Music makes the world go ‘round. Readers of the “Oxford American,” a magazine of all things Southern, have felt for years that they have been the center of that world. It is the steamy South, after all, which has been the source of... Read More

If stories were songs, then "One Dog Happy" would surely be the most hummable of short fiction. Not just because the title story uses music—a minister croons “Make Someone Happy” to an incontinent beagle saved from the pound (and,... Read More

If youve ever wondered whether the old Charlie Chan books by Earl Derr Biggers were better than the series of B-movies cranked out in the 1930s, "The House Without a Key" (Academy Chicago, 978-0-89733-579-9), first published in 1925,... Read More

Tough, you say you want tough? Tough as nails? How about Mike Hammer on steroids tough? In "A Pure Double Cross" (Blue Steel Press, 978-0-9743199-1-9), even tough guy Hal Schroeder’s landlady is tough. When he tracks bloody footprints... Read More

Poet Richard Carr weaves together lovely and unlikely connections in his Gival Press Poetry Award winner, "Honey" (978-1-928589-45-7). Wrinkled plants, a goldfish and the poet drink water while outside, “The clouds rain gasoline.” A... Read More

Since the phenomenal success of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series and Stephanie Meyer’s Twilight series there has been an explosion in the popularity of young adult fiction. Successful writers in the genre plant seeds in their... Read More

Most siblings share many things—their parents their home their heritage their community their history their vision of what life can be. Family should give one a sense of belonging and self-esteem. The few unlucky siblings who are... Read More

Brendan Kelly loved his wife. He gave her everything he could—although an emotionally impoverished man has little to offer. Together they produced five children but Brendan was a frustrated curmudgeon long before Norah the center of... Read More