Keenly observed and written with his insightful and deadpan sense of humor, he explores enduring Southern truths about home, place, spirit, table, and the regions' varied geographies, including his native Alabama, Cajun country, and the Gulf Coast. Everything is explored, from regional obsessions from college football and fishing, to mayonnaise and spoonbread, to the simple beauty of a fish on the hook.Collected from over a decade of his writing, with many never-before-published essays written specifically for this edition, My Southern Journey is an entertaining and engaging read, especially for Southerners (or feel Southern at heart) and anyone who appreciates great writing.

    When an ATV accident leaves her teenage son in a wheelchair, she loses her carefully constructed self-control.In the after-gloom of her dreaded fiftieth birthday and the discovery of her husband’s infidelity, Jackie realizes she must reconnect with her former self to find the happiness she needs to move forward.Faith lacks the courage to stand up to her abusive husband. She turns to her sisters for help, placing all their lives at risk.In the midst of their individual challenges, the Sweeney sisters must cope with their mother’s mental decline. Is Lovie in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, or is her odd behavior normal for a woman her age? No one, including Lovie, understands her obsession with a rusty key she wears around her neck.For fans of Elin Hildebrand, Her Sister’s Shoes is a contemporary women’s novel that explores and proves the healing power of family.

    Dispatches from Pluto is their journey of discovery into this strange and wonderful American place. Imagine A Year In Provence with alligators and assassins, or Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil with hunting scenes and swamp-to-table dining.On a remote, isolated strip of land, three miles beyond the tiny community of Pluto, Richard and his girlfriend, Mariah, embark on a new life. They learn to hunt, grow their own food, and fend off alligators, snakes, and varmints galore. They befriend an array of unforgettable local characters—blues legend T-Model Ford, cookbook maven Martha Foose, catfish farmers, eccentric millionaires, and the actor Morgan Freeman. Grant brings an adept, empathetic eye to the fascinating people he meets, capturing the rich, extraordinary culture of the Delta, while tracking its utterly bizarre and criminal extremes. Reporting from all angles as only an outsider can, Grant also delves deeply into the Delta’s lingering racial tensions. He finds that de facto segregation continues. Yet even as he observes major structural problems, he encounters many close, loving, and interdependent relationships between black and white families—and good reasons for hope.Dispatches from Pluto is a book as unique as the Delta itself. It’s lively, entertaining, and funny, containing a travel writer’s flair for in-depth reporting alongside insightful reflections on poverty, community, and race. It’s also a love story, as the nomadic Grant learns to settle down. He falls not just for his girlfriend but for the beguiling place they now call home. Mississippi, Grant concludes, is the best-kept secret in America.

    At the center of his world was his larger-than-life father—a hunter, a fighter, a football coach, "a man better suited to living in a remote frontier wilderness of the nineteenth century than contemporary America, with all its progressive ideas and paved roads and lack of armed duels. He was a great man, and he taught me many things: how to fight and work and cheat and how to pray to Jesus about it, how to kill things with guns and knives and, if necessary, with hammers."Harrison, with his love of books and excessive interest in hugging, couldn't have been less like Pop, and when it became clear that he was not able to kill anything very well, or otherwise make his father happy, he resolved to become everything his father was not: an actor, a Presbyterian, and a doctor of philosophy. But when it was time to settle down and start a family of his own, Harrison began to view his father in a new light and realized—for better and for worse—how much like his old man he'd become.Sly, heartfelt, and tirelessly hilarious, The World's Largest Man is an unforgettable memoir—the story of a boy's struggle to reconcile himself with an impossibly outsize role model, and a grown man's reckoning with the father it took him a lifetime to understand.

    His humor and short fiction appear in various publications throughout the Southeast.

    This unknown legacy, now Merritt’s, will change and define her as she navigates her new life—a new life complicated by the arrival of her too young stepmother and ten-year-old half-brother.Soon, in this house of strangers, Merritt is forced into unraveling the Heyward family past as she faces her own fears and finds the healing she needs in the salt air of the Low Country.

