Michael Kenneth Smith's Blog

All Is Fair is now an Amazon Bestseller!

I’m delighted to share my latest novel, All Is Fair, has reached Top Three Bestseller status in the categories of German Literature (#1) and Biographies of World War II (#2).

Learn more here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Porches Writing Retreat 2022 Fellowship Opportunity

Submissions for the Michael K. Smith Novel Fellowship for 2022 are now open!

Spend an immersive two-and-a-half days, one-on-one, with renowned editor Greg Michalson at the Porches Writing Retreat.

For information on this and other fellowships as well as submission requirements, please visit Porches Writing Retreat.

 

Happy Christmas!

It was dark. The only light came in through a little hole on the side of my little house. Out there somewhere where lights, not just any lights, but blue, green and red lights. And they were blinking. On, off, on off. Like some unseen metronome marking the beat to some unheard melody. But the sound, or lack of it, is what startled me most. If there was such a thing as a deafening silence, this was it. Maybe I was being punished I thought. After-all, my life had been anything but exemplary. I ha...

The Spirit of Christmas

December 22, 1864

A thin layer of clouds glowed silver and the nearly full moon provided enough light to see the opposing earthworks to the west. Goma vigorously rubbed the scars on his wrists trying to increase circulation. The light wind was from the west and he could smell the last burning embers from dozens of fires. The cool Virginia soil tried to steal what little body heat he had left.

       Goma looked back toward his own lines and hoped the replacement pickets would arrive soon. This w...

In the Shadow of Gold: Excerpt

The following is excerpted from In the Shadow of Goldwhich Kirkus calls a high-stakes, well-paced adventure saga.

Chapter 1
June, 2020

The sound of small glacial stones hitting the undercarriage of the speeding red Jeep Rubicon ended when the road became paved, marking the beginning of the Arvin property. Minutes later, Jonas Arvin reached under the dash and pressed a button, and the tall, wrought-iron gates opened, splitting the name Cherry Side Arboretum and revealing the tree-lined...

Talking about THE THIN GRAY LINE with WEOL Radio

I’ve been fortunate to have a number of media and bookstore events for the publication of THE THIN GRAY LINE—and it’s been a lot of fun! Here’s a clip from a recent radio show I did with station WEOL.

“… a nonfiction book on the history of the Civil War will tell you what happened…a book such as THE THIN GRAY LINE will tell you how it felt.”

http://www.michaelkennethsmith.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/MichaelKennethSmithThinGrayLine.mp3

And since we’re in “listening mode”, this would likely...

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On Writing a Trilogy

When writing my first book, Home Again, the idea of writing a trilogy never entered my mind. The story was about two young boys who quickly became men. Both from Tennessee, each signed up to join the war, Luke for the South and Zach for the North. Near the end of the war, each of the young men returned home damaged: Zach had post-traumatic stress and Luke was near death from his wounds.

After its publication, many readers of Home Again asked me what happened to Zach. They were curious to know...

The Postwoman: Top 5 Bestseller!

Delighted to share The Postwoman has achieved “Top 5” Category Bestseller on Kindle!

Learn more HERE.

The Postwoman: Writing to the Challenge

My first two novels were about fictitious men in the Civil War and both followed a vague timeline scripted by history. The story of Andrée (Dedee) de Jongh, on the other hand, offered a chance to write something different. Dedee’s story is about a real person, and while little was written about her life in WW2, the parameters of writing changed dramatically. Writing about a real person meant that I had to be true to her defined character in every word I wrote about her—as opposed to writing...

The Postwoman: Getting to Know Andrée De Jongh

Having learned that Lynne Olson was coming to our community to talk about her then latest book, Citizens of London, I read it and found the book captivating. After her lecture, we had dinner and I asked her about her brief reference to Belgian, Andrée de Jongh, a World War II resistance fighter. She said a comprehensive book on her life in the war had never been written and she hoped somebody would tell de Jongh’s very compelling story. Having already written two American Civil War novels mys...