NEW RELEASES IN THE NEW YEAR!

I still chuckle about my reaction to an email three years ago from author Valerie Winn. It was a busy day, and the subject line of her note was A GLARING ERROR. I thought, "Great. Now what?" It turned out to be the title of the manuscript she said she would be sending me, once she felt it was ready to go, and it's ready to go! A Glaring Error is a suspense novel with a plot that's driven in large part by art, and it's the final volume of Valerie's trilogy that began with Forsaking Mimosa and continued with The Dance Between. The lovely cover painting is by Linda Garbo Rosetti, who owns Pink Rooster Art Gallery in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. So, what's the glaring error? You'll have to read the book to find out! It's coming in March with a big launch party at Pink Rooster Art Gallery.

 

On the Sunrise side of the publishing house, we welcome first-time Mississippi author Rhonda Lynn DiBiase. A lifelong resident of the Mississippi Delta, Rhonda's debut, Fear Finds Faith, is a powerful, plainspoken memoir about losing her mother to illness and enduring the ultimate test of faith along the way. For all of us who've lost our moms, it's a book from someone who has been there that will provide comfort. It's coming in May, in time for Mother's Day.

Author Scott Lenoir has gotten an excellent response to his suspenseful debut, The Amendment, and he and I are both excited about The Reckoning, a sequel which brings back nearly the entire cast and again takes place in southwest Mississippi. Protagonist Blake Weaver, who was a banker with a law enforcement background in the first installment, is the Chief Deputy of the county sheriff's department in this volume and faces quite a challenge: can he trust a man who worked for the villain in The Amendment? You'll have to wait until later in 2026 to get your hands on this one, which gives you plenty of time to read The Amendment if you haven't done so.

I spent much of the fourth quarter of 2025 giving talks about Jacktown USA, which I co-authored with Kamel King. It was reviewed very positively in December in southlandblues.com and bluesnews.ch, not to mention that wonderful Bobby Rush review of the book in The Clarion Ledger at the time of release. Both the book and the companion audio CD have spurred a lot of interest, and it's fascinating to get international orders for copies through our website (I shipped a pair of copies to Switzerland last month). As I told my friend Walt Grayson on WJTV-12 in the Jackson, Mississippi, market, the book is a very important slice of Mississippi musical history that absolutely must be told.

Visit dogwoodpress.com for signed copies of everything in the Dogwood Press and Sunrise Press catalogs. Thanks for your time, and happy reading!

FANBOY

In doing what I do for a quarter century, I've been most fortunate to interview lots of accomplished people and meet many others. I generally don't get starstruck, but I freely admit to turning into "Fanboy" shortly before our Jacktown USA panel at last weekend's Mississippi Book Festival when Benjamin Wright, who had flown from Los Angeles with his wife, was brought into the room.

The man responsible for the arrangements on Grammy-winning singles like Michael Jackson's "Rock With You" and "Don't Stop Till You Get Enough", "One Hundred Ways" from James Ingram, and Earth, Wind & Fire's "After The Love Is Gone," Benjamin is now 80 years old and warm, friendly, and entertaining, adding value to the morning panel I hosted and my co-author Kamel King's afternoon session. Getting to meet him in person after interviewing him by phone for the book was a big thrill.

All the way from LA ...Benjamin (to my right) and Dexter Allen

  

Weeks of preparation for an hour that absolutely flew by

A special treat just ahead of the Christmas season: Monica Walton's third book published by Sunrise Press, Advent Reflections for Our World Today, will arrive in several weeks and in time for this year's season of Advent. This volume, like its predecessor in 2023, is designed with the busyness of the season in mind. You'll really appreciate how the month's worth of spiritual nourishment is captured in four weekly devotional segments, and you'll love the pocket-sized book and can take it anywhere. Interested in this non-denominational book for your study group? Visit dogwoodpress.com for bulk discount rates.

What a lovely cover!

