The Author Guy blog - Dec 1, 2023

 1 st December 2023

Hey, out there,

Welcome back. 

Today, I’ll explain a couple of things about this blog.

I’m a huge admirer of the late bestselling author Pat Conroy (even visited his gravesite in a small cemetery near Beaufort, South Carolina cemetery). After his passing in early March 2016, a collection of some of his speeches, magazine articles and letters was published as A Low Country
Heart (Reflections on a Writing Life). 

In reading the book, I learned he began such reflections with the simple words “Hey, out there.” From all that I’ve read about him, including his 2018 biography My Unremarkable Life, I don’t think he’d mind this one tiny bit of emulation.

Secondly, I live in a Southern town where residents know each other and their business … or think they do. When folks became aware of my books and my newspaper contributions, and I was introduced for the first time, because of the uniqueness of my last name, more than one person responded, “Oh, you’re the author guy.” I am indeed, and proudly so.

While I have acknowledged borrowing a few words from Mr. Conroy, I’m unaware of any other writer referring to themselves as either “the author guy or gal.” As I become better known as a novelist, and that is certainly my dream, I wouldn’t mind one bit if others borrowed my self-anointed sobriquet.

Until next week … Vaya con Dios

Larry B. Gildersleeve

Location: Bowling Green, KY, USA

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