I’m also grateful to the members of my writers’ group who helped me tweak my work in progress: Leslie Brown, Juanita McDowell, and peerless reader Ricky Jacobs. And I want to give a special shout out to Anthony Mattero, who believed in the book.
Writing the book turns out to be only half the fun, so I owe a debt of gratitude to my far-flung production team: proofreader/editor, Wendy Herlich, eBook formatter L.K. Campbell, designer Jerry Dorris at AuthorSupport, and photographer Matthew King (for taking such a cool cover picture). I can think of no higher praise for Wendy than to tell you that she skillfully handled extended dialogue between a Transylvanian and a man who’d just been shot in the mouth.
As always, thanks to my wife Judy, who bears with me. She’s read Brambleman a few times already, and she may yet be surprised at the end result. My daughter, Laurel, was in first grade when I started writing this book full-time. As a college sophomore, she helped me finish it.
DeKalb County librarians at Embry Hills, Decatur, Dunwoody, and Tucker branches have always been helpful on this and other endeavors, including raising two children. And I would be remiss if I didn’t express my appreciation to the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Department for their hospitality and Forsyth County librarians for their assistance while I was researching the book.
Because the song had such a great influence on Brambleman, I want to express my appreciation to Eric Bazilian for writing One of Us, and to Joan Osborne for her magnificent rendition of it.
Finally, a special note in memory of civil rights pioneer Hosea Williams (1926-2000), Unbought and Unbossed. H1is work lives on through the charity he founded forty years ago, Hosea Feed the Hungry and Homeless (HFTH). To learn more and see how you can help or to make a donation, visit http://www.hoseafeedthehungry.com.
About the Author
Jonathan Grant is an award-winning writer and editor (The Way It Was in the South: The Black Experience in Georgia), and Brambleman is his second novel. His previous novel, Chain Gang Elementary (also published by Thornbriar Press), tells the tragicomic story of a war between a reform-minded PTA president and an authoritarian principal. A Thousand Miles to Freedom, his screenplay based on the real-life adventures of escaped slaves William and Ellen Craft, was recently optioned to Hollywood.
Grant grew up on a Midwestern farm and graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in English. He is a former newspaper journalist and served for several years as a Georgia state government spokesman. He lives in suburban Atlanta with his wife and two children.
He may be contacted at [email protected].
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