    Infused with laughter, tears, love, loss, and hope, the story follows fourteen-year-old cousins Nettie, J.D. Eric, and Sam as they navigate the summer of their discontent, struggle with the physical and emotional turbulence of puberty and disappearing childhood, feel the excitement of first love, and run for their lives after they uncover an evil secret hidden in the shadows of the small town they love. Their story promises to stay with you a lifetime.

    His humor and short fiction appear in various publications throughout the Southeast.

    Here, seven accounts of insurrectionary episodes in Southern history are tied together into a larger narrative about the long arc of revolt in the South. Countering images of the region as pacified and universally conservative, this adventurous alternative history covers slave rebellions, stockade burnings, multiracial banditry, labour struggles, prison uprisings, urban riots, and more.

    The ghost of a young girl visits Annie in her new home deep in the mountains of Western North Carolina, where Annie’s mother, Grace Jean, has hidden them away from the life they used to know. Annie finds an unlikely ally in Pearl, a young woman who keeps house in Annie’s new home. The secrets that surround Pearl take Annie’s mind off her loneliness and soon her family history is revealed to her. “Instead of wind, I heard my name being called. The whispery voice came from the woods. ‘Annie Todd’. My sixth sense had not yet kicked in and didn’t warn me I was standing on the backbone of my history.” WHERE THE SOULS GO is Ann Hite’s third novel set in Black Mountain, North Carolina. Readers who loved GHOST ON BLACK MOUNTAIN, Hite’s first novel, will find many of the characters familiar. This book follows three generations of the Pritchard family, not only telling the story of how Hobbs Pritchard became the villain of Black Mountain, but highlighting women’s struggles in Appalachia, beginning in the Depression Era and ending in the mid-sixties.

    But now, she faces a dwindling staff, foreclosure, and old heartaches that won't stay buried. Her only hope lies with the last person she’d ever turn to—a brawny handyman with a guitar, a questionable past, and a God he keeps calling Father. Like a Love Song is a romantic drama about a fiercely loyal woman and some castaway kids who need the courage to believe in a love that never fails. If you have a soft spot in your heart for kids who haven’t had a fair chance in life, you will find yourself wanting to jump through the pages of this book to help Susan Quinn care for this group of outcasts. Pick up your copy of Like a Love Song and experience a challenging romance in the high desert plains of Central Oregon. “Eide writes a touching story about two unlikely heroes who sacrifice themselves to love those who are not loved by others ... This emotional book touches on very tender subjects in a tactful, graceful way that allows readers to understand what is happening without being overwhelmed by it. Eide is a phenomenal writer who once again displays her wisdom in the way she tells the story.” —4 ½-star Top Pick!, RT Book Reviews “Eide writes great dialogue that nicely paces the narrative ... bears watching as a storyteller.” —PUBLISHERS WEEKLY “In her sophomore novel, Camille Eide has penned a beautiful tale with just the right chords of humor and tenderness. The prose of Like a Love Song is lovely, and the myriad twists and turns tugged at my heart as I was rooting for this cast of endearing characters. The splendor and raw beauty of Oregon’s high desert is the perfect backdrop for this gripping love story. It’s one you don’t want to miss.” —CARLA STEWART, Award-Winning Author of Stardust and The Hatmaker’s Heart “When Sue, a distrustful group home director, meets Joe, a big-hearted oil rig worker, fireworks fly—but not in a good way! Mix in a handful of ragtag foster kids and nothing is certain. Author Camille Eide skillfully draws us through a story of brokenness and hurt to a place of hope—ever pointing to the true source of healing. And love. Five stars! Highly Recommended.” —APRIL McGOWAN, Healing Fiction Author of Jasmine and Macy “Like a Love Song is a delightful romance and oh so much more. It’s one of those books you never want to have end. I didn’t know what was coming next, but I knew it was going to be good. Like a roller coaster ride, the story towed me up steep hills, then plunged me downward into deep valleys and carried me through the heartaches, adventures, and the joys of the residents of Juniper Ranch. Truly fine work by Camille Eide. I’m ready for her next book.” —BONNIE LEON, Author of The Journey of Eleven Moons and To Dance With Dolphins “Like a Love Song gripped my heart just pages into the story and didn’t let go until the very last word. Joe, Sue, and their entourage of castaways are a group of characters you’ll never forget. Each twist of the plot will keep you guessing—and hoping! Bravo, Camille!” —LESLIE GOULD, #1 Best-Selling and Christy Award-Winning Author &ldqu

    The Civil War posed a critical test of the young nation's character, endurance, and will to survive. Coming only two generations after the nation's founding, the secession of Southern states challenged the very existence of the United States. "America's most monumental drama and morality tale" comes alive in this brilliant collection from America's leading history magazine, as selected by its current editor-in-chief, Edwin S. Grosvenor.

