or alongside it, readers are able to identify and empathize with your vulnerable champion.

When writing your story, raise the stakes by challenging your hero with whatever he is most fearful of. Igniting the survival instinct with thrills and chills is an effective way to scare up some readers.

Old Familiar Friends

By Michael Hicks Thompson

I have no idea if any of those “How to Write a Novel” books (e.g., King’s On Writing, 10th Anniversary Edition: A Memoir of the Craft) or any others) taught this, but I’ve not read it anywhere; though, I doubt I’m the only one to offer it up.

I discovered a principle about readers. Simply by reading my manuscript through, page by page, word by word, dozens of times.

Here’s what I discovered. Readers need to encounter familiar friends (even foes) during the course of reading a novel. Why? Because readers need familiar characters to pop up throughout the story. Otherwise, their subconscious asks them, “Where’s that character, Freddie? I haven’t read anything about him for ten chapters.” Well, people don’t think exactly like that, but you get the point.

Think of it this way. If a writer brings up a character in the first third, that character will need to reappear again. Maybe even multiple times, depending on the size of the character’s role in the first third. The more description, dialogue, or substance an author gives to a character, the more that character needs to come back into the story. I had to re-write a major portion of my novel when I discovered that I’d simply written this one scene about a deputy on the Greenlee Sheriff’s Force.

She reached in her purse and retrieved a thin, silver-engraved box of cigarettes. She selected one and inserted it into a shiny black holder. Deputy Cox, who’d been leaning against the doorjamb, pulled a Zippo from his pocket, strutted over, and lit it. She smiled at him, tossed her head back, and blew out a smoke ring as big as my dinner plates. Cox grinned and dropped the lighter in his trousers, while Butch continued.

 And one page over, the Sheriff is telling Cox to take Tully Ivey back to the Grater house.

“Cox, I want you to drive Miz Ivey and Mr. Carr out to the Grater house.”

“Be my pleasure,” Cox said, spreading his cowboy legs, both thumbs wrapped around his belt buckle.

I had left Cox out for the rest of the story. Stupid me. But, it’s easy to do unless you look for such occurrences, and I did, after reading the doggone manuscript over a dozen times.

Leave out old friends, and you’ll leave your reader out.

Here’s what I did. I brought Cox back later, in a subtle way, i.e., not trying to connect his love interest in Tully Ivey, America’s most famous actress, but simply learning from her how Tarot cards work. Eerie.

Haven’t you read novels where a character came into play in the first third with a seemingly big set-up, only never to hear from him again? It happens all the time.

You see, it’s difficult to juggle a mystery novel. To keep the plot moving, the clues, the red herrings, the humor, the empathy, the struggle, yet be aware of every character’s role and their place in the story tell

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Michael Hicks Thompson received his masters degree in mass communication from the University of South Carolina, after an undergrad from Ole Miss. He started a one-man ad agency that grew into 87 employees in two cities, where he was CEO/creative director/copywriter. His firm, Thompson & Company won numerous national and international creative awards. He sold the firm in 2011, and now devotes his time to writing the Solo series. The Rector has already won several major awards. He's been a team member in Kairos' prison ministry for two years; also been to Cuba on door-to-door evangelism trips, and spoken at large conventions as featured speaker on the life of David ben Jesse. You can actually "See Inside" the DAVID books at www.shepking.com, or Amazon. Oh you won't want to miss the photo of Goliath and the Ark of the Covenant. Michael had both of them made for a book signing tour. His latest book The Actress has released.

When in Doubt

by Gary Fearon, Creative Director, Southern Writers Magazine


While browsing Facebook this weekend, I came across this exchange:

Linda: There are days, like this one, when I want to shred my manuscript and throw my computer in the pond. It'll happen someday. I'll toss everything and take up basket weaving.

Kathleen: That just means you're a writer.

Linda: You mean other writers want to throw their computer in a pond?

