Refuting Alabama Repubican Paul DeMarco’s disinformationFormer Alabama state representative Paul DeMarco wrote a column recently that just … it got under my skin due to the outright…Aug 5, 2021Aug 5, 2021
‘Overnight Success’Had lunch with a buddy of mine a while back. I’d just signed my book deal(s), and we’re sitting there talking about how everything had come…Jul 15, 2021Jul 15, 2021
Suddenly I’m an Expert? Or, ‘Everything I Know About Publishing (and It Ain’t Much)’Since signing my publishing contracts, I’ve gotten several Twitter DMs and a couple of Facebook messages, essentially offering…Jun 29, 2021Jun 29, 2021
Mrs. Holland’s Opus, or ‘Why Everything I Write Is Powered by a Deep and Abiding Rage’Don’t blame me for Mrs. Holland’s prematurely gray hair. It was like that when I first entered her classroom at Enterprise Junior High…Jun 28, 2021Jun 28, 2021
The Strange Tale of What Happened to My Book DealI woke up to the best news in the world on January 1, 2021: British publisher Close to the Bone offered me a contract for my novel, Magic…Jun 27, 2021Jun 27, 2021
Writing & Subbing & EditingHere’s a bit of a follow-up to my last post, where I talked about reaching writing goals for the year, hopefully with some important…Oct 30, 2020Oct 30, 2020
Small Victories During a Trash-Fire YearFirst, I want to stipulate that 2020 has been absolute garbage: Wildfires. Worldwide pandemic. Murder hornets. More unarmed Black people…Sep 7, 2020Sep 7, 2020
Resolutions, 2020 editionThis is a mostly personal post. I made some serious changes in 2019, and I want to keep them going in 2020. So here are a few resolutions…Dec 31, 2019Dec 31, 2019
Short Fiction: Hidden HouseEditor’s note: This story is based around true events that happened when I was a child. The house in the story still exists, maybe 100…Oct 4, 2019Oct 4, 2019
Published inHuman PartsWhen the Friend Who Saved Your Life Dies Too SoonIn New Orleans, we walk the Second Line for Mike, the man who saved me from certain death at 16Aug 5, 20194Aug 5, 20194
When it comes to Alabama, you don’t know shitAlabama is a national laughingstock again.May 19, 20191May 19, 20191
Avengers: Endgame — Here There Be SPOILERSFirst of all, I don’t want to spoil the movie for anyone. If you haven’t seen Avengers: Endgame yet, get the hell out of here. There was…Apr 27, 2019Apr 27, 2019
25 Reasons That Writing is Like SexI was going to make this a vlog, in response to my good friend Angi Black’s assertion that writing is like karaoke. While I can see her…Nov 4, 2018Nov 4, 2018
Parable: How the GOP Lost Its SoulNote: When I wrote this a couple of years ago, I didn’t realize how prophetic it would be. As the 2018 midterm elections approach, I will…Oct 17, 2018Oct 17, 2018
I Won’t Be Liberal AnymoreA lot of my friends and family like to tease me because I’m one of the few political liberals they know. Sometimes the jokes are all in…Aug 5, 20181Aug 5, 20181
When our monuments are wrongThe first thing I’ll tell you is that I’m a Southern writer. There’s no getting around it; I was raised on sweet tea, biscuits, fried…Aug 18, 20171Aug 18, 20171
GOP Unveils ‘Operation: Mayonnaise’WASHINGTON, D.C. — Longtime Republican strategist Ray Cist announced today that the Trump administration will engage in “Operation…Aug 12, 2017Aug 12, 2017
A Defense of ‘Sloppy Genre Novels’British historical romance novelist Philippa Gregory recently made some comments to the New York Times Review of Books that were, at best…Aug 11, 2017Aug 11, 2017
Punching Nazis, an American dutyAmerican Nazi Richard Spencer was punched in the head during a live interview with ABC News during Trump’s inauguration on Friday, and I’m…Jan 21, 2017Jan 21, 2017