FAMILY LAW Is Out in the World!
My new novel has been out for 24 hours-ish now, and it’s been a pretty fun 24 hours with a lot of signing, a great Zoom event, and several more events to come. (Check out the tour schedule on my News & Events page.) Plus the last day has seen a flurry of reviews that…
Read MoreFAMILY LAW Virtual Tour
Eight days until FAMILY LAW hits the shelves! Come join me at virtual events with some amazing writers–Joshilyn Jackson! Chris Bohjalian!–plus one in-person event here in Birmingham. Here are links to the two events next week: 1) Joshilyn Jackson Conversation 2) Little Professor In-Person Signing .
Read MoreTwo Weeks Until FAMILY LAW! Plus A Puppy!
This is always the point of pre-publication where I’m feeling a little exhausted and a little sick of myself. (Plus I got my second vaccine shot on Monday, and that didn’t exactly help with the tiredness. But I’m back to 100 % now.) But this moment is always a highlight–I GOT MY HARDCOPIES OF THE…
Read MoreDream Team for Audiobook of Family Law
For a long time, I’ve thought that if I could have anyone read the audio of FAMILY LAW, it would be Joshilyn Jackson. She’s a delightful human being, a great writer, and a voice actor who makes you drive past your exit on the Interstate because you’re so caught up in her storytelling. So–you might…
Read MoreEaster, Riding in Trucks, and other Dangerous Things
Childhood memory #18: Every Easter we went out to a family friend’s house in the country, and everything about those afternoons was dream-like—the spread of the potluck dishes across the picnic tables, the horseback rides through the sprawling yard, the egg hunt with dozens of screaming children—but my favorite part was always the snake hunt. There’d…
Read MoreTwo Things That Brought Me A Lot of Joy
A little over a month until the release of FAMILY LAW on May 4th! We’re getting so close…and in celebration, here are a few more 1980’s memories. 16)I used to climb the magnolia trees in my friend Elizabeth’s yard. We’d climb as far as we could up through the branches, and we spun stories as we…
Read MoreBear Bryant and Tadpoles
Still working my way down a very long list of childhood memories in keeping with the place and the time period–Alabama in the 1980s–of my next novel, Family Law. 14) I was almost eight years old when Bear Bryant died, and I remember standing in the middle of my grandparents’ braided rug, my grandfather leaning forward…
Read MoreMemories of Roly-Polys and Swimming Pools
And a few more memories of childhood in Alabama (I’m past a dozen now)…. 12) My neighbor’s backyard had the feel of a fantasy. He had a swimming pool and a fig tree. In my own backyard, we had muscadines and scuppernongs, and I would sit under the thick ceiling of vines and pluck them one…
Read MoreMore ’80s memories–Dad edition
#9–My father would take us crappie fishing at night, which was as much about the snacks to me as the fishing. We’d ride out to the middle of the lake, wind whipping hair and jackets, and there was always something ecstatic about that rush of wind. When we’d stop and drop our lines, we could…
Read MoreWhy I Loved Gunsmoke
Childhood Memory #8 I watched Gunsmoke reruns with my grandfather most days—he loved everything about it, and I loved Miss Kitty, the beautiful owner of the Long Branch Saloon (and also maybe brothel?) Plenty of afternoons we would act out the episode once we turned off the television, with me playing Kitty and my grandfather…
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