This amusing dialogue (which I've been granted permission to share) was between authors Linda Yezak and Kathleen Y'Barbo.  And each of these successful writers make a good point:

1) You know you're a writer when you get frustrated with your writing.
2) Every writer gets frustrated with their writing.

Frustration and moments of doubt, however, don't stop Linda nor Kathleen. Linda Yezak's latest novel The Final Ride just won First Place in Christian Fiction by the Texas Association of Authors. And Kathleen Y'Barbo's vast catalog, including last week's re-release of Not the Marrying Kind, would easily fill two shelves at Barnes & Noble.

Looking through the 1.8 million book titles on Amazon, or reading the success stories of other writers, it would be easy to question our own value to the writing community. We sometimes forget that the struggles we face are the same ones shared by every writer.

"We learn from failure, not from success," said Bram Stoker.  It is quite an achievement when we've honed our craft well enough to recognize when something doesn't meet our standards.  Especially something that we've written.  The ability to distinguish wheat from the chaff in our own writing is something most novices can't do, dazzled instead by the joy of simply getting words on a page.

A few months back, one of my favorite author/lecturers spoke to a crowd of fellow writers.  She revealed the insecurities she's had to overcome, including that of speaking in front of a live audience. If she had simply given a great talk (which she did), we'd have been impressed.  But we respected her even more because she shared her vulnerabilities. The entire audience immediately bonded to her as fellow victims of self-doubt.

It's nice to know we're not alone, and that even in frustrating moments we're honoring a grand tradition of all the writers who, like Stephen King, laughed in the face of rejection slips and even stuck them on a nail to impale them. Don't lose your battle for want of a nail.

Follow the advice of Rise Up and Salute the Sun author Suzy Kassem: "Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will." Can that attitude help you succeed?  Undoubtedly.

What I Wish I Knew Before…

By Marianne Spitzer

Recently, a young woman asked me what I wish I knew before I began writing and what I learned about writing and self-publishing. It’s not a difficult question. Writing the book is the easy part, but there are lessons to be learned. I read and heard more often than I can count to write what you know. It is good advice, but for many of us, that limits our genre base. I am not a big fan of sci-fi and would never attempt to write in that genre. I imagine writing an alien battle would be a disaster.

I prefer a bit of advice I received from a fellow indie author: write what you love and what you think people will read. For me, that was easy. Mystery. My first love were Nancy Drew books and other mysteries followed. I also love the paranormal. Combining the two was easy for me. My first book was in the paranormal mystery genre. I also enjoy cozy mysteries and Western historical romance. I wrote books in both genres. I admit I did not know much about the Western settlement of this country, but I loved reading about mail-order brides. When you research a subject you love, it becomes enjoyable and not tedious.

I think it boils down to one piece of advice I can share. Write from your heart. Embrace the subject of your story, write with emotions you feel, and build characters that step out of the book into the minds of your readers.

The hardest part is after the book is written. You have two decisions to make. Do you try to find an agent and publisher, or do you self-publish?

For me, that was self-publication. I did submit to a few publishing companies and received kind rejections, but they were still rejections. I chose self-publishing and have yet to regret my choice. I would advise any new author to begin building a reader base as soon as possible. Social media is the least expensive way to start. Let people know about your book before you publish it. Start a blog and share a few lines from each chapter as you finish. It will help you to move forward, and the feedback will allow you to gauge feedback. Readers will let you know if they enjoy how your story is progressing or not. Their opinions are invaluable.

One last thing I needed to learn was how to accept rejection gracefully. That includes rejection from family, strangers, friends and myself. If you read a scene you wrote and wonder how you managed to blunder badly, do not be afraid to delete or rewrite it. Our first ideas are not always our best. Rejection from others is hard, but remember not everyone likes the same thing. Do not take it personally even if the review or comment attacks your ability to write.

One last bit of advice, keep writing for as long as it brings you joy.

