Lest we forget, this holiday season
Month: November 2017
Georgia PSC candidate John Noel is running with the sun
PSC candidate John Noel wants Georgia’s energy future to be solar-powered By Jonathan Grant Republican victories in Georgia Public Service Commission races have been so predictable in recent years that Democrats haven’t bothered to field a candidate in three of the past five elections. Next year is shaping up to be quite different for the state’s asleep-at-the-wheel all GOP regulatory agency, however. Here’s why: Democrats are energized. Georgia Power’s troubled $25 billion (and counting) Plant Vogtle expansion has put a harsh spotlight on the PSC and its past decisions. Candidate John Noel, a colorful, dynamic energy-efficiency expert and walk-the-walk solar power advocate with political chops. The former Democratic state legislator with an unforgettable nickname is grabbing endorsements and making a splash with…
A few words on Brambleman & Forsyth County
Note: I originally wrote this piece as a guest post for CummingLocal.com. In my novel, Charlie Sherman learns that there are things people need to know about Forsyth County, Georgia, and he’s the one to tell them, despite facing overwhelming obstacles. This means there’s a book within the book—make that two. First, there’s Forsyth County’s historic racial terrorism and ethnic cleansing. While this episode is well-known to some people, Atlanta is home to many relative newcomers. Most of the white people I’ve talked to didn’t know what happened in 1912. Others think Forsyth’s racial troubles began when Hosea Williams marched in 1987. African-Americans I’ve talked to have a different understanding, of course, along with a deeply-rooted aversion to the place. Secondly,…
What Makes Sally Run?
I intended to sit down and write a strictly biographical piece about Sally Harrell, but first I want to address some drama that’s been playing out over the past few days in Georgia’s 40th District State Senate race. It seems Sally’s opponent got on Facebook and attacked her as the “establishment candidate,” backed by “the elite.” Some kind of deal was made! Well, no. Here’s the link to what I’m talking about—a secondhand, anonymously-sourced claim that Sally made a deal to get out of this year’s Sixth Congressional Race in exchange for support for her state Senate campaign. Which is ridiculous on its face, because anyone who’s been a three-term state legislator and geared up to run for Congress would be capable…
Brambleman wins major publishing award
News from Thornbriar Press (orig. pub. June 3, 2013) Strange Tale of Georgia County’s Ethnic Cleansing Claims Prize Brambleman, Jonathan Grant’s gritty, supernaturally-tinged tale of racism, redemption, and revenge in Forsyth County, Georgia, has won the Independent Book Publishers Association’s 2013 Gold Benjamin Franklin Award for popular fiction. Franklins, which honor excellence in editorial and design, are considered among the highest national honors for small presses and independent publishers. This year’s awards were presented at the IBPA’s annual meeting in New York City on May 29 in a prelude to Book Expo America. Brambleman (Thornbriar Press, $18.95, ISBN 978-0-9834921-2-2) tells the story of homeless Atlanta writer Charlie Sherman, who is tricked by a stranger to finish a dead history professor’s book about one…
About Brambleman, a novel
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 million—and a sale is pending. When he finds the land’s rightful owner, Charlie becomes convinced he’s been chosen by a Higher Power to wreak justice and vengeance on those who profit from evil. Brambleman is…