Summer begins June 21st and so does the $.99 Kindle offer for each of the Shiloh Mystery novels… Offer runs through June 28th! So don’t miss out! Purchase one or all three to fill your summer reading time…
Downtown OctoberfestSanctuary, ISBN 9781641110730Sanctuary recognitionTestament, ISBN 9781641110846Sanctuary recognitionPurgatory, ISBN 978195729197Purgatory Finalist for Best Suspense Novel of 2021
“T. M. Brown’s characters are rich, the story is compelling . . . the language is clever and poetic. . . It is an extraordinary tale written by an exceptional author. I will read this book again.” —RAYMOND L. ATKINS author of Set List, Sweetwater Blues, and Camp Redemption
What do you think? The Last Laird of Sapelo: The Randolph Spalding Story has served as my working title for my new historical novel, but it also sounds far too academic. After spending a weekend with author-peers at a writing conference on St. Simon’s Island and taking a three-hour boat tour of the tidewater around Darien/Sapelo Island, a new more meaningful title struck me — “Days of Cotton and Cannons”
For those who followed my journey in writing this story, now smack in the middle of the submission/query stage seeking the right publisher/agent, what do you think?
After two past postponements, the highly anticipated Southern LitFest 2022 kicks off, Friday evening June 3rd at Newnan, GA’s historic train depot with its Hometown Author program, and then Saturday begins an all-day schedule of events in and around downtown Newnan, and ends with the celebrated Bourbon On the Porch entertaining schedule of stops at historic locales in Newnan, Saturday evening.
I will serve as a judge for the Friday evening Hometown Author program. At least eight best-selling, award-winning local authors will each present a toast and roast of the Newnan’s famous literary heritage. Come and enjoy a weekend of top-notch programs with national celebrity authors and programs.
Visit Southern Lit Fest website for more information, schedule of programs and events, and details on the celebrity authors participating.
How is it Margaret Mitchell, Flannery O’Connor, Harper Lee, William Faulkner, Robert Penn Warren, Erskine Caldwell, James Dickey, Pat Conroy and the legacy of so many other great Southern authors have endured long after they left us? And, today Southern authors like Fannie Flagg, Alice Walker, Kathryn Stockett, Jeswyn Ward, Charles Frazier, Greg Iles, Charles Martin, Rick Bragg, and even John Grisham are still securing their legacy for future generations.
Let’s not forget the endless stream of fresh literary voices beckoning us with new Southern-laced literary works that supply the timeless and borderless demand for memorable flawed heroes, victims, and villains depicted in colorful Southern settings dealing with 21st-Century challenges and changes.
The South offers fuller moons and windier back roads for a reason.
What constitutes a great Southern story?
First of all, truth be told, I don’t know how to write the next best-selling Southern Novel. Of course, if I did happen to know how, I’d be too busy writing it and more than likely have my eyes cast on writing at least three. Three best-selling Southern novels would leave the kind of legacy that any writer would only dream about. But at least I know one when I see one. That’s because really great best-selling Southern novels are discovered, not written. In fact, none of the aforementioned authors began writing the next great Southern novel. They merely wrote what resided within them to write.
The indelible mark of a Southern Author
Being reared in the South leaves an indelible mark on one’s soul where inspiration and motivation sprouts from fertile memories, the good and the bad, to write compelling stories. Aspiring writers with souls stained and strained growing up in the South cannot write anything else worthwhile. Southern stories come to life experientially. An author might learn the mechanics of creative writing, but no classroom can replicate growing up and experiencing life in the South. There’s no better fodder for storytelling than lending an ear to the tall-tales of folks spinning yarns in the South. We may hear such tales while eating dinner, attending church, getting a haircut at a local barbershop, or at a beauty parlor for the women-folk, and let’s not neglect sitting on a neighbor’s porch.
So much of the South is found any evening on the front porch.
The Southern Author Is Too Polite to Name Names
I have learned one thing in my sixty-eight years, fiction is just the truth and reality wearing a mask and being stretched a might to be more palatable, and often more plausible. You see, more than not, the truth just ain’t as believable as the tall-tales that follow.
