Goodreads in North Carolina discussion
Home-grown authors ?
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From 'Purity of Heart, a Haven Kimmel fan site, www.purityofheart.org,Haven Kimmel (born 1965) is an American author and storyteller. She was born in New Castle, Indiana, and was raised in Mooreland, Indiana, the locus of her bestselling memoir, A Girl Named Zippy: Growing up Small in Mooreland, Indiana (2001).
Kimmel earned her undergraduate degree in English and creative writing from Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana and a graduate degree from North Carolina State University, where she studied with novelist Lee Smith. She also attended seminary at the Earlham School of Religion in Richmond, Indiana. She lives in Durham, North Carolina and New Orleans, Louisiana.
Haven Kimmel was a poet before writing A Girl Named Zippy. The Solace of Leaving Early (2002) and Something Rising (Light and Swift) (2004) are the first two novels in Kimmel's planned "trilogy of place" about fictional Hopwood County, Indiana. Her other major works include the memoir She Got Up Off the Couch (2005); a poetic children's book, Orville: A Dog Story (2003); and a retelling of the book of Revelation in Killing the Buddha: A Heretic's Bible (2004), edited by Peter Manseau and Jeff Sharlet.
Who Haven's parents are is in dispute. Carol Doup Muller of the Seattle Times says, "[I:]f Bailey White and Garrison Keillor had a love child", her name would be Zippy. But Augusten Burroughs, author of Running With Scissors disagrees: "She's the love child of Anne Tyler and David Sedaris." Lawrence Naumoff says, "Haven herself looks like the love child of Rita Hayworth and J.D. Salinger". My parental 'dream team'? Edna St. Vincent Millay and Alfred North Whitehead.
Margaret Maron - mystery writer, writes a series about an NC judge - deborah Knott seriesMarisha Pessl - who wrote "special topics in calamity physics" grew up in Asheville, NC
There is also this reference on the Wake County website
http://www.wakegov.com/libraries/read...
I really like Sarah Shaber. She deals with historical NC mysteries. Her main character is a college professor at a fictional college in Raleigh. (Think what UNC would look like if located in Raleigh.) The first in the series is "Simon Says."Another really good NC author is Katy Munger. She reminds me a lot of Stephanie Plum (Janet Evanovich) except her mysteries have a little more depth to them. "Legwork" is the first in her series.
Cold Mountain by Charles Frasier is easily one of my favorite books. It is set in the mountains of NC during the civil war. Firstly, allow me to say that I rarely read period novels from this era because they tend to romanticize war with a heavy dose of gone with the wind thrown in.This book is more of a human journey. One man's many discoveries into the gritty and unpredictable human psyche.
The movie wasn't so bad but it didn't cover the many encounters he had as he struggled to get back home after being seriously injured during the war. Read the book then try the movie.
Currently reading Cape Fear Rising - Philip Gerard. I'm not he's home grown, but the cover says he's currently a professor at UNC Wilmington and the book is historical fiction of the race riots in that town at the turn of the century. I'm finding it pretty interesting, he's got a decent writing style, and I'm sure if you're from Wilmington or have spent time there, it would be even more meaningful given that he incorporates actual people, buildings, and streets into the narrative - many of which are still in existance...well, the buildings and streets that is, not the people.
Wow! So many great writers. A book club based on NC writers would be interesting.
My favorites would probably be Lee Smith (VA born but now lives in NC and has taught creative writing at both UNC and NC State). Also like Jill McCorkle - very similar to Lee Smith - from Lumberton, NC but now is a professor at Harvard.
John Hart and Sharyn McCrumb are two of my favorites
I've always heard that Hillsborough NC has a high concentration of known authors (even Frances Mayes, who still owns her home in Tuscany as well):From Wikipedia: "For its size, Hillsborough has a high concentration of residents who are nationally known authors, including Lee Smith, Allan Gurganus, Michael Malone, Annie Dillard, Hal Crowther, Frances Mayes, the late Doug Marlette, and David Payne.[8:]"
That list doesn't include them all. There is a new book "27 Views of Hillsborough:A Southern Town in Prose & Poetry" in which 27 authors that live or have lived in Hillsborough tell of the community (past or present).
One of my favorite Authors who hasn't been mentioned is Ron Rash.
