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Study guide available for Blood Clay
A novel “about small-town America values and how the truth can sometimes seem like a threat," in the words of Publisher Kevin Morgan Watson, Blood Clay is set in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. A study guide will be made available at the time of the novel's launch this fall. It will be suitable for book clubs, discussion groups, and high school/college classes. In Blood Clay, Tracey Gaines has moved to rural Saul County, NC, escaping the wreckage of a divorce to become a teacher at an alternative school. She pours herself into renovating an old farmhouse but finds it’s not so easy to become part of this community: Tracey’s efforts to help a struggling mother and her daughter Lakesha seem to bring only resentment, while her misreading of neighbor Artis Pennell’s affability leads to public embarrassment. Her efforts to belong, to successfully parse new rules of race and region, come apart when she witnesses a tragic event and is blamed by some for the outcome.Coming in Fall 2010 from Press 53 |
Fish Tale .... "Worth," a short story trout fishing and a whole lot more, will be included in a new anthology of Appalachian fiction from Bottom Dog Press. The story is told from the point of view of a farmer and fisherman - and sparked a heated debate over whether a woman could write with such intimate knowledge of "men's lives" in the world of farm machinery and fishing lures. Can we successfully cross lines of gender and race? Should we? And what are the characteristics of a successful crossing? Post a comment on the blog portion of this website.
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