Mysterious, criminal, and downright betrayal are the words that come to mind when one reads Blood in the Low Country. This latest piece of Southern fiction will have your heart racing from the very first page. Join us as we welcome the author of this great work, Writer of the Week, & Writing Corner podcast guest, author Paul Attaway.
A true lover of southern fiction and a good crime story, I first learned of Paul Attaway on a fellow indie author, and podcast show called Hodge Podge (Big thanks to Alison Klakowicz).
The story of Blood in the Low Country captivates the essence, the atmosphere, and the climate of the South during the mid-twentieth century. Attaway's characters are vivid, relatable, and whose lives are not without flaw or tragedy.
This 58-year-old author was "born in Atlanta, but moved away from the South for a while when I left to attend college in Washington, DC. I met my wife, Lyn, in college. Lyn is from Los Angeles, CA and we moved to Phoenix in 1988 after getting married where we raised our three children (two girls and a boy). One of our daughters attended the College of Charleston, and we fell in love with the City visiting her. In 2014, we purchased a home in Charleston, and in December 2020 we sold our home in Phoenix and moved permanently to Charleston."
He considers his genre to be family drama and suspense thrillers based in the South saying that his professional career is how he got his start in the world of writing.
"I started a couple of businesses along the way, and by 2015 I was burned out and too tired to start another one and too young to retire so I became a consultant. Quite honestly, I didn’t enjoy working as a consultant. I was between consulting gigs and began talking about writing a book. For some time, I had been thinking about what it would take to write a book. My wife grew weary of hearing me talk about it and said something like “Well, why don’t you either do it or quit talking about it!” So, I decided to give it a shot. I have always been project-oriented and writing a book when you have never done it is quite a project."
Because we know some writers enjoy a certain space to write like Bren McClain, Mark Twain, and others, we asked Paul if he had found somewhere he enjoys writing? He told us, " When we first purchased a home in Charleston, our home was very small so I would walk to the Charleston Library Society on King Street and work there. I loved it. We recently refurbished an old home in Charleston, and I now have an office I can work from. It is working out very well."
What inspired his debut novel? Paul said he decided to write to what he knew. " Once I decided to write a book, I began by reading books on how to write a book. Some of the advice I gleaned that worked for me was ‘write what you know'. Well, I had a wonderful relationship with my father so I figured that I could write about father-son relationships. I also knew what it was like to grow up in the South so setting the book in the South made sense. These were my organizing ideas when I started the process."
Blood in the Low Country took three years for Paul to write, starting in 2017 he published last year.
And there is more great news for readers of his first novel. Paul Attaway is working on another book and yes it will be a sequel to Blood in the Low Country, and Paul added, "I hope it is stand-alone as well."
Because most writers have a favorite quote we carry with us, Paul Attaway shared one from Ernest Hemingway, "The only kind of writing is rewriting," and he even told us that he has been reading lots of Southern authors lately like Larry Brown and Glen Iles. When we caught up to him, he was reading Iles, Natchez Burning.
For writers who are seeking to publish, Paul offered the following advice: "If you are looking for an agent in the hopes of being picked up by a traditional publisher, be patient. If you are going to self-publish and are hoping for strong sales, be realistic.”
Learn more about Paul Attaway and his novel Blood in the Low Country on Wednesday, October 13th at 6 pm EST. The Writing Wall Podcast is available wherever you listen to your podcasts. Follow Paul on social media, or visit his website for more information and updates.
A new Writer of the Week is featured every Monday at 8 a.m. EST on the blog. Please follow The Writing Wall on Twitter or on Instagram for updates and announcements. Readers may also tune into the podcast every 2nd and 4th Saturday of the month at 6 p.m. EST on Anchor, Spotify, Google Podcast, Apple Podcast, and more. Visit LinkTree for more platforms. Followers can now become a supporter or sponsor on BuyMeACoffee for exclusive behind-the-scenes at Season 3, promotion, events, and more.