New Dogwood Press books rolling off the shelves in 2024:

Valerie Winn's A Glaring Error ... the long-awaited third volume of the trilogy that began with Forsaking Mimosa brings back the entire Brinkmann family, but it's protagonist Aunt Ida Mayhew, a most quirky art teacher and connossieur, who drives this suspenseful tale set in Mimosa, Mississippi, in the mid 1970s. (COMING IN MARCH)

Scott Lenoir's The Reckoning ... this thriller picks up where The Amendment finished, with protagonist Blake Weaver back in Chatawa County law enforcement and vowing to protect the area from troublemakers, including his sworn enemy readers met in The Amendment. (COMING IN AUGUST)

Joe Lee's Never Let Go ... set in late 1999 and the sequel to my Oakdale series prequel Resting Place, Never Let Go brings back nearly the entire cast from that novel, including Ford Forrester, fresh out of a lengthy prison stretch for the attempted murder of Mark Myrick III. Now the men will be living just several miles from each other ... what could go wrong? (COMING IN AUGUST)

That's all the news that fits. For signed copies of Jacktown USA, as well as everything else in our catalog, visit dogwoodpress.com. Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day, and happy reading!

TAKIN' THE STAGE

I'm delighted at the huge response to Jacktown USA, the cool slice of Mississippi musical history I co-authored with my friend Kamel King that's made quite a splash. We'll be into a second printing of the book within two weeks, and we expect another sales surge around the annual Mississippi Book Festival, set for Saturday, September 13 at the state capital. Kamel and I will both serve as moderators for panel discussions that will include all of the blues and southern soul artists who are profiled in the book. My panel will be in the morning with Kamel's in the afternoon, and a book signing will follow late that afternoon at Hal & Mal's of Jackson before the after party concert.

Autographing books ahead of the Lemuria launch

 

An event which went very well

Exciting news to share: Three new Dogwood Press titles are coming in 2026! Watch for Valerie Winn's long-awaited new novel, A Glaring Error, early in the year, with Scott Lenoir's second Blake Weaver volume, The Reckoning ahead toward summer and my latest Oakdale thriller, Never Let Go next fall. All three of us are returning many important cast members from our previous works, which is great fun.

Scott with a new reader

Valerie with a new reader

As I've said often in this space, some books are what we call evergreens. They seem to take on a life of their own, sometimes selling even better a number of years after release than at the outset. Valerie's debut, Forsaking Mimosa, and Candace Cox Wheeler's Cradle in the Oak, are examples of steady sellers that continue to sell just as well as both ladies' subsequent novels. That's not a bad thing at all, as we've seen many recent purchasers of their work start with the debuts and wind up buying their books in order of publication. All signs point to Hal Kitchings' wonderful Dog-Gone, It Hurts being a steady seller for quite a while. 

Hal signing his 30-day devotional

Candace reading from Sunset in the Sound

My old friend John Floyd keeps on keeping on. In addition to enjoying his weekly Sleuth Sayers Facebook column, which you can find every Saturday morning, John had a story in the May/June Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine and has stories in the next issues of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine and Strand Magazine. His work will also grace the pages of Black Cat Mystery Magazine, Black Cat Weekly, and Crimeucopia in upcoming editions of those fine publications, and John's latest story in Woman's World was his mind-boggling 135th for them. Not only that, this is publication day for Double Crossing Van Dine, a "different" kind of detective anthology featuring John's "Anna's Story".

 

Any collection of short fiction that includes John Floyd is worth your time

That's everything! Thanks for your time. Please visit dogwoodpress.com to order signed first editions of most everything in our catalog. Have a great day!

YOU'RE INVITED!

The wait is almost over for an especially cool book I'm proud to have co-written, Jacktown USA. Kamel King and I take a deep dive into the fascinating impact the city of Jackson, Mississippi, has had on so many blues and southern soul artists over the years, including Eddie Cotton, Zac Harmon, and Dexter Allen. Back in the day, there were so many small clubs and juke joints across the capital city, and there were also radio stations that routinely played homegrown talent on the air and even record labels that launched in Jackson. The city, referred to in the book's subtitle as The Capital of American Music, provided an education not available in a textbook to nearly every artist we spent time with. 

Join us Thursday, June 26 from 6-9 p.m. at Lemuria Books of Jackson. There will be live music from several of the artists featured in the book. There will be catered food and spirits available, and signed copies available. If you're a music lover, this is a must-read, and a book you'll turn to again and again.

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What a cool cover! What a fun read!

