Delta Blues

My pre-release copy of Delta Blues from Tyrus Books just arrived in the mail today. I haven't jumped off into it yet, but I darned sure will tonight. Should be a great read! The book is a collection of short stories by a slew of writers such as James Lee Burke, Ace Atkins, and John Grisham. The collection is edited by Carolyn Haynes, who is known for her mystery series set in the Mississippi Delta, and who also is an assistant professor of English at the University of South Alabama. She also contributes one of the nineteen stories set in the land where blues began.

Tyrus Books is run by Allison Janssen and Ben LeRoy, the founders of Bleak House, who decided to strike out anew with this great small press. Tyrus Books is donating $1 from the sale of each Delta Blues to the Rock River Foundation, which is dedicated to supporting the arts and literacy of the Delta. They sound like my kind of people.

I love to write, but books reviews are not exactly my forte, so I'll leave it to whoever reads this to decide whether to grab a copy. I'll just say that I'm looking forward to reading these Delta tales. I love it that someone is promoting fiction about that part of the universe and about the people that inhabit it. I'm really excited about discovering the talents of the authors who are unfamiliar to me. I will report back with my humble opinion...keep in mind that I read s.l.o.w., much the same way my East Texas drawl allows my words to crawl out.