James Wade’s Depression-era road novel, Narrow the Road, features three adolescents: William, “a gawky, spindle-shanked creature,” his friend, Ollie, and Lena, a girl running from a con artist’s medicine show. These kids, fully characterized and full of life, will stick with readers the way they’re still living with me. Yes, it’s a coming-of-age story. And […]
BettyJoyce Nash interviews Valerie Nieman, author of the novel, “Upon the Corner of the Moon”
July 13, 2025 by Leave a Comment
Introduction: BettyJoyce Nash interviewed Valerie Nieman, author of Upon the Corner of the Moon. She and Nieman share a background in news reporting at the Greensboro News and Record, and both earned MFAs from Queens University of Charlotte. A prolific novelist, Valerie Nieman’s latest book re-imagines Shakespeare’s Macbeth. She weaves literary legend and history into […]
BettyJoyce Nash interviews Carla Damron, author of “Justice Be Done”
February 24, 2025 by Leave a Comment
Introduction: A social worker, Carla Damron is also an award-winning fiction writer. Her latest book is Justice Be Done (Bella Rosa Press 2023). Her titles also include The Orchid Tattoo (National Indie Excellence Award) and The Stone Necklace (Women Fiction Writers Award, also chosen as One Community Read for Columbia, S.C.) BettyJoyce Nash writes fiction in Charlottesville, […]
“No Perfect Mothers” by Karen Spears Zacharias
October 15, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Karen Spears Zacharias’s novel No Perfect Mothers imagines the life of Carrie Buck, the plaintiff in the Supreme Court Case upholding the constitutionality of eugenics-inspired, forced sterilization. As Zacharias observes in the acknowledgments, “The book is important at this pivotal time as women seek to reclaim what the Supreme Court has once again taken from […]
“Daughters of Chaos” by Jen Fawkes
October 1, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Daughters of Chaos (Overlook Press 2024) by Jen Fawkes begins at the end, in 1877, with Sylvie’s graveside promise to her longtime partner: “ ‘I’m going to write it all down, Hannah,’ I said as I knelt beside her grave, my fingertips piercing the cool earth. ‘Maybe I’ll give it to the girls. Maybe I […]
BettyJoyce Nash interviews Gerry Wilson, author of “That Pinson Girl”
June 19, 2024 by 1 Comment
INTRODUCTION: BettyJoyce Nash and Gerry Wilson met in 2019 at the Key West Literary Workshop. Gerry’s debut novel, That Pinson Girl (Regal House: February 2024) was published recently by Regal House. BettyJoyce’s novel, Everybody Here is Kin (Madville Publishing) debuted in September 2023. BJN: I’m wondering how much of your grandmother’s story is true? GW: […]