 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
INTRO TO STATEN BAY 3
For fans of my Staten Bay Trilogy, I’m posting on my Web site the final installment, book 3, After Doll.
Free! read online here
Little Doll, granddaughter of the original Just Doll, in book one of the trilogy, now finds herself in old age having to raise her own granddaughter, Sara Ann—an adolescent mess. Doll’s only living son, Herman—“a Herman-type for real and not Doll’s fault”—leaves Sara Ann with his mother after his wife is killed in an automobile accident. Well, that’s the story he tells his daughter; one of many conflicts between him and his mother, his cowardice and lies.
Flashing back on Doll’s life between the end of book 2 and the beginning of book 3, I fill in the blanks—what happened after Doll sets the suffering prisoners free from the Jasper jail on the coldest night in North Florida history? Doll falls heir to Staten Bay Plantation, after First Doll’s death, with all its problems, promises and ghosts. Her job—other than ghost-slayer—is to groom her sassy, baiting granddaughter to be the next heir and owner of Staten Bay Plantation. Not an easy task given the fact that Sara Ann shows little early interest or inclination.
And then there’s the rumor of buried gold—truth or myth?--to contend with...
Click here to download PDF version of entire novel.
Down load Adobe reader for free here
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
My 9-11 Novella
“Troublesome Creek”
Following any globally-known tragedy, writers reach for their pens, as if they must respond before people forget, or simply to log in their opinions in order to get on with their lives.
Well, this is my 9-11 (World Trade Center catastrophe) response, or maybe I should say post-9-11 response, on how my fictional small town was affected in the aftermath. Shock turned into fear and fear to distrust and distrust to confusion. Or, to quote Shakespeare, “Confusion now hath made his masterpiece.”
As with everything I write, short or long, where the story goes has a lot to do with the day-to-day of my life. I recall during the writing of this story watching the movie Fried Green Tomatoes and being more impressed with the atmosphere and tone of the story than the story itself—put that in. And too, at the time, the country song “Love’s the Only House,” by Martina McBride, was popular and I was moved again and again by her portrayal of the grocery store clerk in the video—put that in somewhere. One of my favorite college teachers, in political science, attended a reading at Valdosta State University, and I was reminded of her always saying, “Know your constitutional rights and use them, use them.” So into the novel she went. Later, while reading about the three main midget characters in the Wizard of Oz living nearby, I just knew I couldn’t leave them out. On the TV news I saw my protagonist’s model, Jessica Lynch, supposedly shot and held hostage in Iraq—I never did get the straight of that story. And Normal, my girl in the chicken truck, direct from my imagination, was too funny to pass up. So, into the mix of my 9-11 novella, “Troublesome Creek,” it all went, and this is the result:
Click HERE to read
|
|
|
|
|
|
Welcome
|
 |
|
Hello, thanks for stopping by.
A tribute to Ontario Review and Ray Smith
Those who know me well know that I’m a loyal reader of literary journals and that I spend a lot of time writing and sending out my short stories to them. My absolute favorite is, and has been, the Ontario Review. Editor Ray Smith, of Princeton, NJ, has regularly published my stories since 1994. Now, following his death in February of this year, his wife, famous author, Joyce Carol Oates, will be closing up shop. As it should be—that was Ray Smith’s shop and he tended it well for many decades (see www.Ontarioreview.com for more detail). He was one of the few people I know who still answered his phone and always with that smooth, gentle voice. Ray Smith loved Georgia peaches, and I once sent him some; I wish I’d done that more often. He was loyal and helpful to his writers. He and Joyce didn’t need to have children; they had us—their regular contributors to Ontario Review.
In 1994, the first copy with one of my stories was hand-delivered by Joyce Carol Oates, who was speaking at the University of Florida. I waited in line to speak to her and when my turn came and I told her my name, she said, “Oh, Janice,” and pulled this pretty pink journal out of her smart black purse. I could hardly sleep that night for recalling, “Oh, Janice.” Somebody famous had just touched me with her magic wand. That’s one reason I call her my fairy-godmother.
I went on to publish my first story collection, Going Through the Change, at Ontario. And being newly published and euphoric, I would often call Ray and talk. He guided me through the publishing process with his signature patience, and I know he must have been too busy to talk. But he never seemed busy. I could not picture him hurrying around like everybody else—me included. Now, almost fifteen years later, after so many of my published novels have gone out of print, my story collection remains on Ontario’s selected backlist of books.
I will miss Ontario Review and Ray Smith, and I know other authors must feel the same way. But none so much as his wife; I cannot think one of their names without connecting it with the other. Thank you, Joyce, for sharing Ray with his authors.
Janice Daugharty
Note: don’t forget to look at my free online novels Staten Bay II and now also Staten Bay III for free, also free new short stories and essays available now. Thank you, Janice Daugharty
Janice Daugharty's novel, EARL IN THE YELLOW SHIRT, 1997, was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction by her editor Larry Ashmead at HarperCollins Publishers
Short Story of the month: Troublesome Creek
Read more short stories see where to buy
|
|
|
I invite you to join in our discussions. Just click the BLOG icon and you will be taken to my BLOG. I look forward to your thoughts. Janice
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Janice :: Biography :: The Press Mill :: The Story Store :: Sundries :: My Blog :: In the Literary News :: Communicate :: Site Map
|
| Copyright 2008 by Janice Daugharty
Terms Of Use
Privacy Statement
|
|