Now there are certain trademarks of any Southern story, they revolve around food, family, friendships, faith, and football. Right off, if any story fails to mention the sipping, swallowing, or gulping of sweet tea, consider it suspect right away. Also, in the South, a coke may not mean a Coca-Cola, and whiskey didn’t originate here, but it was perfected here. In fact, the tales of Cooter Brown’s perpetual drunkenness is a Southern-rooted legend.
Grits, gravy, and greens are menu staples, morning, noon and night. Anything else worth eating is also usually fried. Peaches, pecans, and peanuts are the foundation of many epic desserts too.
In the South, Change Arrives Reluctantly
It may be the 21st-Century, however, “Yes, ma’am” and “No, sir” are not derisive retorts but words of respect to our elders. Boys and grown men instinctively grab the door for a woman or young lady. Now, that’s not saying Southern gals don’t have spunk. Lord, just rile a Southern girl and you’ll learn right quick they invented sass. They also know, you know, you likely deserved it.
The 21st-Century Southern woman exited the confines of the kitchen and no longer remains in the shadows cast by men. She forges her own identity in society and dares men to catch up to her.
Some Traditions Linger
Of course, when someone approaches on a back road, there will be a casual exchange of raised fingers atop their respective steering wheels. It’s an evolution of the tradition that declares in the South no one stays a stranger for long. Handshakes and friendly howdies transform strangers into friends whether visiting or just passing through. What has changed is the inclusion of women in those customary exchanges.
But Some Traditions Remain Steadfast in the South
Last but not least, it’s downright hard to distinguish faith from football conversations. They both can offer the same fervor. In the South, the Lord’s Day is Sunday and everyone agrees that God graces every church, small or large, but Saturday, God sports our team colors, sits on our side of the field and favors our victories.
Now there’s a heap more we could wrangle back and forth about on this subject, but I reckon you’ve got the gist. We may not always plainly define it, but we sure know when we have read a great Southern novel. When we come to the last page and close a good southern novel, we feel sad because it ended.
T. M. Brown
Two books linked with their unforgettable setting and colorful characters
First published May 2020, Purgatory, A Progeny’s Quest, is the third book in the Shiloh Mystery Series. Re-released March 2022. Theo just can’t seem to avoid landing smack dab in the middle of life-altering threats and conflicts that shatter the peace and tranquility of lil’ ol’ Shiloh. Some family trees get shaken and familiar characters face life and death decisions to protect others in the next story.
Watch for Fifth Anniversary Editions coming soon of Sanctuary & Testament!
What began as an experiment, over four years ago, has grown in the number of local Georgia authors impacted and introduced, as well as in the number of programs and places growing our fledgling organization. Hometown Novel Writers also has added regular meetings and workshops for aspiring writers of all levels.
You can also email at hometownnovel@hotmail.com to subscribe to the new newsletter and regular email blasts regarding meetings, programs, and events on our busy calendar.
Come join us make a difference introducing local authors to local audiences south of Atlanta and where writers help writers on the road to publishing and promoting books. https://hometownnovel.com
In my upcoming historical novel, Sapelo Island is the home of South End, Chocolate, Bourbon, Kenan Fields, High Point, Marsh Landing, and Blackbeard’s Island–all names associated with the fifteen by three-mile barrier island off the Georgia coast as the War Between the States breaks out. The Spalding family’s legacy now rests in what was called the Spalding City of the Dead, a family burial plot near that family’s mainland home, Ashantilly, a short drive above the once thriving port of Darien, Georgia.
Today, much has changed. Darien is no longer the bustling seaport rivaling even Savannah at one time, and Sapelo Island no longer produces cotton, sugarcane, indigo, and rice as it once did. In fact, none of the coastal plantations exist any longer except for historical markers and community namesakes. Yet, Sapelo Island’s and Darien’s history goes back hundreds of long forgotten years.
My wife and I stopped in Darien in the summer of 2019 after a writers’ conference on Saint Simon Island for a bite of lunch. Immediately, I pondered using the quaint time-lost feel of this shrimp boat hub on the Georgia coast as the setting for one of my southern fiction stories. We returned for a week-long stay the following summer to research the town with the notion I could bring my Shiloh Mystery characters to town, but soon found myself entranced by the history of Sapelo Island after we spent a long day traipsing the island from one end to the other (at least as far as we could safely go without getting stuck in the soft sand and mud that made up most of the roads or should I say trails on the island).
