Michael Connelly, Steve Berry ... and Bob Strother

In August 2007, I discovered a state-wide, non-profit writing community, South Carolina Writers' Workshop (SCWW), and quickly became involved in the organization. Since then, I've rubbed elbows with agents, editors, and authors including Michael Connelly and Steve Berry. I can't list everyone I've met.  Several of them are not household names, yet, but one name you should learn is Bob Strother.


Bob Strother's work has appeared in a number of literary journals and magazines, and he was recently nominated for the Small Press Pushcart Prize. His stories explore our innocence and our dark sides, always making the reader stop, think ... and often cringe. I've enjoyed listening to Bob read his forays into the world of human nature, lulled by his voice which sounds like Dick Estell of NPR Radio Reader fame.

That’s why I’m thrilled to tell you about his upcoming print collection of short stories: Scattered, Smothered, and Covered.

Here's a taste of what you will find in Bob's book:

From "Madison 2-Forever"
Roger Dougherty caught a glimpse of his humped shadow on the hallway wall and immediately looked away. Gnome, he thought. And then he smiled. Not at his grotesque, arthritic image, which had sent more than one Trick-or-Treater scurrying wide-eyed back to mommy, but because he had remembered an appropriate word. He said the word aloud: "Gnome," then, "troll," then … that was as far as he got. Arthritis and Alzheimer's--another big double "A" battery that kept going and going and going. He could recall the propeller beanie he'd worn as a child but not where he'd hung his hat the previous evening.


From "Hungry"

The eight-pound sledgehammer connected with McConnell's forehead at a velocity of almost ten feet per second. He dropped like a cow in a slaughterhouse.


From "Flying Jenny"

The summer of 1935 was as hot and dry as any I could remember. Sixty-two years later, I can still feel the peculiar tickle of that harsh season's sweat snaking its way down over my ribcage as though it were something alive and seeking escape. I can see the sun-parched grass and the initials "A" and "J" etched with a finger on the toes of my dusty Buster Browns. It was the summer I was forced to abandon forever all my eleven-year-old certainties.

Intrigued? Scattered, Smothered, and Covered is scheduled for release in February 2011, and you can pre-order a copy now at a discount price of $9.

Congratulations Bob!


Comments

Valerie Norris said…
I heartily agree. Bob's an amazing writer, and I've already ordered his book. He deserves a prominent spot on bookshelves across the country, and I hope that's what this new book accomplishes for him.
Susan M. Boyer said…
I've ordered my copy! I count Bob as one of the best things that ever came from my SCWW membership. :) He's a great writer, critique partner, and friend. But, hey, I'd still like his work even if he wasn't such a nice guy...

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