Something I've discovered: period pieces are fun. As a writer, they offer the challenge of presenting a past world accurately, of staying faithful to the knowledge, attitudes and language of the time, even as one crafts a tale that should transcend that time. As a reader, they offer us glimpses into the possibilities of the past, of the dark things that lurk in the nooks and cranies of history. The new "Damned in Dixie" anthology transposes us into the gothic tradition of the American South, with stories taking place in those states that once formed the Confederacy, from the mid-nineteenth century to the present.
My contribution to the anthology takes us into the boondocks of Lousiana, a few years after the First World War, with racial tensions on the upswing once more, threatening violence. This gives Leroy Collins, petty thief, the chance to deflect legal attention on his crimes onto a local black man. It seems like the perfect solution until the Klan comes riding into town and abducts Leroy's patsy. Faced with the possibility of a murder on his hands, Leroy rides off after them into the marshes... but he will discover that there is more than Klansmen and their intended victim lurking in the bayou tonight.
The anthology is now available for purchase as a regular print book or an -ebook from Lulu.com, here. |
