Regular readers of the blog know of my status not only as a novelist, but that I present myself specifically as a South Carolina novelist, one writing about his time and place. Hell, my original author headshot includes a glimpse of the State House building, a shot taken only steps away from the Confederate monument now […]
Almost ten years to the day that I finished the all-important first draft of my first novel, I’ve completed what I anticipate as the last major rewrite of MoHG. In the wake of its close call with a publishing contract, this was an intense project I forced myself to undertake (and had scheduled anyway for […]
Here’s the first part of my review of this terrific new film, as published on the Jasper magazine blog. An effectively stylized glimpse into Beach Boys mastermind Brian Wilson’s troubled life composing what remains as the arguable pinnacle of the modern American popular music canon, in the brilliant Love and Mercy we find depicted his mid-1960s creative eruption as well as the sad, bizarre interlude twenty […]
In which we fully introduce Chelsea Colette ‘Creedence’ Rucker, one of my favorite characters in all of my fiction, and a major player in DIXIANA as well. One of the Story River peer reviewers couldn’t understand why she takes up so much of MoHG’s narrative. Mercy. To quote an old Grateful Dead shirt I used […]
Continuing this peek at the opening 50 pages of MoHG, here we bring Devin’s sister Creedence, the third major character, into the picture.
For those catching up with MoHG here’s Chapter 1, as well as the impressive peer review on the full manuscript from a submission that went pretty far with a publisher, but not quite far enough. Here we meet Devin Rucker‘s co-protagonist Billy Steeple, another damaged character, but with his own peculiar set of difficulties. Like Devin, Billy seems buried […]
Here’s the first chapter of the increasingly fabled MoHG. I dunno, this seems like good stuff. Eventually, inevitably, this book will find its way to publication. MANSION OF HIGH GHOSTS Part One: A MAN IN THE GRIP OF A THEORY “It’s easy to get buried in the past.” —Neil Young
I’m honored to have been asked to appear live tonight on Evolve AM/PM with Tzima Brown, a radio talk show centered around current events, politics, spirituality, and consciousness issues. Area terrestrial radio listeners may find us tonight on Columbia’s talk show channel The Point, 95.9FM/1470AM, but to join on the web please visit Tzima’s web page and click on the Listen Live […]
Two years ago I began a journey with Pat Conroy’s fiction imprint at the University of South Carolina, Story River Books, that led to both wonder and disappointment. In receiving peer review that’s on the whole positive, the manuscript still did not manage to fully connect. Publishing is a tough business, a heartbreaking one. During the […]
As promised at the end of the ‘Notes On DIXIANA‘ posts, here’s the guide to the eight major POV characters who drive the intertwining narratives in my recently-completed Southern literary novel series DIXIANA, DOWN IN DIXIANA, and DIXIANA DARLING.
