Not to be missed: Tim Gautreaux's short story, "Idols," in this week's New Yorker. Hear the echoes--sense the smirk-- of Flannery O'Connor-- in Gautreaux's darkly comic, southern gothic tale.

"The lawn was a weave of waist-high weeds and fallen limbs punctuated by the otherworldy pink domes of thistle blooms..."

Otherworldy. Pretty much a perfect description of thistle.


Today's SECRET KEEPERS Bootylicious Booktour Blogstop is over at Misadventures with Andi. Here's an excerpt from the interview:

[MWA] If you got your one whiff of a secret keeper, what do you think it would be?

[MF] Oh, that's a good question. For me a whiff of a secret keeper would smell like...[continue reading]

On Writing: My Interview at WordHustlerInk

Today's Bootylicious Blog Tour Stop is an interview over at WordhustlerInk.

And here is a picture of my garden this week, which after all this rain, is more weed-choked than plant-choked :)

A Southern Writer Never Kisses and Tells: An Interview with Mindy Friddle
Somewhere in a plant-choked garden in South Carolina, journalist-turned-novelist Mindy Friddle is planting some succulents in an old, broken-down cowboy boot. She’s also thinking about characters and scenes for her next novel, giving them space to roam around in her head. Mindy Friddle is the real deal, folks: a bona fide Southern lady and a talented writer to boot (pun completely intended).
WordHustler sat down with Mindy to get a feel for her writing experiences, her personal writing style, and why you have to talk to everyone about your project...

Read the complete interview here.