March 24, 2016 By Certified Mail Mr. Robert Mangeot, Author of Shameless and Baseless Works of Fiction Dear Mr. Mangeot: The venerated and venerable law firm Vernon Stagg and Associates represents the selfsame Vernon Stagg, Esq., a noted figure of legal and civic stature in the greater metropolitan Nashville area. We mean none other…… Continue reading Humor: In Which Vernon Stagg Self-Lawyers Up
Category: Southern Fiction
Born Under a Bad Sign: Behind “The Cumberland Package”
Vernon Stagg was born from a bad book. A manuscript actually, mine sadly, and fortunately for us all I abandoned it before the querying stage. This was 2011, early yet for me into This Whole Writing Thing. The manuscript was a sort of Westlake-ian, Hiaasen-ian lovechild romp, and no matter what I did, it came out low…… Continue reading Born Under a Bad Sign: Behind “The Cumberland Package”
Behind: “Crack-up at Waycross”
First things first: the proceeds from Bouchercon’s Murder Under the Oaks go to the Wake Country Public Libraries. And folks, reading is cool. In November 2013, thieves broke into a Modesto, CA orchard and made off with 140,000 pounds–70 tons–of in-shell walnuts. In February 2012, a shade to the north, 40,000ish tons of walnuts went missing from a Butte…… Continue reading Behind: “Crack-up at Waycross”
Behind: “First Rodeo”
If you were around a century or so ago, and you knew him well, you might call him Bill. On a legal document, William Sidney Porter. If you read any of his 300+ published stories, you knew him by his pen name: O. Henry. The name now commands a prestigious short story award, but more than anything, his work effectively trademarked…… Continue reading Behind: “First Rodeo”