News & Notes
Scenic Reads
Myra McEntire, Beth Revis, and Victoria Schwab take an innovative route to promote their books
August 5, 2011 Most book tours take authors only to stores in cities—and only really big cities, if publicity departments have anything to say about it. It’s a tried-and-true tactic that increases book sales and author renown: fans come to hear their favorite literary voices in person, and the bookstore’s more oblivious customers discover a new talent to add to their shelves. There are always losers to every winning strategy, however: in this case, it’s the fans who live in more rural areas where authors wouldn’t normally travel.
Read moreFive Generations
The Knoxville News Sentinel profiles poet Linda Parsons Marion
August 3, 2011 It came as a surprise to Linda Parsons Marion when she realized that the poems she had slowly been writing for an untitled collection amounted to an exploration of five generations of her family, starting with her grandparents and continuing through the birth of her own first grandchild. From that moment on, the book had a title: Bound. The word is “very laden with so many layers of meaning—goodness, ambiguity, negativity,” Marion told the Knoxville News Sentinel.
Read moreEarly Recognition
Tennessee writer Kevin Wilson is earning widespread acclamation for The Family Fang—and the book isn’t even out yet
July 29, 2011 Critics are raving about Kevin Wilson’s remarkably original debut novel, The Family Fang, which centers on a somewhat dysfunctional family of performance artists.
Read moreKiller Opportunity
This month, the Killer Nashville conference returns
July 27, 2011 With one month to go, it’s time for suspense and mystery writers around the world to gear up for Tennessee’s annual conference celebrating all manner of murder: Killer Nashville runs August 26-28.
Read moreAlways a Market
As Borders fades, Knoxville’s Union Ave. Books rides high on optimism
July 25, 2011 Melinda Meador of Knoxville’s Union Ave. Books counters web-wide moaning over the liquidation of the late great Borders bookstore chain with pragmatism and excitement.
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