Southern Spines Podcast

When you read a book, do you picture the characters in your head? Do you imagine your favorite actors playing the roles of the heroes and villains? I do. Many are speculating these days about who will play the male lead in the upcoming Fifty Shades of Grey movie. I confess (profess?) that I haven't read the Fifty Shades books, but People.com recently reported that E. L. James, author of the Fifty Shades series, was partying with Robert Pattinson, better known as the actor who portrayed Edward Cullen in the Twilight movies. And even more recently, I was pleased to read that Ben Affleck is in talks to play Nick Dunne in David Fincher's adaptation of Gillian Flynn's bestselling thriller, Gone Girl. And Diana Gabaldon championed the selection of Scottish actor Sam Heughan to play Jamie Fraser in the Starz movie version of her Outlander series. All of this talk of book couples becoming on-screen couples made me think of the last romance I "cast" in my head: Keowee Valley by Katherine Scott Crawford. I was in the t

I first met author Amy Franklin-Willis at last year's Southern Festival of Books in Nashville. Afterward, she was kind enough to send me a copy of her debut novel, The Lost Saints of Tennessee. Being a Tennessee girl, how could I resist that title? And in the first few pages, I was hooked. Readers will be immediately drawn into the story of Ezekiel Cooper and his tattered mess of a life, which is bookended by bittersweet reminiscences of childhood with his twin brother, Carter, and a future that can only exist through redemption. In honor of this month's paperback release of Lost Saints of Tennessee, Amy and I chatted via Skype. Listen to the podcast using the player below or download it from iTunes. But definitely leave a comment because we are giving away a copy of the paperback to one lucky Southern Spines reader. You can up your chances of winning by posting a comment on the Southern Spines Facebook page. To learn more about Amy Franklin-Willis, visit her website at amyfranklin-willis.com. Like her autho

For a limited time--Friday, October 5 through Sunday, October 7--Amazon will be offering a free copy of Kiss Shot, a book of short stories by poet and author Collin Kelley. Here's the book description: Award-winning author Collin Kelley (Conquering Venus and Remain In Light) explores his Southern roots with this collection of four short stories set in the town of Cottonwood, Georgia. In "How Fanny Got Her House," a devoted maid recalls the hijinks surrounding her employer's death from a brain tumor, while a teenage boy comes to terms with his sexuality during an unexpected game of pool in the title story, "Kiss Shot." A woman escaping an abusive relationship arrives in New Orleans during a rain storm and wanders into the famed "Clover Grill" on Bourbon Street, and "I Got A Name" follows the trials and tribulations of an overweight woman looking for love at a community theater company. Southern Spines contributor Stacie Boschma sat down for an interview with Collin at Thinking Man Tavern in Atlanta, G

On the eve of the paperback release of A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty, we talk to New York Times Bestselling author Joshilyn Jackson about the three powerful voices who narrate this book. Here's a synopsis of the novel from Joshilyn's website: Every fifteen years, trouble comes after the Slocumb women. Now, as their youngest turns fifteen, a long-hidden grave is unearthed in the backyard. Headstrong young Mosey Slocumb is determined to find out who used their yard as a make-shift cemetery, and why. What she learns could cost her family everything.  As forty-five year old Ginny fights to protect Mosey from the truth, she’s thrown back into the arms of the long-lost--and married--love of her life. Between them is Liza, silenced by a stroke, with the answers trapped inside her. To survive Liza's secrets and Mosey's insistent adventures, Ginny must learn to trust the love that braids the strands of their past---and stop at nothing to defend their future. And speaking of voices, Joshilyn has narrated all bu

In the debut episode of the Southern Spines podcast, we talk to bestselling author and midlife reinvention champion, Claire Cook. We also like to think of her as a newly-adopted Southerner with a Boston accent. She recently moved to Atlanta and is appearing at the 2012 Decatur Book Festival.   Claire wrote her first novel in her minivan outside her daughter's swim practice when she was 45. At age 50, she walked the red carpet at the Hollywood adaptation of her second novel, Must Love Dogs, starring Diane Lane and John Cusack. Claire's recent novel, Wallflower in Bloom, is an Indie Next pick, and Publishers Weekly called it "fun and inspiring."