Dear Readers, Today I am so honored to share an interview with a great friend of this blog and a woman whose poetry I admire very much. Her collection, In the Shadow of Rainbows, has been out for a few months now, and I’m sorry to have waited so long to tell you about it. It’s just lovely, as is she. She is unfailingly positive and supportive, and I truly appreciate this internet friendship we’ve developed. By time you’ve finished reading this interview, you’ll want to read her book of poetry, so do yourself a favor and just go ahead and buy it now. It’s available on Amazon, Barnes and Noble ..read more

We’re in the thick of fall, and I’m resigned to it, nay, am even enjoying it. Barry and I have jumped on the “spookify a thrift shop painting” bandwagon and had a marvelous time doing it. (Can you guess which painting additions is whose?) Barry brought home not one, not two, not three, but FOUR huge pumpkins for us. Barry is a “go big or go home” kinda guy. I’m not mad about it. Oh, and I also bought a cute little toy castle and turned it into a haunted one with spray paint and lights. I can’t say why we have been so smitten with fall; I suppose it has something to do with the whole redec ..read more

It was my turn at the mic on this episode of MFA Payday. We ended up recording the episode three different times due to technical difficulties. This last effort is not perfect, but it is what it is. And I hope you’ll enjoy hearing Barry ask me questions and listening to me do a bit of reading from my book. (I really, really like the Woolf Conference scene, so I read a portion of it on the show.) You don’t need me to add my bio information here, do you? Or where to buy my book? You probably already know me or you wouldn’t be over here. (But if you haven’t bought my book, feel free to now!) List ..read more

This is the story of how my accidental writing hiatus turned into an accidental home improvement extravaganza. But first, a couple of pieces of great news. One, Southern-Fried Woolf is a Semi-Finalist (to date) in Literary Fiction, The Best of Indie, 12th Annual Kindle Book Awards. Huzzah! The second is something I’ve been waiting for the right time to share. Publisher’s Weekly offers a contest for self-published books through BookLife. The contest is called BookList. (Those who have made it through to the next round will be announced in October, I think. Fingers crossed.) Here is an excerpt f ..read more

Recently, Barry and I had a fascinating conversation with Helen Zuman. You can hear about her writing, her decision to not complete her MFA, and Common App, her WIP that I am just wild to get my hands on. She also shares about her memoir, Mating in Captivity. Psst…she was also my mindset coach for a bit, and a very good one! I am hard at work (play?) over here on novel number three, but more blog posts coming in the next week or so…at least I hope so. Holiday weekends are fun but not great for producing things, am I right? I am very sincere on the episode when I say I MUST read Helen’s novel w ..read more

Hi friends, I’ve missed you so much. But with fall comes (I hope) an increase in writing and podcasting activity. Much to tell you — been a VERY busy few months. Until then, I want to share the latest episode of my and Barry’s podcast, MFA Payday, with you. Chella Courington returns to our podcast to share her latest release, a dynamic volume of poetry called “Hearts Forged in Resistance,” pre-order price guaranteed until September 8, 2023. The book will be released by Finishing Line Press on November 10, 2023. Listen to us speak with Chella about her hauntingly vivid poems and hear her read o ..read more

I’ve already mentioned this book a couple of times, so you know I enjoyed it. Here’s my official take. Radical Woman, a Künstlerroman about artist Gwen John, also sculptor Rodin’s long-time lover and model, captivates. This book by Maggie Humm, Woolf scholar and author of Talland House, is told in the heat of first person, present tense. Humm dives right into the passion of the artist for art and love. John’s yearning and desire for Rodin throughout speaks to the hunger to create art and to be near one who creates art worthy of emulation. Once Rodin appears in the novel, his shadow looms, whe ..read more

Feeling hungry? There’s an interview with me over at A Slice of Cake. Many thanks to Claire for interviewing me. (And why do I now find myself craving cake?? Eh, who am I kidding – I’m always craving cake.) Let me tell you a cute Nashville story that Barry said I can share. I mention Gruhn Guitars in my novel. That’s a destination for guitar lovers who visit Nashville, obviously. Barry’s childhood bestie and his children visited us while we lived in Nashville, and of course we all went to Gruhn. As we entered the store, I began counting the signs that said not to pick up the guitars without pe ..read more

Hey, friends! Today’s tour stop takes place at Carly Sunshine Books from Nashville, TN over on Instagram. I LOVE her creative take on the book cover for her post. Please go look at it and sign up for the giveaways. (Incidentally, I designed the cover that’s actually on the book, and I’m kinda smitten with it.) I took yesterday off from blogging. It was a topsy-turvy weekend, so I worked from early in the morning until about 1 p.m. on a project yesterday, then cooked for the week and vegged the rest of the day. In the middle of my project, I apologized to my hubby and said I had no idea why it ..read more

Welcome to Day Seven of my blog tour, sponsored by Madame Writer of Wrongs. So many thanks to her for sharing my book! https://www.madamewriterofwrongs.com/ First up, I just discovered that Southern-Fried Woolf has been chosen for the 2022 Somerset CIBAS Long List for Literary and Contemporary Fiction! I’m so pleased and honored! One of the pleasures of writing fiction is exploring characters very different from yourself. When I was younger, unlike Briscoe, I wanted a large family. In fact, when I was in school in West Virginia I rode the bus every day past a huge, abandoned house that I alway ..read more