Literary Friday

‘i’ll be home for peacemas’ Giveaway 

Our 12 Days of Giveaways continues on day nine with a special giveaway from Florida author Shannon O’Neil. Her book, “i’ll be home for peacemas,” opens on Christmas Eve with character Bailey Hamilton being held at airport security after causing a ruckus at the ticketing terminal. The Hamilton-Flowers-Danforth-Lopez family boasts more than two decades of Christmas celebrations gone wrong, starting with Bailey’s parents’ shotgun wedding and including a shameful mid-nativity divorce decree. The now infamous St. Augustine, Florida, family has really outdone themselves this time with an invented “Peacemas” holiday added to the mix. Bailey recaps the story of her family’s colorful Christmas history to her captor — a lovably large security guard named Tony, but will it be enough to convince him to let her go?

In defense of her beloved hometown of St. Augustine, O’Neil has written an essay on Florida’s Identity Crisis for us. She also gives a personal account of why her city’s holiday Nights of Lights celebration deserves its title as one of the Top 10 Places to See Holiday Lights in the world.

To enter to win a limited-edition, signed paperback copy of “i’ll be home for peacemas,” see our Giveaways section and comment there by midnight tonight.

Literary Gift Ideas 

Etsy shop Wet Canvas Art’s book alteration sculptures include versions of Tom Sawyer, Gone With the Wind and Edgar Allan Poe. They’re not cheap, but who would forget a present where their favorite story literally pops out of the page?

The Atlantic’s editors and writers included Mark Twain’s Autobiography: 1910–2010 by Michael Kupperman in their list “The Best Book I Read This Year.”

Flannery O’Connor: The Cartoons made The New York Times‘ “Best Bathroom Books of 2012.” Hopefully she’s chuckling in her grave and not rolling over.

Andalusia Farm, the home of Flannery O’Connor in Milledgeville, Georgia, has peacock ornaments for sale along with several other gifts in its online shop.

LSU Press has a holiday sale going on through the 17th. Get 45 percent off select gift books plus free shipping when you spend $75 or more.

Literary News & Blogs

The Huffington Post‘s Books section lists 9 Ways to Live Like Hemingway. Not surprisingly, one of them is hoard kittens.

In other news this week, Hemingway’s famous cats have now become a federal case. After a visitor to his Key West home and museum filed a complaint 10 years ago, a court ruling recently determined that the U.S. Department of Agriculture can regulate how the cats are treated.

Kimberly Brock’s The River Witch makes GalleyCat’s Most Overlooked Books of 2012. We couldn’t agree more.

BookRiot’s 10 Bookish Facebook Feeds You Should Follow includes F. Scott Fitzgerald, Edgar Allan Poe and Toni Morrison.

Georgia author Lillian Smith’s birthday was this week. We celebrated by chronicling the strange life of her best-selling novel Strange Fruit. James Lee Burke and Joel Chandler Harris also celebrated birthdays this month, and we’ve got tributes to them as well.

(Non)Required Reading

The Moonlit Road has a new story by Tim Westover this week. Unbroken Lines is the nightmarish tale of Southern suburban landscaping gone very, very wrong.

New in Southern Voice

Letter From Emily, Virginia Farm Country, a poem about writing a letter on a cold winter’s night by Virginian Danna Molly Weiss.

To find out more about Southern authors’ haunts and hangouts, download the Deep South Literary Trail App, now available direct from iTunes and for Android.