My family has always lived within sight of the Appalachians. I grew up in the suburbs of Birmingham, Alabama, with a blue-collar viewpoint, surrounded by numerous siblings, cousins and other relatives, who shared hand-me-downs and grand stories in equal measure.
The kinds of people Iknow well, yet still learn from, populate my grit(ty) lit stories, written in the voice of my life experiences. I accumulated mine the hard way, as do my characters.
A few years ago, I moved to a semi-rural area of central Alabama, closer to the part of Appalachia that my grandparents and their parents called home. The windows near my writing desk overlook fast-growing water oaks, crooked mulberry trees, and dogwoods that fling white petals on the chirt and red clay earth to honor every spring's arrival. My best friend/husband of many years and I share it all with our two beautiful dog-children, who sometimes scoot over to let us sit on the best couch.
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In 2008 and 2009, my short stories appeared in literary periodicals, including The Rambler, Calliope and The Birmingham Arts Journal. Currently, I'm working on a few short stories, my second novel, KIN KEEPER, and a memoir, WRITING to DEAL, HEAL, FULFILL: A Meditations Memoir.
My thanks to the Elizabeth George Foundation for their generous award: a 2009 Artistic Grant for Fiction, which provided me with much needed computer equipment. Elizabeth George Website
My prose has received awards from Alabama Writers Conclave, Byline Magazine, Green River Writers (KY), Women Who Write (KY), Writers Weekly, and the Porter Fleming Competition of the Greater Augusta Arts Council (GA).
I served as a Preliminary Reader, choosing some of the semifinalists for the Fifth Glass Woman Prize, held in the spring of 2009. This no entry fee contest currently awards a first place prize of $700. Glass Woman Website
Besides coaching writers one-on-one, I lead workshops for groups, most recently at Williams Intermediate School, Pell City, AL in 2008, and the 2007 Alabama Writers Conclave. AWC2007 Faculty
In 2007, the Alabama State Council on the Arts nominated me for membership in the Southern Arts Federation's free online artist registry, SouthernArtistry.org, which spotlights artists who live and work in the South. My portfolio
A former freelance book reviewer for the Birmingham News, I now review novels, short story collections, how-to write books and software for writers.
In 2002, a CBS-TV affiliate featured me as an emerging novelist. Television Interview Later that year my novel-in-progress, STRAY SOULS, was a semifinalist in the Faulkner Competition in New Orleans. Revised extensively and re-titled ME AND YOU, BILLY, it placed as a semifinalist in the novel category of the 2008 Faulkner Competition.
To fill local and regional literary gaps, I founded two ongoing writers groups in Alabama. Since 1998, Smoke City Narrators has provided resources, including monthly critiques, for professional writers. SCN's new Novel Pitch and 1st Five Pages Contest, open nationally, offers inspiration and encouragement for novelists on the process of querying agents or publishers.
The Pell City Pens' critique groups welcome writers of all genres and skill levels. Its contest, open to 9 southern states, features brief comments on all entries, low entry fees for adults, no entry fees for tweens, teens or high schoolers, and a readings and awards ceremony.
A W A R D S
*2002 Faulkner-Wisdom Novel in Progress Contest (LA): Semi-finalist W & M *2004 Byline Magazine - 1st Chapter of a Novel Contest Byline *2004 Alabama Writers Conclave - Fiction with a Southern Background Contest *2004 Augusta Arts Council (GA) - Porter Fleming Nonfiction Competition *2005 Alabama Writers Conclave - (Narrative) Nonfiction Contest AWC
*2006 Augusta Arts Council (GA) - Porter Fleming Fiction Competition Fleming *2006 Green River Writers (KY)- President's Prize Short Fiction Contest GRW *2006 Byline Magazine - October Flash Fiction Contest Byline *2007 Women Who Write (KY) - Prose Contest WWW *2007 WritersWeekly - Winter 24-hour Contest WritersWeeklyWinter 07 Winners *2008 Green River Writers (KY) - President's Prize Short Fiction Contest GRW *2008 Faulkner-Wisdom Novel Contest: Semi-finalist W & M
*2009 Elizabeth George Foundation Artistic Grant in FictionElizabeth George
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