by Renee' Irvin
"Using my imagination, Mommy!" she replied.
And she has been ever since. "East of Orleans," her first published novel, was created through a mélange of memories brought to life, characters born out of imagination, and Renee's desire to write herself to another place, at another time.
There was no better place than where her grandmother grew up as a child, and her stories unfolded. That wonderful place was on the banks of the Chattahoochee River, in a little community known as Shakerag, Georgia.
Like Renee's life itself--deep, rich, adventuresome, and sometimes dark, her debut novel "East of Orleans" is a "real" southern story, the kind that Renee' feels is best told by one of their own, a bona fide Southerner.
Renee' holds a degree in Legal Studies, and studied English & Communications at Oglethorpe University. She also studied at the "Harriett Austin Creative Writing Conference," offered by the University of Georgia, and taught under the skilled eye of Dr. Charles Connor.
Renee' currently lives not far from Shakerag with her college-age twins, son Ryan, and her charismatic much-loved 12 year-old Pekingese, Pookie. She is currently hard at work on her next novel, and one thing is a certainty:
It will evolve around layered characters, mystery, romance, and life and death centered on the only stage Renee' knows as home, the deep South.