“Hell’s Not Far Off” Ensures Getting Shot in the Leg Once Is Enough To Become a Hero

A review of Josh Howard’s “Hell’s Not Far Off,” which tells the story of Appalachian labor activist Bruce Crawford.

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“Adam in the Garden” Challenges Narratives, Reminds of Magic and Mystery in the Everyday

AE Hines’ poetry collection is a personal, direct exploration of geography, nature, queer love and the Eden one creates through self-love and self-acceptance.

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Julia Ridley Smith’s “Sex Romp Gone Wrong” Doesn’t Just Tease; It Delivers

A favorite writing teacher, one particularly enamored with short stories, once told me never to approach a collection with the expectation that all, or even most, will be good. He’d said one, two tops, is all you can reasonably ask for. Not every story in “Sex Romp Gone Wrong” carries emotional heft or grace, but a surprising number of them come close and are destined to be read again and again.

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Compelling, Conspicuous Womanhood in the Gorgeous Debut “The Turtle House”

From the first lines of The Turtle House, debut historical fiction author Amanda Churchill signals how she plans to spin her masterful family saga from prewar Japan to late 20th Century Texas ranch country. Curtain, Texas March 1, 1999 Paper hates water. It hates wind. And fire. Paper falls apart. There is no home safe…

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Puzzles, Trust, and Mystery: An Interview with Ellen Birkett Morris and Abby Lipscomb

An author-on-author interview with Ellen Birkett Morris and Abby Lipscomb.

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