Michael Cody Chronicles Twelve Transformative Stories in Fictional Runion, NC in “A Twilight Reel”
Podcast: Download (Duration: 39:38 — 36.3MB)
In this episode 249, we visit with Michael Cody, author of “A Twilight Reel,” a collection of short stories chronicling transformation among the inhabitants of the fictional town of Runion, North Carolina.
Robert Morgan, author of “Chasing the North Star,” had this to say about the book, “A Twilight Reel is a vivid portrait of a community in an age of rapid change. Some citizens are angered, and some more tolerant of the clash of the past with the future in the uncertain present. Michael Amos Cody is one of the most authentic and inspired voices in contemporary Appalachian fiction, addressing such subjects as AIDs, bias, troubling history, marriage, ghosts, dementia, and abiding loyalty and love. In these linked stories he speaks for both the region and the world beyond.”
Connect With the Author
Facebook Twitter Instagram Goodreads
About the Author:
| MICHAEL AMOS CODY was born in Sumter, South Carolina, raised in Walnut, North Carolina, and spent the early years of his adult life as a songwriter in Nashville, Tennessee. He earned his B.A. in Literature and Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina, Asheville, in 1993, his M.A. in English from Western Carolina University in 1995, and his Ph.D. in English from the University of South Carolina, Columbia, in 2000.
He is the author of Charles Brockden Brown and the Literary Magazine: Cultural Journalism in the Early American Republic (McFarland, 2004) and the novel Gabriel’s Songbook (Pisgah Press, 2017). He has written on the Gothic kinship between Charles Brockden Brown and Nathaniel Hawthorne for The Nathaniel Hawthorne Review, on Hawthorne’s “Romantic Predecessors” for Hawthorne in Context (Cambridge UP, 2019) and on “Brown’s Early Biographers and Reception, 1815-1940s” for the Oxford Handbook of Charles Brockden Brown (2019). He is co-editor of The Literary Magazine and Other Writings, 1803-1807, volume three of The Collected Writings of Charles Brockden Brown (Bucknell UP, 2019). His fiction and poems have appeared in Tampa Review, Yemassee, The Chaffin Journal, The Southern Poetry Anthology (Vols. VI and VII), The Howl, Pisgah Review, Short Story, Potpourri, and Fury. Cody teaches American literature before 1900, Native American literature, and mythology in the Department of Literature & Language at East Tennessee State University. |
Additional Endorsements
| Reminiscent of Spenser’s Shepherd’s Calendar, these twelve linked stories follow the progress of the seasons throughout a calendar year, rendering the fullness of life to be found in one Appalachian community. With its town-gown divide and its traditional and often insular residents struggling to become more inclusive, Runion, North Carolina, feels both representative and one of a kind. A Twilight Reel captures so abundantly life’s duality, the recurrence of love and loss, of hurt and healing. These stories show us how fortune can turn on a dime. When a four-year-old’s sucker punch ruins his mom’s Valentine’s Day celebration, or when a hypothermic granny strips off her clothes and unloads a double-barrel shotgun at her would-be rescuer, or when a young man confesses his plans to travel all the way to Hollywood and propose marriage to Marilyn Monroe, each unexpected action is matched by the psychological drama that unfolds in its wake. And every instant of these lives makes clear the choice between intimacy and isolation. Stories this vital make me want to stand on a street corner and shout out the good news of Michael Amos Cody’s talent!
— George Hovis, author of The Skin Artist |
Extra Stuff
Sign up for The Book Report for free on the Home page. We won’t spam you. That takes too much time.
Receive exclusive audio content when you become a supporter of the podcast for a small monthly contribution. You will be able to access author interviews on the craft and business of writing and other creative topics. Check out the offerings on the Exclusive Content Page or scroll through what’s available at the Patreon page.
Use promo code Charlottereader (all one word) to get a free audiobook when you join Libro.fm, the audiobook provider that supports independent book stores.
Meet Our Networks:
Queen City Podcast Network is a carefully selected collection of more than two dozen podcasts produced in and centering around Charlotte, North Carolina focused on news, non-profits, entertainment, literature, sports, food, culture, health and wellness, and comedy.
Authors on the Air Global Radio Network is an international digital media corporation comprised of more than two dozen radio talk shows, podcasts, & book reviewers interested in speaking to writers in all genres and other creative people.
Meet Our Team:
Learn About Our Social Media Team – Social Grit Marketing
Learn About Our Publicity Manager – Spellbound Public Relations
Learn about our Web Master – TM Petaccia
Learn about our Production Assistant – Shauna Morgan
Thank you for listening!