Ken Harmon (Gastonia, NC) just published a holiday mystery. Carrie Ryan (charlotte) has an interesting teen fiction series. Gail Z Martin is one of my all time favorite sci-fi authors and she is ftom charlotte. Also Gwenn Hunter from Ft. Mill, SC has a fun series based in bayou country.
@Sonya - Thanks for the Gail Martin recommendation. I'm stuck in the mystery genre at the moment and have been craving some sci-fi! Thanks.
you won't be disappointed! First in the series is The summoner- she has a new one (bk 4) out this month!!!
Also, when you make your way back to mystery- if you haven't tried out Joyce and jim lavene- give em a whirl! I really enjoyed their renessaince fair mysteries- they are from SC.
We are so lucky to have such wonderful NC authors! My late grandmother was a librarian (she "drove" the first bookmobile in Wake County back in the 1930s!) and she had a wonderful collection of NC authors in her library. A new-to-me NC author is Sarah Addison Allen... so far she has written "The Sugar Queen" and "Garden Spells." I really enjoyed The Sugar Queen... I think it would be considered "magical realism"?
I also reviewed a book for Our State Magazine by Maggie Bishop... writes mysteries set in the mountains. I keep intending to check out some of her other books.
Oh, I see someone mentioned John Hart... just found out about him, and I have one by him in my stack. :)And don't forget that Anne Tyler grew up in Raleigh and graduated from Duke. Though I don't consider her a "Southern" writer as such.
Author and Duke University English professor Reynolds Price died earlier this week. :(http://news.duke.edu/reynoldsprice/
I heard that earlier, Lesley. Very sad news :(
Erica Eisdorfer (Durham, NC): The Wet Nurse's Tale
Hi All. I'm a new Indie Author. I'm coming at you from Candler, NC, slightly west of Asheville. I've just released my first book. It has been professionally edited, formatted, and I'm told it is very good. Give it a try! If you like it, please review it, share it, and vote it up the lists. Thanks so much.
Lilo
The Light Who Shines
by Lilo Abernathy
Urban Fantasy / Romance / Mystery
The story is placed in an alternate reality in contemporary times where three different breeds of humans exist: regular humans as you and I know them, magically Gifted humans, and Vampires (Dark and Light). The culture is strife with tension as these three breeds deal with a bloody history and lingering hate. The heroine is a paranormal inspector named Bluebell Kildare (a.k.a. Blue) who was born with the gift of being a sensitive. As the story moves forward, she begins to learn there is a little more to her power then she originally thought. The story starts out at the scene of the crime where a teenage boy was horrifically tortured and murdered. The plot follows the investigation of that crime and unfolds from alternating first person perspectives of the heroine (Bluebell Kildare) and hero (Blue’s boss, Jack Tanner). There are a few explicit sex scenes and some detailed descriptions of violence, but the story is not at all a horror or a psychological thriller. It is more of a detective/adventure book, with a lot of action and a good dollop of romance. There are some deeper aspects to this story as the characters begin to explore the nature of good and evil. I consider it equivalent to an R-rated movie.
http://www.amazon.com/Light-Who-Shine...
Other than myself (LOL), right now my favorite NC author is Kathryn Ewers Bundy She writes historial novels which features strong female characters in setting which range from a Warren County farm in modern day to Boston at the turn of the century. So far I have read three of her works and working on a fourthWay Out in Dog Heaven
Goodreads in North Carolina
Books mentioned in this topic
A Girl Named Zippy (other topics)Gone with the Wind (other topics)
Way Out in Dog Heaven (other topics)
Anyone here ever read Tim McLaurin's books? Its pretty cool to actually know an author...at least to me, it beats the snot out of knowing, say, an actor...Tim is gone, but I still recommend his books to friends. They closely resemble a fairly sizable chunk of my recollections of growing up here, of being a 'semi-redneck' very well...
May I presume to 'introduce' my uncle Ed Vaughn ? :) http://edwardvaughn.com/
He has started a 'Cumberland County' series of books, and while I liked his 'Tybee' series (The island in Georgia where he spent part of his childhood) its my belief that his Cumberland County books are his better body of work...you know, if you keep practicing something, you're bound to get better at it !
What North Carolina authors are out there? And what genre of work?
Who do you recommend?
Have a 'goodun'!
Glenn