Check it out

I've always enjoyed going to the library. When I was small, my mom enrolled me in the summer reading program at the downtown library. It was fun checking out different books and then telling the librarian about them we I checked them back in. Of course, back then, I'd choose thin books, sports biographies and history stories, things that still interest me today. I've always liked to read, but I had no idea then that I would grow up to be an author. I thought I'd end up in the broadcast booth, a play-by-play man or analyst.

But fast forward a few decades and I'm convinced that being an author is my true calling. It's a play-by-play man of a different sort. And my stories are much longer than those few thousand word books I used to read. But they are on the shelves of libraries, and it's always exciting to hear librarians telling me they are being checked out regularly.

Today, I experienced an even bigger thrill. I went to the library on the campus of Northeast Alabama Community College with my mom to view a collection of Civil War artifacts that were housed in the reference room. I've said many times that history and haunts go hand in hand, and my ghost story collection, Hollers from the Hollows, is not only included in this special collection, it was being used for research by patrons working on a project. Research! My book!

Now that's rewarding.