In 1992, Bruce Springsteen released a song called “Souls of the Departed,” on his album, Lucky Town. After describing the death of a seven-year-old boy killed in a gang-related drive-by, he observes, His mama cried, “My beautiful boy’s dead” In the hills the self-made men just sighed and shook their heads But then, as always, Springsteen brings it down to … Read More
Some Halloween thoughts on NotLD
We had a breakthrough this past weekend: I finally convinced someone in my family to watch a zombie movie with me. My elder son, age twelve, joined me for the original Night of the Living Dead. It’s hard to imagine, in 2016, seeing it with no preconceptions, and since I’m his father, the boy certainly didn’t. I’ve sung its praises … Read More
Some Thoughts from Down at the Crossroads
WARNING: Contains spoilers for the 1986 movie Crossroads (not the 2002 Britney Spears film). If you haven’t seen it, I wholeheartedly recommend it. I recently rewatched Walter Hill’s movie Crossroads, and was surprised by how much I had internalized its depiction of the relationship between music and magic, and how that had influenced my own Tufa novels. I first saw it … Read More
Flash Giveaway!
Taking a page from my pal Deborah Blake and offering a quick contest that’ll get you a copy of Chapel of Ease and–although it’s totally unrelated–one of the great albums of the late 80s that you’ve probably never heard. Back in that long-ago time, my friend Hays introduced me to the music of Mississippi’s own Webb Wilder. His album Hybrid … Read More
Announcing the Tufa Coloring Book
Hey, all you Tufa fans! Artist Shoshanah Marohn has put together a official coloring book featuring scenes from all four Tufa novels, at least one short story, and even a sneak image from the fifth book. If you order it now, you can get $2 off the official price of $9.98. That’s right, from now until Chapel of Ease hits shelves on September … Read More
The original “Chapel of Ease”
As we close in on the September release of the fourth Tufa novel, Chapel of Ease, I wanted to share the song that gave the book its title. As with the prior three (and subsequent two) books in the series, the title comes from a song by Jennifer Goree (you can read about how our paths crossed here). It’s found … Read More
Godfather of Green: Danny Mullikin of Tuatha Dea on the Green Album
Last year, in one of the greatest bits of synchronicity I’ve ever been part of, the band Tuatha Dea released Tufa Tales: Appalachian Fae, an album based on and inspired by my first three Tufa novels. I was also lucky enough to appear at four different events with them, to be featured (briefly) in their video for “Wisp of a … Read More
Ode to Billie Joe: the value of the hidden
Yesterday was June 3rd, or as Bobby Gentry describes it: It was the third of June, another sleepy dusty delta day…. That is, of course, from her magnificent ballad “Ode to Billie Joe,” a song as much about what’s unsaid (or unsung) as it is about what’s said. Billy Joe McAllister jumped off the Tallahatchie Bridge; the singer, a young … Read More
Rocky IV: Electric Bugaloo
Every Thanksgiving, I have a Rocky-thon. Starting whenever I get up, it’s all Rocky, all day. Except it’s a curated marathon. It includes Rocky I-III, Rocky Balboa, and now Creed. There’s no Rocky V, which no one seems to question. But how, folks ask, can I leave out Rocky IV? Well, lemme tell ya. I reviewed Rocky IV for my … Read More
The Point of the End of the Tour
The End of the Tour is a film adapted from the memoir Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace, by David Lipsky. It begins with news of Wallace’s suicide* reaching Lipsky, who then digs out his audio tapes from the five days he spent with Wallace at the end of his author’s tour … Read More