    For generations, the Burroughs clan has made its home on Bull Mountain in North Georgia, running shine, pot, and meth over six state lines, virtually untouched by the rule of law. To distance himself from his family’s criminal empire, Clayton took the job of sheriff in a neighboring community to keep what peace he can. But when a federal agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms shows up at Clayton’s office with a plan to shut down the mountain, his hidden agenda will pit brother against brother, test loyalties, and could lead Clayton down a path to self-destruction.

    Now, ADVENTURES IN TERROR: MOSTLY THE 1980s takes a nostalgic journey into the shadowy corners at the other end of the county - the magical end. The end where the real monsters live. The Whistle Mill end, where young Grady Claremont and Jasper Bohanon forge a lifelong friendship while battling the ghosts and demons that haunt the woods around their tiny home town. Chock full of Reagan-era pop culture and already hailed as "pure joy for those who grew up with the likes of Stephen King, Fangoria magazine, and VHS video stores," ADVENTURES IN TERROR: MOSTLY THE 1980s will delight horror fans with its Southern Gothic twist on genre touchstones, as Grady and Jasper battle elements both real and fantastic around their hometown. Witches, zombies, werewolves, even an Irish banshee pose as much threat to the boys as their overzealous middle school librarian or the creaking machinery of the carnival. ADVENTURES IN TERROR: MOSTLY THE 1980s is the first volume in a coming of age saga that spans decades and universes. Climb on board today!

    Nettie Gilbert has cherished her time studying to be a music teacher at Columbia College in South Carolina, but as graduation approaches, she can’t wait to return to her family — and her childhood sweetheart, Brooks — in Alabama. But just days before her senior recital, she gets a letter from her mama telling her that Brooks is getting married . . . to her own sister.<Devastated, Nettie drops out of school and takes a job as live-in help for two old-maid sisters, Emily and Lurleen Eldridge. Emily is fiercely protective of the ailing Lurleen, but their sisterhood has weathered many storms. And as Nettie learns more about their lives on a trip to see a faith healer halfway across the country, she’ll discover that love and forgiveness will one day lead her home . . .

    Despite the direst of circumstances, the spirit of the lost child refuses to leave her ill-equipped young mother's side.For as long as she is needed―through troubled pregnancies, through poverty, through spousal abuse and agonizing betrayals―Cieli Mae, the determined spirit child, narrates their journey. Serving as a safe place and sounding board for Vidalia's innermost thoughts and confusions, lending a strength to her momma's emerging voice, Cieli Mae provides her own special brand of comfort and encouragement, all the while honoring the restrictions imposed by her otherworldly status.Vidalia finds further support in such unlikely townsfolk and relations as Doc Feldman, Gamma Gert and her Wild Women of God, and, most particularly, in Ruby Pearl Banks, the kind, courageous church lady, who has suffered her own share of heartache in their small Southern town of yesteryear's prejudices and presumptions.My Sweet Vidalia is wise and witty, outstanding for its use of vibrant, poetic language and understated Southern dialect, as well as Mantella's clear-eyed observations of race relations as human relations, a cast of unforgettable characters, an in-depth exploration of the ties that bind, and its creative perspective. My Sweet Vidalia is a rare, wonderful, and complex look at hope, strength, the unparalleled power of unconditional love, and a young mother's refusal to give up.