I then stumbled upon Buddy Sullivan’s Early Days of the Georgia Tidewater, The Story of McIntosh County& Sapelo. I discovered the rich history of Sapelo and Darien, dating back to Oglethorpe’s founding of New Inverness, later known as Darien–the second oldest town in Georgia. Then I read about the McIntosh clan who settled in the area.
And yes, for my Coweta County friends, the same family whence William McIntosh haled and married Senoia, altering the fate and future generations of Creek Nation lands in Georgia. But that’s another story to be told.
From the McIntosh clan, the Leake clan and Spalding clans emerged up and down the coast in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
By 1800, Thomas Spalding arrived on Sapelo Island with his wife, Sarah Leake Spalding and South End came into being. Of their fifteen children born between 1800 and 1822, only five outlived Thomas (1851) and Sarah (1843). Three daughters married and bore children with the names of Brailsford, Wylly, and Kenan. Of the two sons, Charles, the eldest surviving son, had two wives but no children; only the youngest, Randolph bore three Spalding children. His family’s story is the basis behind my upcoming story…
Why this story? As my editor shared after reading my manuscript: History is not as black and white as we might believe, much grayness exists that we should learn about. The Randolph Spalding Story offers shades of gray that will enhance our understanding of history. His is a tragic story, as is his family’s story, and important to retell.
In the meantime, follow the below link to read another modern account about Sapelo Island today. I will provide periodic insights into Sapelo Island, Darien, and other parts of the Georgia coast, including Savannah, in the coming weeks and months as we all wait for the release of my latest historical novel.
Save money and receive convenient no risk 90 days terms on orders for all three Shiloh Mystery novels. Contact Angela Durden at Blue Room Books to place your order. They can take orders on all three books and arrange shipment directly to you at below standard industry trade discount. Ask Angela Durden for the details.
Want to order a copy of Sanctuary or Testament?
Signed copies are available at the above booksellers, Amazon, and many book retailers, i.e. The Book Loft, Fernandina Beach; The Bookshelf, Thomasville, GA; Horton’s Books & Gifts, Carrollton, GA; Pretty Good Books, LaGrange, GA; Story on the Square, McDonough, GA; Posman Books, Atlanta, GA, to name a few. Again, order through Blue Room Books or on the above BOOKSTORE ORDER PAGE. Never any shipping costs.
Recommend any of the novels to a local book club or book retailer. Mike, aka T. M. Brown, enjoys book talks and will schedule a visit, in-person or virtually.
Recommend the Shiloh Novels to your local library. All three books are all-audience rated and library friendly for all ages.
Watch for Upcoming Author Events featuring T. M. Brown Visit the Event page of go to Facebook TMBrownAuthor for the latest news and event schedule in the coming weeks in 2022.
AUTHORPRENEURSHIP: WHAT IS IT? You’ve invested hours writing and editing that story. Now what? In the highly competitive realm of books, all Authors, including well-known bestsellers, face the daunting task of getting their story in front of an interested audience. Authors cannot afford to just rush off and write another story, leaving the fate of their book(s) to chance.
This is a program we’re all interested in: Learn how to become an Authorpreneur. Finding the right road to publishing your book is the beginning of a long road… Don’t be like Don Quixote and battle windmills. Learn about Authorpreneurship and become the bandleader for your book. Success for an author begins in writing a great story, but you do not achieve it by sending your work out into the universe and waiting for fame and book sales to materialize magically. In 90 minutes, this workshop will only be able to introduce morsels about marketing and promoting your book as an author, but you will have begun the journey to becoming an Authorpreneur.
February 12, 10:00 Am until 11:30 AM, Virtual Writers Workshop: AUTHORPRENEURSHIP—Marketing and Promoting Your Books Register today for this FREE workshop co-hosted by the Newnan Carnegie Library.
The Speakers will be our own Mike Brown, the papa of Hometown Novels, the “Inspirational Southern Author,” and author of the Shiloh Series novels; and Angela Durden, Publisher and Author of dozens of books across several genres.
