I grew up in Echols, smallest county in Georgia, populationwise, but large in flatwoods landmass. And trees. We grow and harvest pines for a living. Yep, almost 300,000 acres of pines. So few people and yet two of them were/are published by major NY houses. Virginia Lanier, now deceased, wrote mysteries and I write literary fiction. My latest novel is "The Little Known," taken from a newspaper article about a poor little black boy who finds a sack of bank-robbed cash and ends up keeping it. Ironically, he cannot spend it for fear of getting caught so he secretly gives it away, which causes no end to his disappointments and troubles. This is my eighth novel in print and I now have five novels in ebook format--my obsession of the moment, and why I'm spending time "social networking." I love the ebook venues but am having trouble reaching my readers about my novels. I think one reason I'm so excited about ebooks is that these books have never before been published and I know they are good and I hate to let them lie buried forever inside my computer.

Larry Ashmead, Daugharty's editor at HarperCollins nominated her foro a Pulitzer Prize for her novel, "Earl in the Yellow Shirt," now sold as an ebook.