What will Kentucky Book Festival visitors find on your table?
Winner of the Etchings Press Book Prize, Pineville Trace is a novella-in-flash, published by Etchings Press (at the University of Indianapolis). Former southern revival preacher and confidence man Frank Russet escapes from prison. Taking only a cat named Buffalo and a desire to outrun his former life, he journeys to the fringes of society and confronts his past, seeking redemption amidst the wilderness. SmokeLong Quarterly said, “This was an utterly compelling read. Blake’s prose is sparse, whose short, almost broken, sentences, sing with enormous power”. Pulitzer Prize Finalist Lee Martin wrote, “Blake renders the tale with great empathy and in language that’s so lyrical it practically lifts from the page. Blake is a writer to watch.”
Whom do you invite to stop by? Who will benefit from reading your book?
Pineville Trace is for readers who love:
-cats
-self discovery
-nature
-confidence men with a (possible) heart of gold
-escapism
-literary fiction
-interiority
-novellas
-innovative forms
-flash fiction
-characters on the edge of transformation—caught between redemption and damnation
Could you please tell us something curious about you and/or your book?
I’ve been writing about Frank Russet—the main character of Pineville Trace—since 2014, so I knew him before I started writing this book. And when I got the idea for Pineville Trace, driving along rural Pine Mountain, I saw a 1950s era Buick LeSabre—the same car my main character drives—pass by on the other side of the road.
Is this your first time participating in Kentucky Book Festival? If yes – what are you looking forward to the most? If you’ve participated before – what was your favorite experience at the Festival?
This is my first time participating in the Kentucky Book Festival. I’m looking forward to connecting readers with my work and being a part of the rich literary community of Kentucky.