    A teenage pregnancy estranged her from her family, and a tragedy caused her to lose what little faith remained. The wayward daughter of a Baptist deacon, she spends her nights playing the piano at The Fountain, a honky-tonk located just across the road from County Line Methodist. But when she learns that a dear friend’s dying wish is for her to take over as the church’s piano player, she realizes it may be time to face the music… Beulah butts heads with Luke Daniels, the new pastor at County Line, who is determined to cling to tradition even though he needs to attract more congregants to the aging church. But the choir also isn’t enthusiastic about Beulah’s contemporary take on the old songs and refuse to perform. Undaunted, Beulah assembles a ragtag group of patrons from The Fountain to form the Happy Hour Choir. And as the unexpected gig helps her let go of her painful past—and accept the love she didn’t think she deserved—she just may be able to prove to Luke that she can toe the line between sinner and saint…

    Together, these essays take the theme of silencing in Appalachian culture, whether the details of that theme revolve around faith, class, work, or family legacies.In essays that take wide-ranging forms—making this an ideal volume for creative nonfiction classes—contributors write about families left behind, hard-earned educations, selves transformed, identities chosen, and risks taken. They consider the courage required for the inheritances they carry.Toughness and generosity alike characterize works by Dorothy Allison, bell hooks, Silas House, and others. These writers travel far away from the boundaries of a traditional Appalachia, and then circle back—always—to the mountains that made each of them the distinctive thinking and feeling people they ultimately became. The essays in Walk Till the Dogs Get Mean are an individual and collective act of courage. [Taken from official website]

    Keenly observed and beautifully executed, these poems move from the grim facade that hides beauty - prosthetic eyes - to the beautiful scene that conceals violence - a rural retreat. Emerson also considers once common things that are fast becoming obsolete: cursive writing, telephone booths, barbers. At once hopeful and cognizant of all the reasons why humans might despair, these poems echo with remarkable insight into the true nature of life.

    A failing family manor. And a plan to save it all…Moving to Oakleaf Manor was the last thing Brynn Townsend had planned after losing her job in the city, but even more unexpected was the headstrong son of the owner stealing her heart. Her only hope of building a new life in the quaint town of Sugar Maple rests on saving his family farm. But when he threatens to derail not only her plans to save Oakleaf Manor, but also her newfound home, Brynn knows she must risk their budding romance in order to save it all.Preserving his family's legacy and restoring his home to its former glory means everything to Jack. Generations of the Oakley family have owned and run the historic estate of Oakleaf Manor, but Jack's past mistakes have left his family in danger of losing their home. With the fate of Oakleaf Manor resting solidly on his shoulders, he can't risk failing again, even if it means putting his growing relationship with Brynn in jeopardy.When Brynn crafts a daring plan to save Oakleaf Manor, Jack's deeply rooted fears resurface. He's tried this plan before with disastrous consequences. Can Brynn find a way to convince Jack to trust both her and their love? Will Jack realize where his heart truly belongs before it's too late? Or will the happiness they had found and Oakleaf Manor end up in ruins?If you love winding country roads, quaint cozy shops, and quirky, but caring neighbors who love like family, you'll adore Love at the Fall Festival.

     It’s December in Road’s End, Virginia, a tiny town long forgotten by anyone but its residents, where Colonel Hugh Foster and his wife, Melanie, have chosen to live—for better or worse. The jury’s still out on that one! Road’s End is comprised entirely of senior citizens whose kids have grown and left for greener pastures. Hugh, Melanie, and Bristol (one of the few sane people in town) are faced with a crumbling church in desperate need of repair and renovation, a dwindling congregation of opinionated, ornery senior citizens, and a camel—yes, a camel. And if that's not enough, the trio and the rest of the Road's End residents, are soon mired in danger and intrigue when a group of gun-toting drug dealers arrive in town, bent on killing the church handyman, and conspiring to ruin the doggonedest record-breaking blizzard the town has ever seen. Poor drug dealers.

    Friends from her married life prove fickle, and Sukie hides at home, terrified of encountering the town gossips at the grocery store. Betsy, Sukie’s neighbor, invites her to join “Fat Fridays,” a weekly gathering at a local café where the women order whatever they crave—no calories counted. Over sausage pizza and sage advice, Sukie gets a grip on her new life and learns to love her freedom.Judith Keim’s warm, funny novel offers moving glimpses into each of the five women’s very different lives. As they struggle to deal with cruel exes, frustrating families, and forbidden love, the women offer one another the kind of friendship that is as rich and nurturing as their Friday feasts. Revised edition: This edition of Fat Friday includes editorial revisions.

