"Now, Appalachia"

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Jackie Flaum about her new novel THE PRICE OF A FUTURE.

Avid water aerobics swimmer, amateur jewelry-maker, and mystery writer Jackie Ross Flaum began as a reporter for The Hartford Courant in Hartford, Conn.After moving to Memphis and abandoning reality for fiction, she won first place for romantic suspense in the 21st annual Duel on the Delta and second place in the spring 2019 Short Story Land online competition.

Thus encouraged, she tested several flavors of writing--chic lit, mystery, suspense, crime—and had short stories published in anthologies of all genres.To her shock, her first novel of the South is considered historical fiction because it is set in the 1960s. “Justice Tomorrow,” introduces investigators Madeline Sterling and Socrates Gray, who are also featured in a short story published in “Now There Was A Story.”

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews historian Nigel Hamilton about his latest book: LINCOLN VS. DAVIS: THE WAR OF THE PRESIDENTS. Historian Nigel Hamilton is a New York Times best-selling biographer of General Bernard “Monty” Montgomery, President John F. Kennedy, President Bill Clinton, and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, among other subjects. He has won multiple awards, including the Whitbread Prize and the Templer Medal for Military History. 

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Jessica Strawser about her latest thriller CATCH YOU LATER. Jessica Strawser is the USA Today bestselling author of The Last Caretaker, The Next Thing You Know, A Million Reasons Why, Forget You Know Me, Not That I Could Tell (a Book of the Month selection), and Almost Missed You. She was editorial director at Writer’s Digest for nearly a decade before becoming a novelist. Jessica is also a Career Authors contributing editor, popular speaker at writing conferences across the US, and freelance editor and writer with bylines in the New York Times Modern Love column, Publishers Weekly, and other venues.

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Sharon Short about her latest thriller TROUBLE ISLAND. Sharon Short is the author of sixteen published books. Her newest, Trouble Island, is historical suspense and will be published by Minotaur Books on December 3, 2024. As Jess Montgomery, she writes the historical Kinship Mysteries set in the 1920s and inspired by Ohio’s true first female sheriff. Sharon is a contributing editor to Writer’s Digest, for which she writes the column, “Level Up Your Writing (Life)” and teaches for Writer’s Digest University. 

She is also a three-time recipient of the Individual Excellence Award in Literary Arts from Ohio Arts Council and has been a John E. Nance Writer in Residence at Thurber House (Columbus, Ohio).

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Susan Williams about her new book "Unresolved Lives: Seven Stories of Mayhem Including the Mad Butcher, Sodder Children, and Cabin 13." Susan is a native of Fayette County West Virginia and a former police and courts reporter for The Charleston Gazette.

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews authors Wendy Atkins-Sayre and Ashli Quesinberry Stokes about their new book HUNGRY ROOTS: HOW FOOD COMMUNICATES APPALACHIA'S SEARCH FOR RESILIENCE. Ashli Quesinberry Stokes is professor of communication studies at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Wendy Atkins-Sayre is professor and chair of the Department of Communication & Film at the University of Memphis. The two have collaborated on Consuming Identity: The Role of Food in Redefining the South and coedited City Places, Country Spaces: Rhetorical Explorations of the Urban/Rural Divide.

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Laura Leigh Morris about her new novel THE STONE CATCHERS. Laura is the author of Jaws of Life: Stories and has previously been published in the Notre Dame Review, the Louisville Review, Pithead Chapel, Laurel Review, and other literary journals. She teaches creative writing and literature at Furman University and lives in Greenville, South Carolina with her family.

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Rick Childers about his debut novel TURKEYFOOT. Rick is a writer from Estill County, Kentucky. He also serves as Berea College's Appalachian Male Advocate and Mentor.

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Wes Blake about his new book PINEVILLE TRACE. Wes Blake’s novella-in-flash, Pineville Trace, won the Etchings Press Book Prize and will be published in September 2024 by Etchings Press (at the University of Indianapolis). Lee Martin, author of Pulitzer Prize Finalist The Bright Forever, described him as "a writer to watch". His fiction and essays have appeared in Louisiana Literature Journal, Blood & Bourbon, Book of Matches, Jelly Bucket, White Wall Review, and elsewhere. Wes’ novel, Antenna, was a semifinalist for the UNO Press Lab Prize. He holds an MFA from the Bluegrass Writers Studio and lives in Kentucky.

On the latest episode of Now, Appalachia, Eliot interviews author Andrew K. Clark about his new novel WHERE DARK THINGS GROW. Andrew K. Clark is a writer from Western North Carolina where his people settled before the Revolutionary War. His poetry collection, Jesus in the Trailer was published by Main Street Rag Press and shortlisted for the Able Muse Book Award. His debut novel, Where Dark Things Grow, was released by Cowboy Jamboree Press in September of 2024. A loose sequel, Where Dark Things Rise will be published by Quill and Crow Publishing House in the fall of 2025. His work has appeared in The American Journal of Poetry, UCLA’s Out of Anonymity, Appalachian Review, Rappahannock Review, The Wrath Bearing Tree, and many other journals. He received his MFA from Converse College.