Tell us a bit about your most recent work.
My most recent release is called What’s With Atlanta?: The Quirks, Personality, and Charm of the ATL. It’s a fun history guide to Atlanta, with each section a short tidbit that reads like trivia (so you’ll ace any Atlanta-themed trivia night!).
If you’ve ever wondered why every street is named “Peachtree” or how the Braves came to be in Atlanta, then this is the book for you. It’s a great guide for both tourists and locals, especially Atlanta newcomers who want to know why they can’t call it “Hotlanta”. I really tried to hit all the big attractions, festivals, traditions, sports, food, and historical moments that make Atlanta tick.
What are the themes and subjects you tend to revisit in your work?
I’ve always been interested in the unusual, the quirky, the odd attractions, the things that give a place character. And I’ve also found that even the major attractions that seem quite normal will often have something quirky in their past, so I try to get to the heart of that unique history. I mean, every state has a capital building, so what makes one more special than another? (For Atlanta, it’s the Dahlonega gold and the weird way they got it here.)
What happened in your life that prompted you to become a writer?
I’ve always been a writer. I remember writing stories for assignments in elementary school, and I started writing short stories for fun in middle school. My English teacher even let me and my friends put my stories toward pages read in our reading logs. Then I entered and won a few short story contests in high school, took a creative writing class, and found a university program for creative writing that showed me that I could actually make a career out of writing.