    

    “The swamp” consists of almost 260,000 acres of wetlands located just north of Mobile Bay. There he leases a habitable outcropping of land and constructs a primitive cabin from driftwood to serve as a private getaway. His story is one that chronicles the beauties of the delta’s unparalleled natural wonders, the difficulties of survival within it, and an extraordinary community of characters—by turns generous and violent, gracious and paranoid, hilarious and reckless—who live, thrive, and perish there.   There is no way into the delta except by small boat. To most it would appear a maze of rivers and creeks between stunted swamp trees and mud. Key observes that there are few places where one can step out of a boat without “sinking to the knees in muck the consistency of axle grease. It is the only place I know where gloom and beauty can coexist at such extremes. And it never occurred to me that a land seemingly so bleak could hide such beauty and adventure.”   It also chronicles Key’s maturation as a writer, from a twenty-five-year-old computer programmer with no formal training as a writer to a highly successful, award-winning writer of fiction for a young adult audience with three acclaimed novels published to date.   In learning to make a place for himself in the wild, as in learning to write, Key’s story is one of “hoping someone—even if just myself—would find value in my creations.”

    A poor harvest and rising costs are threatening to ruin the Harpers’ livelihood, and small-town gossip is spreading like blight thanks to Nola’s juicy reputation as a wild teenager way back when. But Nola really finds herself in the pits when she stumbles upon a local businessman murdered among the peach trees.With suspicions and family tensions heating up faster than a cobbler in the oven, this sweet Georgia peach will have to prune through a list of murder suspects—before she too becomes ripe for the killer’s picking…INCLUDES RECIPES

    In addition to the three original tales, Sensitives, The Guardians and The Forgotten, this assembly contains a fourth, shocking segment. Carter’s Mill answers questions about the origin of the Wraith and explains its bond to the Carter family. It reveals the shameful truth behind the curse that plagues them.An extremely cruel act by a family patriarch brings a terrible curse, an insidious wraith upon his family. It haunts the Carter women for five generations until finally; Shyanne is born with remarkable and uncanny abilities. It will be up to her to uncover a shocking, long-buried family secret. She faces the daunting task of setting a century old wrong back to rights. Will she find a way to lift the curse and banish the wraith back to the spirit world? If Shyanne fails, she risks losing her little girl to the dark entity forever.

    That same day locals find a dog, nearly dead and tethered to an empty skiff. Odd yet seemingly trivial, the arrival of a masterless dog and a returned letter triggers a series of events that will dramatically change the lives of three friends and affect all of the residents of Bayou Chene.Gwen Roland s debut novel, set in 1907 in a secluded part of Louisiana, follows young adults Loyce Snellgrove, her cousin Lafayette Fate Landry, and his friend Valzine Broussard as they navigate between revelations about the past and tensions in the present. Forces large and small the tragedies of the Civil War, the hardships of swamp life, family secrets, as well as unfailing humor create a prismatic depiction of Louisiana folklife at the turn of the twentieth century and provide a realistic setting for this enchanting drama.Roland anchors her work in historical fact and weaves a superb tale of vivid characters. In Postmark Bayou Chene, she uses the captivating voice that described the beauty and challenges of the swamp to legions of readers in her autobiographical Atchafalaya Houseboat. Her ear for dialogue and eye for detail bring the now-vanished community of Bayou Chene and the realities of love and loss on the river back to life in a well-crafted, bittersweet tribute."

    In Down South Paleo, Jennifer Robins, creator of Predominantly Paleo, offers Paleo-friendly takes on Southern staples such as:- Home-Style Chicken-Fried Steak + Cream Gravy- Mississippi Fried Catfish + Homemade Tartar Sauce- Texas Slow Cooker Beef Chili- Crescent City Shrimp + Sausage Gumbo- Fried Green Tomatoes- Lone Star Huevos Rancheros- Creamy Cajun Chicken + Pasta- Mama's Fried Chicken Mashed "Taters"Robins' mastery of alternative flours and smart use of other Paleo ingredients will keep your cooking healthy AND keep you from missing out on the comfort foods often restricted on the Paleo diet. In true Southern, comfort-food style, these Paleo twists will have you putting the extra "m" in Mmmm and saying "Y'all" like the locals in no time.

