Mississippi native and resident of New Orleans, Vicki Salloum has magically woven her Lebanese Catholic family’s colorful roots and traditions into a wonderful piece of literary fiction in her novel The Gathering Place (Silent Clamor Press 2025). Ordered by the Mother of God to start a business—an actual gathering place in post-Katrina New Orleans where […]
“Half-Truths” by Carol Baldwin
September 15, 2025 by 1 Comment
Introduction: Carol Baldwin spent eighteen years researching and writing her latest book, Half-Truths (Monarch Educational Services 2025). I can’t even imagine. I spent about six years on my first novel, and that felt like an eternity. But Baldwin seems to love research, an important quality for someone taking on a historical fiction novel set at […]
“Bead by Bead,” by Suzanne Henley
June 9, 2020 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Susan Cushman In 2013 I was in a life-threatening car wreck. I broke my neck, right leg, and ankle, and was stuck in my house for the first few months of my recovery. One day Suzanne Henley came to see me and brought me a beautiful necklace she had made from exotic beads […]
“Reading the Coffee Grounds and Other Stories,” by Niles Reddick
August 30, 2018 by Leave a Comment
Reviewed by Susan Cushman As I review Pulitzer-nominee Niles Reddick’s latest short story collection, Reading the Coffee Grounds and Other Stories, I am also taking a stab at working in this genre for the first time myself. As a novelist, memoirist, essayist, and anthology editor, I’m new to writing short stories. I’m in awe of […]