As the world awaits the release of the Texas Tornado’s first new album in 17 years, let’s take a look back at her long, storied recording career. From Delta Dawn to My Turn, every Tanya Tucker album ranked from worst to best.
“A man’s bookcase will tell you everything you’ll ever need to know about him.” – Walter Mosley Last year, I was having a conversation with friends in a bookstore/café, back when we were actually able to gather in bookstore/cafés and have conversations with friends, when one of them asked the question, “Why keep a book after you’ve read it?” The conversation drifted to other topics without any real discussion, but it’s an interesting question, one I’ve returned to since while…
I was recently corresponding with one of the hosts of the Enough Wicker podcast, who admitted to having never seen an episode of The Golden Girls spinoff series, Empty Nest. I can’t say I was terribly surprised. The reasons for this could be plentiful. A lot of Golden Girls fans have discovered – and fallen in love with – the show in more recent years through reruns, DVDs, and streaming, not during the original run, when the two shows were paired together on…
My life has been immersed with The Golden Girls this year. While this differs little from my life any other year, it’s taken on considerably more heft since January. If you know me, follow my social media presence, or have looked around this website, you probably already know the following: I recently signed a contract with Globe Pequot, a division of Rowman and Littlefield, to publish what I tentatively titled Isn’t Danny Thomas One? The Definitive Golden Girls Reference Guide. The title could…
A quick update on my writing career, Sophia Petrillo style. Picture it: Charleston, West Virginia, December 2019. After years of trying, an aspiring author releases his first book. It’s a book about West Virginia’s independent bookstores, with profiles of all the state’s shops and contributions from wonderful authors and booksellers. He launches it Fayetteville, WV, where he’s wrapping up a monthlong writer’s residency, and the response is strong. So are sales. The momentum carries forward into the early months of…
In December, I had the pleasure of hosting my first-ever book launch party. After years of aspiring to be a published author, I’ll admit to plenty of daydreaming about what a book launch party would look like. I envisioned my friends gathered around my local independent bookshop, sipping wine and eating finger foods, while I regaled them with stories about the process of writing my novel. Things didn’t quite happen in that manner exactly, but I did have a very…
“This is what I want,” I said as I sipped a delicious Great Gatsby (champagne, orange bitters, orange peel, sugar cube) inside Battery Park Book Exchange, a champagne bar/bookstore in Asheville, North Carolina. In February 2019, I moved into a house that had a rather nondescript basement brimming with possibility: a wood-burning fireplace flanked by tall built-in bookshelves, a buffet space with cabinetry above and below, and plenty of empty space with which I had no idea what to do….
It’s been a bit quiet on the website lately, but I’m happy to say it hasn’t been because of inactivity. Several past periods of quietness could have been attributed to that, but not this time! In fact, I’m heading into the most active time I’ve had since launching this writing career so many years ago. I thought I’d provide a few updates. New River Gorge Creative Residency I have been selected as one of three creatives for the New River…
I was recently discussing with a friend guilty pleasures in terms of entertainment – books, music, television, etc. The fact is, there isn’t too much entertainment I consume that I feel guilty about. I don’t shy away from my love of old sitcoms, folk music, and, as I’ve often been told, things little old ladies would like. In fact, the older I get, the more abundantly clear it is that I inherited a lot of my personality traits from my…
In September, I had the pleasure of stepping into an Airstream trailer in downtown Charleston with my friend, Tabitha Surface, microphones placed between us at a small table in a dimly lit booth with a silent facilitator in the corner watching over us, to record a conversation about being LGBT in Appalachia. It was part of StoryCorps, and it was truly moving. If you aren’t familiar with it, StoryCorps is a non-profit organization whose mission is to record, preserve and share the…