About
I've published three novels novels and one collection of short stories and poems.
My latest novel is A Majority of One, which is about book-banning and religious zealotry.
The stories and poems collection is titled Six of One, Half Dozen of Another.
Striking Out, my first novel, is a coming of age story set in Georgia. It was nominated for the PEN/Hemingway
award.
Atlanta Blues, my second novel, is about the search for a missing college girl by a reporter and two cops. The search leads through the underbelly of urban Atlanta to murder and heartbreak. The novel was nominated for an Edgar Award.
Striking Out and Atlanta Blues have been taught in American lit. courses in college. All my books are available at Amazon.com and at smashwords.com.
Description
<p>When Jessica Bryant pesters her wealthy parents to allow her to have a dog as a pet, the answer is a resounding "No"; but they soon come to regret their decision when thier home is broken into one evening whilst they are out and their daughter kidnapped and held for ransom. The kidnappers, in the form of four seedy and incompetent characters wearing Disneyland-type masks, take her hostage and keep her incarcerated in a place from which there appears to be no escape. However, they reckon without the resourcefulness of our heroine, and the courage of a wonderful stray dog who comes to her aid and whom she names 'Murdo'. And so begins an exciting and humurous accounting of the couples' adventures together as they consistently foil and outwit the abductors whilst on the run together.<br /> This is a lovely story of the friendship between a girl and a dog, bringing out themes of responsibility, camaraderie, redemption, salvation and self-sacrifice. It includes some wonderful dialogue sequences as Jessica teaches her new four-legged friend how to communicate with her, with additional delightful conversations between the animals when a rabbit and a sparrow join forces with them in an effort to outwit the kidnappers and restore Jessica safely back to her parents' home. </p>
Story Behind The Book
As a lover of literature and a champion of the separation of church and state, I am annoyed by the continuous efforts of this or that group, almost always religious in nature, to ban classic American novels from the classroom. One of their favorite targets? To Kill a Mockingbird. Imagine! Another favorite target? The Adventures of Hiuckleberry Finn. Both of these are great (and beloved) American novels and are as innocent of offensive content as the Bible itself, maybe less so. These censors comprise a social evil. I wrote the book to expose them for what they are: ignorant.