My thanks to the Mississippi Writers Guild for plugging in John Floyd in Meridian and me in Gulfport in recent weeks to put on writing workshops for their members in those markets. John, with his three-decade track record of his short stories being published in nationally read publications like Alfred Hitchcock Mystery Magazine, The Strand Magazine, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, and Woman's World, shares best practices about how to go about submitting one's piece of short fiction, and he also provides gentle encouragement for those who might be inclined to give up quickly. Something I offer is taking audience members step by step from an idea for a book in a writer's head to the day the truck arrives with that author's first printing. But what makes such occasions memorable for both of us is when the event is truly interactive, with most everyone taking part and exchanging ideas and offering feedback.

I just flew in from Pittsburgh, and boy, my arms are tired!

Speaking of John, I'm not sure The Strand Magazine would be in print without his regular contributions. This is the 75th anniversary issue of this fine publication, and John is in good company with a writer both of us greatly admire, C.J. Box. 

That Fleming guy wasn't too bad, either.

I've said before in this space that book clubs are crucial to authors getting the word out about their books. I've also said in this space that books we think of as evergreens, like Valerie Winn's fine first novel, Forsaking Mimosa, perform like the Energizer Bunny and keep going and going and going. Valerie was honored to be the very first guest of the Gulf Coast Newcomers and Friends book club in Ocean Springs. While discussing her first book and answering questions, she described the equally strong sequel, The Dance Between, and her forthcoming third volume, A Glaring Error. 

Doesn't that look like a comfy place for a book discussion?

   

Let your friends know about Jacktown USA, and please try to get to Lemuria and enjoy the party! The book will be on the Dogwood Press website very soon, and while you're there, think about a Father's Day gift, such as the wonderful devotional penned by Hal Kitchings, Dog-Gone, It Hurts. That book has "evergreen" written all over it! Visit the site at dogwoodpress.com. All orders are usually shipped the next business day and are packed with tender loving care.

Thanks for your time. Have a wonderful day, and keep reading.

THANK YOU!

Lots to be thankful for as we charge into the second half of The Roaring Twenties. Sunrise Press, the faith-based division of Dogwood Press, had a HUGE breakout hit with the Hal Kitchings devotional for those grieving the loss of a beloved dog, Dog-Gone, It Hurts. Released in November 2024, the true impact this wonderful little book was going to have was clear when I took a call from a lady in Cincinnati who'd read a review in the Cincinnati Enquirer. She explained that she was 90 years old, had run an animal shelter for years before retirement, was widowed, and had just lost her beloved pooch of 17 years and thought a copy would do her some good. Hal and I have heard from so many people who've found comfort in the book, and we are grateful for the fantastic response.

Hal's launch at Lemuria Books of Jackson, MS

Suspense author Scott Lenoir has been a wonderful addition to the Dogwood Press team. Signed copies of his great debut novel, The Amendment, were opened at a whole lot of homes Christmas morning, and we've heard from many readers who were taken with protagonist Blake Weaver (and the supercharged plot) and couldn't put the book down. 

  

Signing a red-hot read while thankfully indoors on a very cold day!

This is a great time to grab a copy of Sunrise Press author Monica Walton's Lean Into Lent, which provides all the spiritual nourishment of a daily Lenten devotional in a weekly format designed with the busyness of the season. Think not about what you will be giving up for Lent, but what you might be reading for Lent that will really make the season come alive! The book is multi-denominational and great for small church groups, but act fast with Lent beginning on March 5.

Well-written and meaningful.

I am thankful for my friend John Floyd, the short story legend who I've had the good fortune to publish eight times in the past two decades. John's remarkable run of stories continues in 2025, as he graces the pages of the current issues of The Strand Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, Black Cat Mystery Magazine, Woman's World, and Black Cat Weekly all at the same time! John's stories are also included in a great many anthologies, such as this one by editor Josh Pachter. Crime fiction inspired by the songs of Joni Mitchell? I'm wondering if one of the stories includes a Big Yellow Taxi!

                                                                       What fun!

I am very thankful to have written Raphael's Men, the story of a coaching and teaching legend from a small Catholic school in Jackson, Mississippi, for Velocity Sports and Entertainment. Released in late 2024, the book is a reminder of the long-lasting impact a good teacher and coach can have on our lives.

