INSPIRATION AT THE ALABAMA BOOK FAIR
CULTURE
My introduction to Southern fiction began in a bar. I’d been an early reader and made my way through the required classics in high school, but it wasn’t until my sophomore year in college that I started to see fiction as current, real, and personal. I was sitting in Lee’s Tomb, a cavernous saloon fresh from a viewing of The Deer Hunter and high on the unearned opinions of youth.
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My introduction to Southern fiction began in a bar. I’d been an early reader and made my way through the required classics in high school, but it wasn’t until my sophomore year in college that I started to see fiction as current, real, and personal. I was sitting in...
Stories like The Zookeeper’s Wife give us hope. We like to think we would be ingenious in the face of evil. We would react bravely to the threat of fear. We would reach inside ourselves and do what we would hope others would do for us. Films and books written about...
As a literary agent, I spend a good bit of time reading. When I find a gem, a book that stands out, I can’t wait to share it. The books that cross my desk include fiction and non-fiction, self-help, history, and memoir. This list includes my favorites of 2016, and a...
The halls are decked, the house is perfect, ready for all your holiday guests. But at Chip and Joanna Gaines’ house, kids are sliding across the floor in their socks and creating masterpieces on Joanna’s favorite table. After years of aiming for perfection, Joanna had...
TO SEE
Most people are familiar with E.T.A. Hoffmann’s famous Christmas ballet, The Nutcracker, which has become a cultural institution and a holiday tradition for many families. But few know the history of Hoffmann’s ballet or of the adaption it went through at the hands of...
Stories like The Zookeeper’s Wife give us hope. We like to think we would be ingenious in the face of evil. We would react bravely to the threat of fear. We would reach inside ourselves and do what we would hope others would do for us. Films and books written about...
TO PONDER
I have a very complicated relationship with the holidays and their prerequisite decoration requirements, most particularly, the Poinsettia plant. Some people call it a flower but really, is it a flower? It seems fairly obvious to me that it is a green plant that has th...
I live and play in Canada’s natural paradise. The Okanagan Valley of British Columbia is overflowing with orchards and vineyards. The summer air smells of ripe peaches, apples, and the minerals of lake water. The winter covers us in a duvet of snow, and the mountains c...
CULTURE |TO PONDER
PHOTOS: APRIL STANLEY PHOTOGRAPHY
When most of us think of blacksmiths, we envision wagon trains and men in thick leather aprons shoeing horses. Less than 100 years ago, one-fourth of the population listed their occupation as blacksmith. Today, smit...
GOALS: The first of the year is prime time for setting new goals and making resolutions. Unfortunately for many of us, these goals are often abandoned before the end of January, and our resolutions rarely make it to Valentine’s Day. What kills the aspirations we are...
So, you want to write a book? And one of your New Year’s goals is to start your book this year. We’ve gathered some facts, tips, and tricks to help you reach your publishing goal.
Stat: 81% of people feel they have a book in them.
If 81% of people feel like...
What brings a hometown Huntsville girl, Grissom High School and UAH grad back to Huntsville?
It’s been a long circuitous route back. When I was in my twenties I couldn’t wait to leave and now three decades later, I’m so excited to be here. Huntsville has certainly c...
