“Counting Souls” by Donald R. Buchanan

Tom Love, the protagonist of Donald R. Buchanan’s fine novel, Counting Souls, is a hardscrabble farmer in western North Carolina who is charged with collecting the 1830 Federal Census for Macon County. His job creates a situation like The Bookwoman of Troublesome Creek and The Giver of Stars, where packhorse librarians had cause to go […]

September Read of the Month: “Sister, Mother, Warrior” by Vanessa Riley

Vanessa Riley offers a stunning picture of Haiti’s history and founding through the eyes of several key women in her novel Sister Mother Warrior (William Morrow 2022). Riley’s superb research and careful crafting of characters bring the story of Haiti’s liberation from foreign rule to life. Riley, the 2023 Georgia Author of the Year for […]

Books of Special Note for September

NonFiction Tent For Seven: A Camping Adventure Gone South Out West (Sandra Jonas Publishing 2023) by Marty Ohlhaut and Grace  Ly manages to be humorous and horrifying and suspenseful all at once. Two brave (or foolhardy) parents take their five children on a tent-camping trip to the Canadian Rockies. The Griswold’s vacation stories are tame […]

The 2023 Seven Hills Literary Contest and Penumbra Poetry & Haiku Contest

The 2023 Seven Hills Literary Contest and Penumbra Poetry & Haiku Contest (“The Contest”) is open for entries! We have decided to open the contest to non-members, but members enjoy a $10 discount on each entry. If you aren’t already a member of the Tallahassee Writers Association, you can sign up at https://twaonline.org/membership/purchase. One change from […]

Donna Meredith interviews Tim Norbeck, author of “Almost Heaven”

A Buffalo, New York, native who also spent over thirty years in Connecticut as the state medical society’s CEO, Tim Norbeck is an avid tennis player and history aficionado. He lives with his wife, Michele, and rescue dog, Trouper, in Bonita Springs, Florida.  He began writing novels near his retirement and his first, Two Minutes, […]

July Read of the Month: “Deeper than African Soil” by Faith Eidse

Deeper than African Soil (Masthof Press, 2023) by Faith Eidse is a most unusual and exceptionally fine memoir. No wonder Florida State University recognized it with the Kingsbury Award, given annually to a graduate student who demonstrates lasting intellectual value in writing, and with the English Department’s Ann Durham Outstanding Master’s Thesis Award. Several chapters […]