Fast-paced and inspirational.

Signing copies for men who played for Coach Raphael

Appearing on my friend Marshall Ramsey's "Now You're Talking" podcast

I'm looking forward to visiting the Gulf Coast and presenting at the Mississippi Writers Guild workshop on February 15. A free event, it takes place at 5:30 p.m. at the Gulfport Arts Center in the Carnegie Library, located at 1300 24th Avenue. I'll touch on everything from what I'm looking for when I consider authors for publication to social media marketing and AI. Chapter head John Dumoulin is your point of contact if you're interested in attending. He can be reached at jmichaeldumoulin@gmail.com.

Be sure to visit dogwoodpress.com for signed copies of all Dogwood Press and Sunrise Press titles. Most orders are filled the next business day, so you'll have that can't-put-down read in just several business days regardless of where you are. Thanks for your time, and happy reading!

MAN'S BEST FRIEND

Raise your hand if you're a dog lover. Even if you aren't, I know you have friends whose canines are full-fledged family members. It's SO hard to say goodbye to them, and that's what Hal Kitchings--a long-time dog lover himself--had in mind when he wrote Dog-Gone, It Hurts, a 30-day devotional published by the Sunrise Press division of Dogwood Press. It's a beautiful little book comprised of gentle encouragement and support, relevant scripture, and meaningful quotes from people ranging from C.S. Lewis and Billy Graham to Tim Tebow and Rudyard Kipling. The release is about a month away, so be watching for it and grab a copy . . . or several. Your friends that love dogs will thank you!

The cute cover portrait was painted by the author's late sister, Kathy

Also coming in November is another Sunrise Press title, Lean Into Lent by author Monica Walton, whose first book, Advent Reflections For This Day, found a sizable audience ahead of last year's Christmas season. Lean Into Lent, like its predecessor, is a weekly devotional with the busyness of the season in mind . . . all the spiritual nourishment you're looking for in an easy-to-read format that will make an already special season even more memorable. 

It, too, will make a wonderful Christmas gift!

The decision to move the Mississippi Book Festival from August to September turned out to be a very good one, as attendance at the literary panels and the numbers of browsers on the grounds broke all previous records. Authors Candace Cox Wheeler and Scott Lenoir and I enjoyed a beautiful, breezy day and the company of quite a few shoppers that stopped by the Dogwood Press tent, and I was honored to be included on the Mississippi Culture panel--it was fun to discuss my new work of non-fiction, Raphael's Men, in front of a packed room, and share the stage with fellow authors Diane Williams, Lawrence Wells, Josh Foreman, and moderator Germaine Flood.

Scott Lenoir extolling the virtues of his terrific first novel, The Amendment

Great to see Candace Wheeler fans eager to buy the final volume of her trilogy.

The panels were filmed by C-Span and are being archived on the MBF website.

Public library participation is a huge component for so many authors, and the pandemic absolutely devastated Friends of the Library groups. Some haven't come back at all, but many have, and visiting those loyal readers in different towns across Mississippi remains a thoroughly enjoyable experience. When Candace Wheeler was invited to speak on back to back days at the public libraries in Starkville and Louisville recently, she and husband David (both avid travelers) booked a room at a quaint Main Street hotel in Starkville and enjoyed meals at a couple of landmark eateries while in the area. 

My visit to the public library in Aberdeen on October 16 will mark the first author talk the Aberdeen Friends have had since the pandemic. I'm honored to go, and Dogwood Press will make a nice donation of books to the library in an attempt to catch them up on the books they've missed since anyone from our team was there last.

At my hometown library in Starkville. I just flew in from Pittsburgh, and boy, my arms are tired!

Be sure to visit dogwoodpress.com to find out when and where you can meet our authors, and certainly plan on getting copies of Dog-Gone, It Hurts and Lean Into Lent next month. Signed copies of all Dogwood Press and Sunrise Press titles can be ordered through the website, too. There isn't a thing wrong with ordering those Christmas gifts and having them shipped to you a little early!

