I participated in an Independent Book Publishers Association promotion that ran in the August 27 issue of Publishers Weekly. I couldn’t ask for better position: Brambleman was at the top right side of Page 3. It will be featured in PW again in October, hopefully with a review.
From the Orlando Sentinel: Florida A&M University is not responsible for drum major Robert Champion’s hazing death, according to a court document filed Monday night. Champion himself is. In a 23-page motion seeking dismissal of a wrongful death lawsuit filed by Champion’s family in Orange County circuit court, FAMU’s attorneys laid out a blunt response: Champion was a 26-year-old leader in FAMU’s famous marching band who knew the dangers of hazing. He had signed an anti-hazing pledge with the university months before he was beaten aboard a charter bus in Orlando last fall. He had witnessed two other students submit to the brutal ritual immediately before him. And for several months previously, Champion had debated with his friend and fellow drum major…
Money Quote: “I don’t know if white students have been discriminated against.” From Inside Higher Ed: A Towson University student who sparked debate last year by founding a chapter of Youth for Western Civilization is now trying to create a White Student Union, The Baltimore Sun reported. The group he created last year has fallen apart after losing its faculty adviser. L. Victor Collins, assistant vice president of student affairs for diversity, said the proposed group would be evaluated like all others, based on non-political criteria. While Collins said he supported the group’s First Amendment rights, he questioned the need for a white organization. “They think they are a parallel comparison to the Black Student Union,” he said. “In my observation in…
The newspaper account below was erroneous. The young woman did not recover from the attack, which occurred on Sunday, Sept. 8. She died the next morning (100 years ago today). Contrary to popular opinion, Mae Crow’s rape and murder did not mark the beginning of racial turmoil in Forsyth County. People were already up in arms (literally) over an alleged (and very questionable) assault a few days before. centennial In the days to come, I’ll be posting more about Forsyth County events to commemorate the centennial of one of the worst outbreaks of racial violence in the 20th century—events which would eventually lead to Forsyth County becoming known as the nation’s most famous “Sundown Town.” (Chapter Five of Brambleman contains a fictionalized account of these events.)…
(Photo by Laurel Grant) We had another successful showing at the Decatur Book Festival this year, marking the debut of my second novel, Brambleman. (You can see my wife, Judy, at the far right. My kids, Laurel and Nathan, also helped out a lot.) This time we sold eBooks out of the booth by putting Smashwords.com coupon codes on postcards and offering a special deal: both Chain Gang Elementary and Brambleman for only $5. We plan to be back next year with a third novel, Party to a Crime, which is with the editor now. Below: The Chain Gang Crew Nathan, Judy, and Laurel.
Thornbriar Press will be back at the Decatur Book Festival this year, and we’re happy to to be promoting the imprint’s latest title, Brambleman as well as the critically acclaimed, award-winning Chain Gang Elementary. In addition, we’ll be offering the collectors edition of the groundbreaking work, The Way It Was in the South: The Black Experience in Georgia, edited by Thornbriar Press author Jonathan Grant. The special price for festivalgoers is only $15.00! This is the original hardcover first edition of the work that’s been named “Georgia Book of the Year” and Editors Choice at American Heritage magazine. Here’s just some of the praise The Way It Was in the South has received: “Truly a tour de force … incredibly detailed, sometimes…