T. M. “Mike” Brown
ANGELA K. DURDEN has been managing the life cycle of the word since 1992, authoring more than a dozen books across various genres as well as articles in trade publications, internal and external communications for corporations, and newspaper columns.
Angela gained national attention in 2000 for her first book, Nine Stupid Things People Do To Mess Up Their Resumes. On her first in-studio radio interview, she advised syndicated host G. Gordon Liddy about how to best deal with a certain lengthy gap in his resume.
In 2006, she launched the Mike and His Grandpa series of children’s books with Heroes Need Practice, Too! and The Balloon That Would Not Pop! All her titles, including the fictional thriller Whitfield, Nebraska and her own coming-of-age story Twinkle: a memoir, are available on Amazon.com.
Angela expanded her publishing scope in 2010 when she was the co-author, coordinator, and graphic designer for Opportunity Meets Motivation, in which four women from different walks of life explain how they went into business for themselves. Other projects involving coaching writers, cover and interior book design, and editing led her to launch the Blue Room Books imprint in 2018.
She is the 2019 president of the Atlanta chapter of Sisters in Crime, an organization of authors who write fiction and non-fiction in the genre, and a past VP.
The Last Laird of Sapelo: The Randolph Spalding Story began in Darien, GA 2 years ago
2022 Big News Coming Soon
My latest novel, a historical tale about Randolph Spalding, the youngest son of Thomas Spalding, the original Laird of Sapelo, is finally nearing completion. His story has consumed my attention and focus ever since Purgatory’s launch on May 26, 2020. I did not think I could take my focus off my Shiloh fictional characters, but since before last summer began, my attention has been on writing while researching Randolph Spalding and his family. My wife and I have made two trips to the Georgia coast and sailed to Sapelo Island, listened to stories, sat with and read books by renowned historians, scoured the internet, and cluttered my computer with images and documents to validate the story I have written. Though it is a novel, I based it upon his history, cut short by his untimely death in March 1862. More will come in the weeks and months ahead as I seek to find the right publisher for this gripping story.
South End MansionAltamaha River SteamboatSapelo IslandDarien’s “Open Gates B&B” where the story research beganMilledgeville 1861Savannah 1862Union Gunboats, Port RoyalSapelo Island StormCol. Randolph SpaldingSapelo Lighthouse 1860Sarah Spalding LaunchThomas SpaldingRandolph Spalding, 1861Burning of Darien Museum visit, Dr. Eunice MooreJust a small portion of the images behind the research of The Last Laird of Sapelo: The Randolph Spalding Story
Shiloh Mystery Series approaching its Fifth Anniversary of Sanctuary, the story began the series.
Watch for exciting news of new editions to this award-winning series.
Sanctuary recognitionPurgatory recognitionSanctuary recognitionShiloh SeriesT. M. Brown, Southern Author from Newnan, GA and Founder of Hometown Novel NightsSee y’all this Spring
A brand new Hometown Novel Nights and HNN Writers Group website coming soon… HometownNovel.com
A busy October begins on October 1st with Octoberfest in historic downtown Newnan, Georgia–my hometown- and ends October 30th in Warm Springs narrating famous tales about graveyards, ghosts, and goblins while enjoying a Spooktacular evening among ghoulish dressed in black patrons.
Susan Crawford on Queries & Pitches
Children and Young Adult Authors Featured at Corner Arts Gallery, October 2nd
Bob Moseley, Young Adult Author
HNN Writers Workshop October 9th Virtual
Corner Arts Gallery, Newnan
Book Nook in Corner Arts Gallery, Newnan
Warm Springs Cellars, Spooktacular Event, October 30th
Award-Winning Shiloh Mystery Series by T. M. Brown, Newnan, GA
HNN Writers Group, October 11 (Virtual); October 30 Gathering at Corner Arts Gallery, Newnan
Sisters in Crime Atlanta Hosts HNN October Crime Stories Author Panel
Can you say “a busy October is coming?”
Visit T. M. Brown’s Event Page for all the dates, times. and locations for events, programs, and appearances on tap in October. In the midst of the month he and his wife are racing north to visit grandkids too.