August 12, 2011 At barely 200 pages, The Night Train is Clyde Edgerton’s shortest book, and yet in its simple story of two musically inclined teenagers, one white and one black, it may surpass Walking Across Egypt and The Bible Salesman as his best. Edgerton will appear at the 2011 Southern Festival of Books, held October 14-16 in Nashville.
August 9, 2011 In his debut novel, The Snow Whale, MTSU creative-writing professor John Minichillo uses Melville’s Moby-Dick as a touchstone for a satirical juxtaposition of the trivialities of cubicle culture with the wilds of Northern Alaska, where men still hunt whales—to consequences both hilarious and unexpectedly moving. Today Minichillo talks with Chapter 16 about the challenges of imagining a traditional whale hunt, finding a venue for unconventional fiction in small-press publishing, and taking on the Great American Whale.
Dawn S. Scruggs and Donna Wilkerson
Martin Sisters Publishing
312 pages
$17.95
Why is it that “the one that got away” sometimes intrigues us more than the one that didn’t? Sara Anderson, a kindergarten teacher engaged to handsome young minister Daniel Parker, faces that question when she is called for jury duty and discovers that an old flame is the prosecuting attorney. During a week-long jury trial, Sara faces a torrent of emotions – betrayal, bitterness, fear, and worry – all the while listening to the evidence in the case at hand. Sara suspects that there is more to the story than meets the eye, but she isn’t prepared for the answer to be so shockingly close to her own heart.
–From the Publisher
Charles Fletcher
Parkway Publisher
164 pages
$19.95
Little Sam Mountain follows the life of John Dowdy as he grows up in the mountains of Western North Carolina during the Great Depression. Like so many mountain people, the Dowdys experience great poverty, but they are patriotic and eager to enlist when World War II breaks out. The novel follows John Dowdy as he leaves his sweetheart, Sarah, and his family to go to Europe to fight. When he returns after the war and sees the dramatic changes that have occurred, he is forced to reassess his plans for a life on Little Sam Mountain.
–From the Publisher
Dewey Lambdin
Thomas Dunne Books
368 pages
$25.99
“Newcomers to the series will delight in Lambdin’s expert deployment of period detail; his mastery of the details of life on a 19th-century frigate; and the irresistible Captain Alan Lewrie himself. A pleasant blend of light humor, drama and cracking historical naval action.”
—Kirkus Reviews
Melissa Newman
Whiskey Creek Press
350 pages
$16.99
As a means to escape painful memories Annie attempts to sell the old Cleaving house, leaving the only home she has ever known. Only then she discovers the botched deed and her only choice, to find her mother’s siblings and convince each to release their claims.From crazy Aunt Veda, who thinks a televangelist is sending her secret love messages, to Uncle Asher who has given up his Wall Street career and joined a hippie commune, Annie is thrust into a bizarre new world where it seems the Cleaving family history has been altered.
–From the Publisher
