Wright brothers scholar Julie Williams responds to Connecticut “first in flight” controversy
Julie Williams, author of Wings of Opportunity: The Wright Brothers in Montgomery, Alabama, 1910, writes: “The state of Connecticut has just declared local hero Gustave Whitehead to be the inventor of the airplane, claiming Whitehead flew in 1901, before the Wright Brothers first flew in 1903. Claims like this occasionally crop up, because many people were trying to invent the airplane around the time of the Wright Brothers. Wilbur Wright himself, inspired by their efforts, resolved to make his mark on the world by inventing the airplane. The key element is that he and his brother Orville actually did it, while others did not …”
Rheta Grimsley Johnson inspired by Frye Gaillard’s Books That Mattered
Two NewSouth Books authors came together recently when syndicated columnist Rheta Grimsley Johnson (Hank Hung the Moon, 2012) attended writer Frye Gaillard’s April 10 event at Eclipse Coffee and Books in Montevallo, Alabama. Gaillard was there to talk about his new book The Books That Mattered: A Reader’s Memoir. Johnson, writing about the event and the book in her recent column “The Books That Rocked Your World,” said that “in writing compellingly about some of his favorite books and authors, the ones that moved and shaped him, Gaillard has produced another book that matters” …
Rod Davis, Gerald Duff inducted in Texas Institute of Letters
NewSouth authors Rod Davis and Gerald Duff join an illustrious list of writers — including Cormac McCarthy, J. Frank Dobie, Larry McMurtry, and Shirley Ann Grau — with their induction into the prestigious Texas Institute of Letters last month …
Skip Tucker talks Pale Blue Light with Publishers Weekly, Shelf Awareness
Over author Skip Tucker’s 1,500-mile book tour through Virginia, Atlanta, and New Orleans, he met a lot of readers interested in his unique Civil War spy thriller Pale Blue Light. Tucker spoke with Publishers Weekly and Shelf Awareness about his trip …
Gerald Duff’s Dirty Rice named ForeWord Best of the Year finalist
Earlier this month, NewSouth released award-winning author Gerald Duff’s novel Coasters and his short story collection Fire Ants as ebooks, along with individual ebooks of each of Fire Ants‘ fifteen stories, and Duff’s new short essay Fugitive Days. But these are just a few of Duff’s books receiving praise from all corners …
Author Skip Tucker to make 1,500-mile road trip to promote paper edition of Civil War novel Pale Blue Light
Alabama author Skip Tucker leaves shortly on a 1,500-mile drive to promote the national paperback release of his historical adventure novel, Pale Blue Light, at the annual re-enactment of the Civil War’s Battle of Chancellorsville, Va., May 3-5. The trip is timed to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the death of Stonewall Jackson and the historic battle. Some 30,000 people are expected to attend the commemorative events. Tucker will hold an 11 am news conference on May 4 at the Spotsylvania County Museum at the Chancellorsville Battlefield to announce the book release …
Gerald Duff’s Fire Ants short stories released as individual ebooks
Publishers Weekly has praised Gerald Duff’s fiction for “wit and subtlety as simply satisfying as a tall cold one on a hot Gulf Coast afternoon.” Now Duff’s short story collection Fire Ants and Other Stories is available as an ebook, and each story is also available as their own individual $0.99 ebook …
Rhyme* Around the Clock: Second Annual 24-Hour Poetry Marathon in Downtown Montgomery, April 18-19
In celebration of National Poetry Month and in anticipation of the 2013 Alabama Book Festival, the second annual 24-hour poetry marathon will be held April 18-19 in downtown Montgomery. Any interested poets may participate by reading their own work or that of another poet, or both. Get on the list to read by calling 334-834-3556 …
Activist and author Dot Moore profiled by Montgomery Advertiser
The Montgomery Advertiser profiles author and activist Dot Moore, author of Oracle of the Ages and No Remorse. Ed Bridges, retired director of the state Department of Archives and History, calls Moore “an amazing person” …
Close encounters with Robert Penn Warren, Fugitive poets in Gerald Duff’s Fugitive Days
In his new ebook Fugitive Days, writer and professor Gerald Duff recalls his chance encounters with such literary figures as Robert Penn Warren, John Crowe Ransom, Allen Tate, and Andrew Lytle. In his meetings with the poets, Duff finds the humanity in each — some approachable, some remote, some lost in the wilds of age or overshadowed by their own legends. Duff and his readers take away with them new understanding of what writers-as-fugitives gain and sacrifices in pursuit of their craft …