I grew up on a farm in South Georgia, near Jay Bird Springs. I quickly became my father's shadow, as I followed him everywhere he went. By the time I was eight years old, I could out-work most grown men. This won me praise from my parents, but only disdain from my older siblings. On long, lonely summer nights, with no homework to occupy my time, and with poor television reception, I fought the isolation I felt by writing stories. I mostly wrote about local events, but after studying Georgia's involvement in the Civil War, in the fifth grade, I wrote a complete manuscript about a young couple...
I grew up on a farm in South Georgia, near Jay Bird Springs. I quickly became my father's shadow, as I followed him everywhere he went. By the time I ...