Katherine Vaccaro has a great sense of adventure and a disarming sense of humor as evidenced in Driving Naked, her debut memoir. Whereas I knew someone who actually drove to McDonald’s naked, Katherine’s naked driving is more metaphorical; she and her husband loved nudist camps and collectible cars. Kathy met Eddie at a Mensa event […]
“Girl at the End of the World” by Erin Carlyle
November 26, 2024 by Leave a Comment
Someone once noted that the world of childhood ends when one of two things happen. When we become aware of the presence of evil in the world. Or when we develop the ability to reflect honestly and with some degree of intelligence on the past. Both of those lines of demarcation can be clearly observed […]
“I Could Name God in Twelve Ways” by Karen Salyer McElmurray
November 26, 2024 by Leave a Comment
The Sufi mystic and poet Rumi wrote, “There are a hundred ways to kneel and kiss the ground.” In prayer, in supplication and humbleness, in homage, in desperation for healing and peace. The ground we claim or that claims us. A foreign ground we travel for exploration and enlightenment. Home ground, dismissed, wished for, finally […]
“The Devil Hath a Pleasing Shape” by Terry Roberts
November 20, 2024 by Leave a Comment
The fabled Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina, looms as the intriguing, dark backdrop for Terry Roberts’ novel The Devil Hath a Pleasing Shape (Turner Publishing 10/01/2024). This excellent mystery is the third in the Stephen Robbins Chronicles series. Those familiar with Asheville and those who love mysteries won’t want to miss this engaging […]
Dawn Major reviews “The Best of the Shortest: a Southern Writers Reading Reunion”
November 19, 2024 by 1 Comment
Introduction: A year ago, on the weekend before Thanksgiving I travelled from Atlanta to Fairhope with a fellow author and friend, John Williams, to attend the first (and as I’ve been told) the last Southern Writers Reading Reunion. The Best of the Shortest: a Southern Writers Reading Reunion anthology was going to be introduced and […]
“Ember Days” by Mary Gilliland
November 13, 2024 by Leave a Comment
In the calendar of certain western Christian religions — most notably the Roman Catholic and Anglican denominations — ember days are times of prayer and fasting that occur four times during the year, on the successive Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday at the beginning of the four seasons of the church year. They are intended as […]