    (And not your average distant footsteps in the hall, and orbs in photographs haunted, either.) When the inn’s owners ask her to stay overnight while they travel to Richmond, halfway across Virginia, she jumps at the chance. She imagines an epic girl's night of drinking wine and watching movies with her best friend in the grand old house, but when a snowstorm hits, Nicole finds herself alone. Bliss House is restless, and as Nicole's darkest secrets surface, the house will use them to try to make her one more victim of its deadly games.Set in 2008, Cold Alone: A Bliss House Story, is a quick glimpse into the terrifying world introduced in Laura Benedict’s contemporary gothic suspense novel, BLISS HOUSE. The second installment of the Bliss House series of novels is CHARLOTTE’S STORY (October 2015), set in 1957, in which Charlotte Bliss can only learn the truth about the man she married, and the death of her four-year-old daughter by letting the troubled ghosts of Bliss House lead her.

    Things are bound to get a little crazy when the groom is not only the son of Georgia's childhood crush, but he's also the nephew of Ginger's boyfriend from high school. To make matters worse, the bride's parents are in the midst of a nasty breakup.Life hasn't turned out quite the way any of them planned, and the prospect of this wedding won't let them forget it! Join New York Times & USA Today Bestselling Author Sandra Edwards in this delightful tale about love, loss, and picking up the pieces.

    On board is her husband, Alex, crowded into a boxcar with fellow recruits and imagining the terrors awaiting him in Manassas, Gettysburg, Olustee, and the Wilderness. With Alex on the battlefield, Sarah uses her wit and Christian faith to sustain her family through innumerable hardships, made all the more threatening without comfort from her husband. Alone to face these challenges, Sarah makes the most dramatic decision of her life. Based on a true family story, Alligator Creek presents strong characters who survived the hardship of the American Civil War through love, sacrifice, and endurance.

    But the more he digs the stronger—and deadlier—the resistance becomes. Nick is there to collect bodies, and he's going to do just that—especially when he starts finding bodies that were clearly dead before the hurricane. He understands that all forensic evidence will soon disintegrate in the hot, contaminated water . . . and he knows that's exactly what the killer wants to happen. Less than Dead Nick has finally met his match. When a grave is discovered on property owned by the front-running candidate for the next presidential election, the FBI immediately becomes involved. The graves then vanish and Nick follows local legend to the bizarre Alena who keeps to herself in the mountains of Northern Virginia, training cadaver dogs. Together they discover that this small town—and the presidential-hopeful—have closets full of skeletons. Ends of the Earth Nick struggles to protect a victim’s family from agro-terrorists in North Carolina. After dissecting the remains of a bale of marijuana scattered in the tomato fields, Nick learns that the South American marijuana is strangely infested with a common North Carolina insect: the tobacco hornworm. To further confound the mystery, the bugs are infected with a fungus from Asia, and Nick begins to suspect his victim wasn't killed because of the marijuana, but because of the insects it contained. He then discovers that a vicious agricultural scheme is underway to cripple US corn and ethanol production. Nick of Time The Bug Man is getting married on Saturday  . . . if his fiancée can find him. Forensic entomologist Nick Polchak lives in a world of maggots and blow flies and decomposing bodies. No wonder he's still single.But Nick has finally found a woman as strange as he is—dog trainer Alena Savard, a woman who is odd, reclusive, and can seemingly talk to animals. It was a match made in heaven.Nick and Alena are scheduled to be married on Saturday—but there's one small problem. Nick has disappeared.Caught up in a murder case involving an old friend, Nick finds himself on a manhunt that's drawing him farther and farther from the church where Alena is waiting. But will he make it back in time? Could Nick's single-minded focus cause him to forget his own wedding? Is he really pursuing a killer, or is he running away from something else?