 

MISSISSIPPI CULTURE

Taking place on September 14 this year in hopes of avoiding the blast furnace August heat, the 2024 Mississippi Book Festival will again feature an incredibly diverse group of authors on its many book panels. I'm honored to be included on the Mississippi Culture panel, moderated by Mississippi Public Broadcasting host Germaine Flood and featuring fellow authors Larry Wells, Diane Williams, and Josh Foreman. My contribution is my second work of non-fiction, Raphael's Men. Published by the Mississippi Sports Council of Jackson, Raphael's Men is the true story of the late Bill Raphael, the legendary football coach and math instructor at St. Joseph Catholic School of Jackson. 

In addition to winning well over 200 games while coaching a whopping 41 seasons at St. Joe (1950-1990), Coach Raphael's biggest wins can be found in the vast numbers of students he taught, athletes and non-athletes, who learned kindness, integrity, leadership, and self-confidence from him before developing into stalwarts in the business world, academia, medicine, law, and more. Signed copies will be available September 1 at Lemuria Books of Jackson, and at the MBF.

A natural born leader!

You'll enjoy the Mississippi Culture panel in air conditioned comfort, of course. Find us in Room 103 of the Mississippi state capitol building at 2:45 p.m., and be sure to catch the Mississippi Memoirs panel just before ours; it will be in Room 202 of the capitol building and feature X.M. Frascogna Jr., my friend and co-author of the recently released The Saints of St. Mary's. If you don't have this one yet, grab a signed copy when you purchase Raphael's Men!

An education you can't get in a textbook!

Brand new Dogwood Press suspense author Scott Lenoir hit the ground running with his tour for The Amendment, his fast-paced debut, and feedback has been very strong. Scott received texts and emails from several old friends the morning after his stop at Lemuria who said they'd planned to start the book, read a chapter or two . . . and absolutely couldn't put it down until they read every page. Gotta like that!

Catch Scott this Friday evening, August 23, at 6 p.m. for the annual Pie and Prose event at St. John's Episcopal Church in Ocean Springs, where he'll read from The Amendment and answer questions. He'll visit the Bonfire Book Club of McComb next Monday, August 26 (absolutely one of our FAVORITE book clubs in the state) before stopping at nearby Summit, Mississippi, the next morning at 11:00 for the first ever signing at brand new Buzy Beez Books! 

A happy author surrounded by avid readers!

Candace Cox Wheeler puts as much into her author presentations as any author I know, and certainly any I've published. She's a walking encyclopedia when it comes to her beloved hometown of Biloxi, Mississippi, and that knowledge was on full display at Ground Zero Blues Club of Biloxi and the following week when she visited public libraries in Starkville and Louisville, Mississippi. If you haven't taken the plunge, grab a signed copy of Sunset in the Sound. It will look great on your shelves next to her excellent Cradle in the Oak and Squall in the Gulf, and you may agree it's the best of the trilogy!

Immersing a rapt audience in the Sound of Wheeler!

And a big tip of the cap to old friend and short story writer par excellence John Floyd. It's been an honor to publish John EIGHT times over the years, and I admire so much his ability to write one fascinating story after another about almost any topic, representing almost any genre, and in remarkably short periods of time. He's much too humble to brag on himself, so let me do so: the man is a legend.

Check this out: John's story "Molly's Plan", which we included in his story collection Dreamland, published by Dogwood Press in 2016, just showed up in Black Cat Weekly. Okay, it's not unusual to see a story written by an author reappear in another publication at some point in the future. But look at the exposure "Molly's Plan" has gotten between its publication before Dreamland and today:

- first appeared in Strand Magazine

- selected for Best American Mystery Stories (praised by James Patterson in his intro to that edition)

- included in Dreamland

- reprinted in Russian in Moscow’s leading literary magazine, Inostranada Literatura

- it has been taught in several high schools and colleges

- considered for film, via a call from someone at LA’s biggest literary agency

- selected for inclusion in the permanent digital archive of the New York Public Library

- most recently selected for Black Cat Weekly

Grab that black cat and enjoy Molly's Plan!

Thanks for your time. I hope I've given you lots of leads on outstanding reads! Visit dogwoodpress.com for signed copies of all our titles, and make plans to visit the Dogwood Press tent on Saturday, September 14, at the Mississippi Book Festival as well as enjoying the author panels. Happy reading!