God On The Rocks

This week's traveler is New York Times bestselling and award-winning novelist Michael Lister. He is a native Floridian best known for his acclaimed John Jordan “Blood” mystery thriller series and began songwriting after the death of a close friend and in the midst of the devastation of a Category 5 Hurricane that wrecked the Gulf Coast. 

Michael grew up in north Florida near the Gulf of Mexico and the Appalachicola River in a small town world famous for tupelo honey.

Captivated by story since childhood, Michael has a love for language and narrative inspired by the Southern storytelling tradition.

Before becoming a full-time novelist in 2000, Michael taught high school, worked as a college professor and inspirational speaker, owned and operated a bookstore, wrote a popular syndicated column, served as a newspaper editor, operated a community theater, wrote plays and screenplays, and worked for a production company. He has lectured extensively in the areas of creative writing, film, literature, spirituality, and self-help.

In the 90s, Michael was the youngest chaplain within the Florida Department of Corrections. For nearly a decade, he served as a contract, staff, then senior chaplain at three different facilities in the Panhandle of Florida—a singular experience that led to his first novel, 1997’s critically acclaimed, POWER IN THE BLOOD.

Michael is also the author of the Burke and Blade Panama City Beach PI series (THE NIGHT OF, etc.), the 1940s Jimmy Riley noir series (THE BIG GOODBYE, etc.), and the thrillers DOUBLE EXPOSURE, BURNT OFFERINGS, and SEPARATION ANXIETY.  

Michael is the recipient of two Florida Book Awards—for DOUBLE EXPOSURE and BLOOD SACRIFICE, respectively. His work has spent time on both the New York Times and the USA Today Bestseller lists, been translated into German, and adapted into stage plays. Currently, DOUBLE EXPOSURE is in development for a feature film and the John Jordan books for a TV series.

Michael lives in his beloved North Florida, where in between writing stints, he enjoys time with his family and friends, playing basketball, and making music. Discover more about Michael Lister at https://www.michaellister.com

You can find out more about the bartender and travelers to the City by the Bay at https://www.godontherocks.com

It's a full on celebration happening in the City by the Bay tonight! The Wrap party for Fargo, Season 5 is rolling out the Minnesota welcome mat for all the travelers arriving for Chili and Bisquick Biscuits. 

The Bartender's Sister, Sheila Goode returns to drink a little whiskey and delve into exactly what it is about Fargo 5 that makes it so special and worthy of our time. Please join us as we explore the greatest lessons we can take away from this marvelous season featuring Juno Temple, Jon Hamm, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Joe Kerry, David Rhysdahl and many other wondrous, talented people. 

The City by the Bay Community Arts Calendar reveals that the next few weeks the city will be all abuzz with: 
The Songwiter's Festival
Pen Pals International
The Red Hand Files (letters) of Nick Cave
A Salute to the Genius of Prince
 Labryinths: Then and Now
Visiting With The Mystics

And much more. Rest assured, there is always something happening in the City by the Bay, and there are always incredible Travelers dropping in for a drink and some soulful conversations about the thing they love!

You can find out more about the bartender and travelers to the City by the Bay at https://www.godontherocks.com

It's a stormy night in the City by the Bay and the bartender catches Travelers up on all the tea of what's happening around town. The Film and TV Society come pouring in last minute to talk about what they are watching and loving and think we should be watching too. 

The Juke Box has been playing and a couple of songs are in middle of tonight's visit at God On The Rocks are featured back to back. Just want to get back to what's happening in the City by the Bay? FAST forward a tad from 10:20 - 17:30 and get back to the scoop on whose doing what, and where, and why.)

You can find out more about the bartender and travelers to the City by the Bay at https://www.godontherocks.com

Tonight's visitor to God On The Rocks is writer, Jeffrey Allen Mays who traveled to the City by the Bay  for a celebration of the works of one of his favorite authors, the legendary, Cormac McCarthy.

