Parts of Speaking Publishing

  Something—I am not sure what—compelled me to read Hillbilly Elegy . Here’s the background, the tributaries of reasons for my decision to invest time in a book sure to elicit emotional responses from just about anyone. A colleague posted an endorsement of the book Appalachian Reckoning on Facebook. That book, published in 2018, is a response to Hillbilly Elegy (henceforth HE) by some scholars, poets, essayists, journalists, and photographers who, to say the least, take issue with the portrayal of “Appalachia” and “Appalachians” in HE. Our College Library had both books, and I checked them out a few days ago. I’ve overspent my book budget and was not ready to commit money to either book. Reading time would be enough investment. Second, I recently visited what I call “deep Appalachia,” by which I mean coal-mining area of Southwestern Virginia. I went there because I wrote a novel about the county where my mother grew up; it is not a book about my family, only based on so...

 I have just finished the infinitely charming, funny, and fascinating All Creatures Great and Small , the first of James Herriot’s “memoirs” of his early years as a farm veterinarian in Yorkshire in the 1930s. The book has regained popularity due to the PBS show. Both are lovely. And I have a lot to say about it (though this is not Festivus and the “Airing of Grievances”). One can learn a great deal from the book, and not just about farming in northern England. One can learn how to tell a story. First, a comparison of the show and book, followed by how he tells a story and what that means. Despite the reference to the old hymn: All things bright and beautiful,all creatures great and small,all things wise and wonderful,the Lord God made them all. He gave us eyes to see them,and lips that we might tell how great is God Almighty,who has made all things well. … there is little here about the Christian faith. That’s okay, although maybe some misleading advertising. I was a little s...

I have not been writing. There, I confessed it. As a writer, so-called, I am supposed to write. And I haven’t been. That is not entirely true, however. I have written a great deal for myself. I just haven’t written for anyone else. I have not put words on the screen or paper for a specific book project, and I haven’t posted to a blog regularly. And I’ve beat myself up over it and given myself excuses. Now it’s time to come out into light, explain myself, and move toward the discipline of writing for others and not just for exploration and self-styled therapy. The Why I published three novels in 13 months. In June 2023 I published Sudden Future with Colorful Crow. It has not done well. In March I published Long Lost Justice ; it has not sold many copies either. In June 2024 Lying In came out. Due to intensive publicity and holding several events, it has done the best although I have sold fewer than 100 copies. It has also been submitted for one prize and will be for a...