Win the audio version of Gather Her Round!

So the good folks at Blackstone Audio have sent along a couple of copies of the audio version of my latest Tufa novel, Gather Her Round. Once again it’s read by Stefan Rudnicki, who makes my writing sound at least ten percent better. It’s a $35 value, but you can enter for a chance to win one of them FREE … Read More

Cover reveal for The Fairies of Sadieville

Here we go: the cover for the sixth Tufa novel, The Fairies of Sadieville. This cover was designed by Jamie Stafford-Hill under the supervision of Irene Gallo, and in my opinion they’ve really outdone themselves. All the Tufa novel covers have been gorgeous (in my opinion), and this one is no exception. It also depicts a moment from the story, which … Read More

Interview: the Lucky Nows

The music in the Tufa novels comes from three main sources: classic folk music, modern indie music, and me. By that, I mean that if I can’t find lyrics to quote from in the first two sources, then it falls back on me to create them. I’m under no delusions about being a songwriter, and I don’t necessarily consider my little … Read More

Presenting Rex Winters: the Story behind Gather Her Round’s Dedication

Sometimes dedicating a book is easy, as when a particular person inspires you to write it in the first place, as Tia Sisk did for my first novel, The Sword-Edged Blonde. Or when they’re instrumental in the writing process, the way my son Jake was for Wake of the Bloody Angel. Or when the stars just align, as they did … Read More

Guest Post: The Story Spider’s First Festival

The new Tufa novel, Gather Her Round, begins on the stage of the National Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, TN where twenty years ago I felt the first stirrings of what would become the Tufa. My friend Christi, a.k.a. professional storyteller Magda the Story Spider (above, onstage at the festival), was with me that first time, and she was kind enough to write a bit … Read More

How a Springsteen Bootleg Inspired a Scene in WISP OF A THING

Since today’s my birthday, I thought I’d bring y’all a little somethin’-somethin’: an example of how things end up the way they do in novels, along with an absolutely kick-ass song. It used to be a lot of work being a Bruce Springsteen fan. He notoriously wrote many more songs than he put on his albums, and if you wanted to hear … Read More

Favorite Story Song contest

Popular music has stopped telling us stories. The story song used to be a staple of pop, occasionally rock, certainly country. But since the advent of “singers” enslaved to Auto-Tune and “songwriting” done by marketing committee (not to mention the whole “bro-country” movement), the story song (along with other forms of good music) has vanished from the mainstream airwaves.* Yet … 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