Jeffrey Allen Mays was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and grew up mostly in Texas. After graduating from Baylor University, and finding his IT career vacuous and soul-starving, he attended Covenant Seminary in St. Louis and pursued his dream of becoming a man of the cloth. But church life was not hospitable soil for his haggard roots, and after the brief clerical sojourn, he was expectorated from ministerial life like Jonah from the belly of the whale. He became a schoolteacher in Austin Texas and later, after writing his first novel, he became a partner with his brother at Novare Science, a publisher of science curriculum. Jeffrey has since earned an MFA degree and is now a writer and teacher. His short fiction has appeared in Catapult/Topology Magazine, Please See Me, Radix Magazine and God and Nature. His debut novel The Former Hero was a winner of the 2015 Texas Association of Authors Book Award as well as being a finalist in the National Indie Excellence Awards. He now teaches writing at St. Edwards University and lives with his wife in Austin, Texas. Find him at jeffreyallenmays.com

You can find out more about the bartender and travelers to the City by the Bay at https://www.godontherocks.com

Tonight's Traveler to God On The Rocks, is author, Michael Morris for a special showing of Robert Duvall's movie, The Apostle.  A lively discussion ensued over Mr. Duvall's passion project he wrote, directed and personally financed. We talked over a scotch on the rocks. Real talk about sin and retribution, fear and murder, faith and redemption.

Mr. Morris is A fifth-generation native  Floridian, and he knows Southern culture and characters. They are the foundation and inspiration for the stories and novels he writes.Michael is the author of the award winning novel, A Place Called Wiregrass, and Slow Way Home, which was named one of the best novels of the year by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Pat Conroy called Morris “one of my favorite Southern writers.”
 
Publishers Weekly named his latest novel, Man in the Blue Moon, a best book of the year calling the novel “a magical and mesmerizing page-turner…with overtones of Flannery O’Connor and the rural Florida backdrop of Their Eyes Were Watching God.” Man in the Blue Moon was also a top three recommended book club read by the independent booksellers association and won the Best Novel category from the Alabama Library Association.

You can find out more about Michael at MichaelMorrisbooks.com

You can find out more about the bartender and travelers to the City by the Bay at https://www.godontherocks.com

You can find out more about the bartender and travelers to the City by the Bay at https://www.godontherocks.com

Tonight's Traveler to God On The Rocks is author and supreme raconteur, Raymond Atkins. A wild storyteller who comes to the City By The Bay for a late night showing of his favorite all-time movie, JAWS but he lingers at the bar long enough to share stories of first cars, wild road trips, American Muscle cars,  and what it's like living just just this side of trouble.

Raymond L. Atkins resides in Rome, Georgia, where he teaches English. He lives on the banks of the Etowah River in an old house with a patient wife. His hobbies include people-watching, reading, and watching movies that have no hope of ever achieving credibility. His first novel, The Front Porch Prophet, was awarded the Georgia Author of the Year Award for First Novel. His second novel, Sorrow Wood is a southern gothic classic. His third novel, Camp Redemption, was awarded the Ferrol Sams Award for Fiction and the 2014 Georgia Author of the Year Award for Fiction. His fourth novel, Sweetwater Blues, was a Townsend Prize nominee and 2015 Georgia Author of the Year runner-up for fiction. South of the Etowah, was his first creative non-fiction. You can discover more of Raymond Atkins with his monthly stories, Off The Page, at WellReadMagazine.com

You can find out more about the bartender and travelers to the City by the Bay at https://www.godontherocks.com

Tonight's traveler to God On The Rocks is Holden Richards, a traditional large format film photographer and native North Carolinian currently residing in Hillsborough. Inspired by primarily by walking the creeks and rivers of Orange, and Durham Counties, these locations and subjects predominate his photographic work. He has studied view camera (with Jim Stone) and historic process printing (Jill Enfield) at Penland School of Crafts. He is a current Getty Images Contributor who has had his work featured print, including Jill Enfield's Guide to Photographic Alternative Processes, The Hand Magazine, and The Oxford American as well as appearing in corporate advertising campaigns through Getty. His recent monograph Riverwalk is included in the archives of the University of North Carolina and Duke University, and his darkroom work has been included in the Cassilhaus Collection and the collections of the cities of Raleigh and Durham, North Carolina among others.

You can find out more about the bartender and travelers to the City by the Bay at https://www.godontherocks.com

Claire Fullerton is an artist with experience in broadcasting, the music industry, ballet, the written word, and acting. She is the author of four traditionally published novels, a contributor to various anthologies and magazines, is currently studying Shakespeare for the stage and was just accepted at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London for a place in their international acting program. 

You can find out more about the bartender and travelers to the City by the Bay at https://www.godontherocks.com

Michael Shields is an editor, writer, producer, and arborist hailing from Brooklyn, New York. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Arts and Culture webzine Across The Margin and is the host of Across The Margin : The Podcast as well as one of the hosts of the film and television podcast Welcome To The Party Pal (both part of the Osiris Media podcast network). As an arborist he has worked in the field of Arboriculture in a variety of capacities for over 25 years.

You can find out more about the bartender and travelers to the City by the Bay at https://www.godontherocks.com