By The Book

Happy Tuesday! I am a little late posting today’s TTT — computer issues. Ugh! But better late than never. Today our topic is bookish people. I attended a small literary festival over the weekend, and thought I would introduce to you the authors that I met. Some of the authors were parts of panels or talks that I attended; others I met at the tables where they displayed the works of their hearts. It’s only been a few days, so I haven’t read any of the books. Yet. Take a look. I hope there is at least one that piques your interest.

For more great posts, check out That Artsy Reader Girl.

Authors I Have Recently Met

Candace J. Carter, author of Muddy Waters.

Candace J. Carter has walked many paths in life. She served in the military, earned a degree in veterinary medicine, and worked for the National Park Service. Much of her professional career was spent with Threatened and Endangered species, including the black-footed ferret, Florida scrub-jay, and four species of sea turtles.

Her stories are drawn from these experiences. Growing up in a rural town, she was often found fishing, hunting, or horseback riding. She shared a love of watching western movies with her father. Her stories reflect small town life and the feeling of family shared by people in rural communities. Thanks to her father, there’s a bit of the Old West in her stories, too.

She was awarded a Carrie McCray Memorial Literary Award from the South Carolina Writers Association for Novel First Chapter for Muddy Waters, which is the first in the Henry “Whispering” Smith mystery series.

Crystal Jackson by Left on Main

Left on Main is Crystal Jackson’s first novel in the Heart of Madison series, an ongoing southern romance set in the charming real-life town of Madison, Georgia, where she lives with her two wild and wonderful children. A former therapist turned author, her work has been featured on Medium, Elephant Journal, Elite Daily, and The Good Men Project. When she’s not writing for Medium and working on her next book, you can find Crystal traveling, paddle boarding, running, throwing axes badly but with terrifying enthusiasm, hiking, doing yoga, or curled up with her nose in a book.

Soniah Kamal author of Unmarriageable

Soniah Kamal is an award winning novelist, essayist and public speaker. Her most recent novel, Unmarriageable: Pride & Prejudice in Pakistan, is a a Financial Times Readers’ Best Book of 2019, a New York Public Library, a NPR Code Switch 2019 Summer Read Pick and a Georgia Center for the Book’s 2019 pick for ‘Books All Georgians Should Read.’ Her debut novel, An Isolated Incident, was a finalist for the Townsend Award for Fiction and the KLF French Fiction. Soniah’s TEDx talk is about second chances and her Keynote Address at a U.S. Citizenship Oath Ceremony talks about the real American Dreams. Soniah’s work has appeared in critically acclaimed anthologies and publications including The New York Times, The Guardian, The Atlantic, Buzzfeed and more. Soniah grew up in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and England and resides in Atlanta, Georgia. http://www.soniahkamal.com twitter & instagram: @soniahkamal

Renee Propes author of Duplicity

Perhaps the most significant legacy left to Renee was her mother’s love for the written word. 

From an early age, Renee knew she was destined to write. 

But, as is often the case, life got in the way of her pursuit of writing. After the birth of her son Zachary, she finally got started. One afternoon as she watched her four-year-old playing, she picked up a number two pencil and a pad and began to explore the craft of storytelling through the written word.  Her first book in The Abington Series is a culmination of that effort.

Renee was thirty-five years old when she started her first novel, Duplicity: A Story of Deadly Intent. Upon retirement from a career in accounting, she edited the original twelve chapters, and with a determined perseverance, completed the book. 

Other books by Author Renee Propes:

Fractured: A Story of Broken Ties 

Redemption: A Story of Grace

Kay Dew Shostak author of Backwater, Florida

After being raised in a small-town in Tennessee, Kay Dew Shostak lived around the country in a variety of settings. Taking a look at the familiar and loved from new perspectives led Kay to see, and then write about, the absurd, the beautiful, and the funny in her South.

After publishing several stories in compilation books and spending a few years in journalism, Kay wandered into writing fiction and found it hard to leave. She currently is working on the fourth book in the Chancey series and living in Fernandina Beach, Florida with her husband. 

Rona Simmons author of A Gathering of Men

Rona Simmons is an author of both historical fiction and nonfiction. Her first published works were novels, and primarily works of historical fiction set in the first half of the last century. “The sweep of events, from the First World War to the Great Depression, to World War II, had momentous impact on our lives,” she says, “and is a period we can still almost reach with our fingertips.” 

Her latest book, A Gathering of Men (to be released by Koehler Books in early 2022), combines her interest in the World War II era and her passion for history and research to tell another story with a unique perspective on the war. This time, the tale is historical fiction, but based on a true story and countless hours spent in the library and our nation’s WWII museum archives.

Simmons is a frequent speaker on WWII and veterans stories as well as writing, blogging, editing, and marketing. She blogs about World War II-related topics on Gone for a Soldier. Her stories, articles, and interviews have been published in literary journals and online magazines, and in local newspapers.

Rona Simmons graduated from Tulane University and received her post-graduate degree from Georgia State University. She spent thirty-years in business, ending with a period as a business consultant for International Business Machines and retired to north Georgia where she launched her second career in writing.

G. S. Singer author of The Cobbler’s Daughter

G. S. Singer grew up in South Florida’s Redland district where he camped, hiked, and devoured every science fiction novel he could find. At the University of Florida, he studied creative writing under authors, Harry Crews and Smith Kirkpatrick. After graduation, Singer co-founded a small-town newspaper filling the roles of reporter, copy writer, editor, and even cartoonist. Praised for his wry humor, intricate plotting, and unforgettable characters, Singer’s fiction has been honored in both the Daphne du Maurier, Kiss of Death competition and the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award. When he isn’t plunging unsuspecting heroes into impossible situations, Singer enjoys the tranquility of the North Georgia Mountains where he lives with his wife and children.

Jan Slimming coauthor of Captured at Singapore

Jan Slimming is a publishing professional with a former career in London’s educational and international publishing industry. Codebreaker Girls: A Secret Life at Bletchley Park is her first book. As Director of three companies, she chaired committees and fund-raising initiatives in aid of children’s education before delving into historical research. She was six when she first heard of Bletchley Park, but it was decades later when secrets about the wartime work there were revealed and she was compelled to research and write about this little-known part of her mother’s life. Jan is a member of Atlanta Writers Club (Est.1914) and an active member of her community in local events and WWII matters, of which she also writes with her twin sister. Jan has first class-qualifications from the Royal Society of Arts in English, Business and Publishing from Wimbledon College and the the University of the Arts (formerly London College of Printing and Graphic Arts). She lives in Atlanta with her husband and growing family.

Tags: Crystal Jackson, G. S. Singer, historical fiction, Jan Slimming, Kay Dew Shostak, literary fiction, Renee Propes, romantic suspense, Rona Simmons, small towns, Soniah Kamal, suspense, WWII