Tina Chambers

September 27, 2011 Like a crumb trail through a deep, dark forest, skillfully sprinkled clues keep the reader enthralled as Alex Bledsoe spins an eerie tale in The Hum and the Shiver. Both romantic and harsh, the novel is about the strength of family ties and the power of music, as well as the coarseness and brutality of evil men. Balanced on the thin edge between dreams and reality, The Hum and the Shiver captures the subtle magic of childhood’s landscape, the pull of desire against destiny, and the way life can turn in an instant, suddenly revealing that pivotal moment no one ever sees coming.

August 25, 2011 In Barry Kitterman’s new story collection, From the San Joaquin, ordinary men and women seeking a brighter future—a home, a job, a love affair, a wedding, a child—face defeat as a result of difficult circumstances and their own inadequacies. Often the painful events of the past intrude upon the characters’ lives to change the course of their future, and rarely for the better. Ultimately, though, the author suggests that a meaningful life lies less in the accomplishments of years and more in the significance of each small moment truly lived. Kitterman will appear at the 2011 Southern Festival of Books, held October 14-16 in Nashville.