    College man Jase Everly has bad boy written all over him. Rides a motorcycle? Check. Has tats? You bet. Couldn't give a shit about rules? He's all over that. When he's cut off from the oil baron family funds, he finds a new way to support his education, his bike habit, his bad habits. And his business venture is nothing he's proud of. Top-notch student Avery Greene is a good girl. Deans List, never missed a class, straitlaced material. She's on the college fast track until one night and one jock destroy her life. She hides inside her sweaters. She buries her nose in her books. She ignores the pain inside her, and she's sure she hates Jase from the moment she lays eyes on him. The problem is—Avery needs someplace to stay, and Jase wants a roommate. They’re enemies at first sight. Now they’re going to live together. Roomies? Maybe.Romance? Never. That’s what she said.Please note: This story includes a discussion of rape. This painful conversation is necessary for the growth of the couple's relationship.

    Beginning with Prologue, a piece that embeds a kaleidoscopic, novel-like vision of a small agricultural town and a few of its inhabitants, these poems capture the exterior world and recontextualize its many forms through a dreamlike logic, harnessing radiant imagery and strong aural texture through lines and words that stir both mind and heart. Here, Wright reveals how the most luminous forms often dwell in even the darkest subjects and images.

    After learning her identity, Detective Peyroux travels to the bayou to notify the family. When the dead woman's teenaged sister disappears and bad people start turning up dead, Detective Peyroux realizes he has a vigilante on his hands. Can Peyroux find her before she kills an innocent or possibly ends ups dead herself?

    On a return trip home to the South, Raine meets a mysterious, handsome young man by the name of Christophe who sets off a whirlwind of events connecting her to a spirit of the past. Death seems to follow her everywhere she turns and places her at the scene of multiple murders. Fearing for her own life and safety of her sister, China, Raine is determined to end the infamous Jackson Curse that has tormented her family for over a century and bring peace to all those around her. With all of the drama surrounding Raine Jackson, one question remains: What's her secret?

    As Undead Souths reveals, physical emanations of southern undeadness are legion, but undeadness also appears in symbolic, psychological, and cultural forms, including the social death endured by enslaved people, the Cult of the Lost Cause that resurrected the fallen heroes of the Confederacy as secular saints, and mourning rites revived by Native Americans forcibly removed from the American Southeast.To capture the manifold forms of southern haunting and horror, Undead Souths explores a variety of media and historical periods, establishes cultural crossings between the South and other regions within and outside of the U.S., and employs diverse theoretical and critical approaches. The result is an engaging and inclusive collection that chronicles the enduring connection between southern culture and the refusal of the dead to stay dead.

    The experiences represented here pivot around a central theme -- finally finding language to understand one's identity, and then discovering we were never the only ones. Revealing a vibrant cross-section of Southerners, the writers of these narratives have in common the experience of being Southern and different, but determined against all odds.

    Interior decorators turned amateur investigators, Chloe and Amanda Carstairs have spent the summer transforming their client’s creepy old castle into a luxury hotel. But before the first guest checks in, the owner’s wife checks out – with the help of a bullet to the head. When Chloe’s dad is accused of the crime, there’s no time for the ladies to drown their sorrows in the hotel’s mini bar. Instead, they have to contend with a sneaky blackmailer, an unsolved murder from the past, and a cunning killer with nothing to lose. The second Chloe Carstairs Mystery is filled with the same clever twists and hilarious mother-daughter relationship that made Murder on the First Day of Christmas such a fun, fast-paced read for an appreciative readership. The mystery will keep you guessing, but as any good decorator will tell you, even a beautiful setting can’t hide the ugly truth.

    His writing has rendered the physical landscape of the South Carolina lowcountry familiar to legions of readers, and it has staked out a more complex geography as well, one defined by domestic trauma, racial anxiety, religious uncertainty, and cultural ambivalence. In Understanding Pat Conroy, Catherine Seltzer engages in a sustained consideration of Conroy and his work. The study begins with a sketch of Conroy's biography, a narrative that, while fascinating in its own right, is employed here to illuminate many of the motifs and characters that define his work and to locate him within southern literary tradition. The volume then moves on to explore each of Conroy's major works, tracing the evolution of the themes within and among each of his novels, including The Great Santini, The Lords of Discipline, The Prince of Tides, Beach Music, and South of Broad, and his memoirs, among them The Water Is Wide and My Losing Season.Seltzer's insightful close readings of Conroy's work are supplemented by interviews and archival material, shedding new light on the often-complex dynamics between text and context in Conroy's oeuvre. More broadly Understanding Pat Conroy also explores the ways that Conroy delights in troubling the boundaries that circumscribe the literary establishment. Seltzer links Conroy's work to existing debates about the contemporary American canon, and, like Conroy's work itself, Understanding Pat Conroy will be of interest to his readers, students of American literature, and new and veteran South watchers.

