Month: October 2012

I had a wonderful time with the lovely ladies of the Ashebrooke Book Club in Forsyth County today. It was a large turnout (most of the members appear in the photo). The event was organized by my friend Marcy Theobald and hosted by Jenny Barber. They even had Brambleman cupcakes! I had no idea technology has advanced that far.  I should get out more often!  (Check out the close-up at the end of the post.) They also gave me a gift card to Starbucks, so I can stay awake to write my next book. Thank you, Ashebrookians! The book clubbers said they enjoyed Brambleman and asked a lot of questions, most of which I had answers for—and when I didn’t, I think I…

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I just saw the latest four-star review of Brambleman on Amazon.com.  A Forsyth County reader makes the same observation many others have made: She had no idea where the story would go next. Here’s the whole review: This book centers around the racial history of Forsyth County GA, where I have lived for 10 years. A friend recommended it so I bought it mainly due to the historical aspect of the book. Honestly I had no idea the main plot line. It was very interesting to read about some of the horrific things that happened here in the early 1900’s but none of that was surprising. What was surprising, however, was the strange storyline that actually really sucks you in. I like…

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Question: Can you compare Brambleman to any films? Answer: I’ve never seen a movie like it, but if I had to draw comparisons, I’d say perhaps It’s a Wonderful Life combined with Tobacco Road, with a strong measure of Beetlejuice thrown in, or maybe The DaVinci Code meets Deliverance.

For pdf version of release, click here. DeKalb author Jonathan Grant has made a generous donation of his works to DeKalb County libraries. On Wednesday, Grant, co-author and editor of the award-winning The Way It Was in the South: The Black Experience in Georgia, presented Kim Hill, manager of the Tucker-Reid Cofer Library branch, with hardcover first editions of that work. He also jump-started the library system’s collections of his new novels Chain Gang Elementaryand Brambleman. “Both novels deal with important issues,” Grant said. “I think of them as ‘book club books.’ Chain Gang Elementary will be of special interest to readers.” The former Evansdale Elementary School PTA president’s timely, poignant tale of war between a PTA president and a grade school…

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Libraries are having a tough time these days, with their acquisitions budgets being cut to shreds. I had already donated several copies of Chain Gang Elementary to my library system for their local author program, so I pushed forward with Brambleman as well.  (Click here to see Chain Gang Elementary holdings.) I also offered to help them replenish their stocks of The Way It Was in the Sotuh: The Black Experience in Georgia. Once upon a time, DeKalb libraries had 20 copies of the book, but holdings declined to just seven copies. (Click here for holdings.) In all, I gave them 20 books today, which should mean there will be 10 copies of Chain Gang Elementary, 8 of Brambleman, and 13 of The Way It Was on the shelves. You should be able to find…

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By Anna Dase, Read Between the Lines See more reviews Title: Brambleman Author: Jonathan Grant Series: Stand Alone Genre: Historical Fiction with a Supernatural Twist Publisher: Thornbriar Press Release Date: May 14 2012 Edition: Print The Story Down-and-out Atlanta writer Charlie Sherman has no idea what madness awaits him when a mysterious stranger convinces him to finish a dead man’s book about a horrific crime that’s gone unpunished for decades. What Charlie inherits is an unwieldy manuscript about the mob-driven expulsion of more than 1,000 blacks from Forsyth County, Georgia in 1912. During the course of his work, Charlie uncovers a terrible secret involving a Forsyth County land grab. Due to its proximity to Atlanta, the stolen farm is now worth $20…

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