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Marianne Spitzer says “my passion is writing. When I am not writing, I am reading or watching sunsets. I have been writing short stories since I was in elementary school. Most were in the form of essays relating real-life events. Many were purely imaginary trips to magical places and times. I enjoy making up stories about people I meet or see on the street. My imagination runs wild and free. Besides my fifteen self-published novels, I have two paranormal short story collections and a children’s book. I’ve read and love supernatural stories and mysteries since I picked up my first Nancy Drew book. I also read all the Hardy Boys books I could find. I am a fan of Stephen King, Wendy Corsi Staub, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and Agatha Christie. Poe and H.P. Lovecraft are also two of my favorite authors.  I write fiction and supernatural mystery is my genre of choice. I also write cozy mysteries, Western historical fiction, and a thriller. I love spring, summer, and starlight, but snow and ice make my dislike list. I am a chocoholic. I have two children and two grandchildren who are the joys of my life.  For more information on all my books, please visit my website Marianne Spitzer, Author, Amazon site Marianne Spitzer on Amazon,  my blog Musings Under the Willow Tree., Facebook page Marianne-Spitzer, Author or follow me on Twitter @MarianneSpitzer

Writing Inspiration

By Niles Reddick

Inspiration can come to writers in many forms that have included current events, family, memories, friends, and even music, but reading other writers can also trigger stories you need to write. All of these influenced my new novel Drifting too far from the Shore and in very different ways. The title was influenced by the gospel song that I heard sung by Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner on YouTube, my main character’s name came from two of my great grandmothers, tragic real-life events were included in the narrative, and memories of the Southern place where I grew up are woven into the narrative like a patch-work quilt.

Writing is best done when motivated and creative juices are flowing, or one might find himself staring at the computer screen. I write early in the morning after a couple of cups of coffee before anyone is awake and even on weekends. I love what I do, so it’s not really work. It’s more of a calling, but I don’t write every day. Some days, I read or watch television and those activities, too, can generate ideas.

Young people always want to know if writing pays well, and I tell them, “absolutely,” just not monetarily unless one hits it big like Stephen King or John Grisham. I never took up writing for money because I simply had to write. A writer friend of mine used to say, “Don’t give up the day job.” Truthfully, I probably couldn’t pay one house payment with what I’ve made from writing.

In the beginning, I got mad when I got rejections, and there have been hundreds of them. Even after three books, rejections still come when I submit stories. It’s not personal. It’s just that sometimes stories don’t fit a particular journal or magazine and often writers may not know that in advance of submitting. Keeping a positive attitude, and saving those rejections, can be motivational. I wrote two novels that were never published and hundreds of poems that were lost. From the novels, I got one story! But I never gave up.

Editing and rewriting are an important process of writing. I read everything I write out loud to my wife. She doesn’t always want to hear it and she sometimes doesn’t like it, but she reads a lot and I think she knows what is good and isn’t. Reading out loud to her allows me to “hear” mistakes, areas that need to be rewritten or things that don’t sound natural. I might not get that if I just read it silently to myself. I edit multiple times before I finally send a submission off, and even then, it’s not perfect. I don’t believe in perfection, just movement in that general direction. I do get discouraged, though, when I see excellent writing passed by in favor of some pretty shallow reality TV shows.

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Niles Reddick’s newest novel Drifting too far from the Shore has been nominated for a Pulitzer. Previously, his collection Road Kill Art and Other Oddities was a national finalist for an Eppie award and his first novella Lead Me Home was a national finalist for a ForeWord award. His work has appeared in anthologies Southern Voices in Every Direction, Unusual Circumstances, Getting Old, and Happy Holidays and has been featured in many journals including The Arkansas Review: a Journal of Delta Studies, Southern Reader, Like the Dew, The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature, The Pomanok Review, Corner Club Press, Slice of Life,  Faircloth Review, and many others. He works for the University of Memphis at Lambuth in Jackson, Tennessee. His website is www.nilesreddick.com and on
https://www.facebook.com/niles.reddick.9