    Drive America's most scenic highway with Moon Blue Ridge Parkway Road Trip. Inside you'll find:Maps and Driving Tools: 29 easy-to-use maps keep you oriented on and off the highway, along with site-to-site mileage, driving times, and detailed directions for the entire routeEat, Sleep, Stop and Explore: Listen to live bluegrass with a glass of local moonshine, drive past fields brimming with fireflies, and wander through American history. You'll know exactly what you want to do at each stop with lists of the best hikes, views, and moreItineraries for Every Traveler: Drive the entire two-week route or follow strategic itineraries like "Music of the Blue Ridge," including suggestions for spending time in in Washington DC, Front Royal, Waynesboro, Roanoke, Galax, Asheville, Cherokee, and KnoxvilleLocal Expert: North Carolinian and mountaineer Jason Frye shares his love of the Great Smoky Mountains (and where to find the best barbecue!)Planning Your Trip: Know when and where to get gas, how to avoid traffic, tips for driving in different road and weather conditions, and suggestions for LGBTQ travelers, seniors, and road trippers with kidsWith Moon Blue Ridge Parkway Road Trip's practical tips, detailed itineraries, and local insight, you're ready to fill up the tank and hit the road.Looking to explore more of America on wheels? Try Moon Nashville to New Orleans Road Trip! Doing more than driving through? Check out Moon Blue Ridge & Smoky Mountains or Moon North Carolina.

    In these gritty, imaginative stories set in the mountains and small towns of the South—often in motels, theme parks, or resorts—men and women find themselves at the mercy of an inspiration gone wrong: a man on a tryst is seduced by a ghost;a woman conducts a test to discover who is her true best friend—her husband or her dog; a beleaguered young writing professor goes one step too far while chaperoning the famous writer he finds darkly alluring.  In the title story, an ex-high-school basketball player living an uneventful life in her small hometown as a cashier helps her boyfriend rob a lottery winner, and finds herself on an epic journey of fear, deceit, and betrayal.

    But who would guess that one of the most innovative chefs cooking heirloom regional southern food is based not in the heart of biscuit country, but in the grain-fed Midwest—in Chicago, no less? Since 2008, chef Paul Fehribach has been introducing Chicagoans to the delectable pleasures of Lowcountry cuisine, while his restaurant Big Jones has become a home away from home for the city’s southern diaspora. From its inception, Big Jones has focused on cooking with local and sustainably grown heirloom crops and heritage livestock, reinvigorating southern cooking through meticulous technique and the unique perspective of its Midwest location. And with The Big Jones Cookbook, Fehribach brings the rich stories and traditions of regional southern food to kitchens everywhere.   Organized by region, The Big Jones Cookbook provides an original look at southern heirloom cooking with a focus on history, heritage, and variety. Throughout, Fehribach interweaves personal experience, historical knowledge, and culinary creativity, all while offering tried-and-true takes on everything from Reezy-Peezy to Gumbo Ya-Ya, Chicken and Dumplings, and Crispy Catfish. Fehribach’s dishes reflect his careful attention to historical and culinary detail, and many recipes are accompanied by insights about their origins. In addition to the regional chapters, the cookbook features sections on breads, from sweet potato biscuits to spoonbread; pantry put-ups like bread and butter pickles and chow-chow; cocktails, such as the sazerac; desserts, including Sea Island benne cake; as well as an extensive section on snout-to-tail cooking, including homemade Andouille and pickled pigs’ feet.   Proof that you need not possess a thick southern drawl to appreciate the comfort of creamy grits and the skill of perfectly fried green tomatoes, The Big Jones Cookbook will be something to savor regardless of where you set your table.