Georgia Magazine - October 2016 - 19

Tips from Kay * Rewrite everything. It doesn't really start taking shape until the third draft. * Find a good writer with good material, and sit down and copy his or her work word for word. COURTESY SALLY KILPATRICK Sally Kilpatrick October 2016 Something will happen during that exercise-some type of spiritual osmosis. When you ﬁnish, you'll be a better writer. * Don't overwrite. Trust the reader to add what you have left out. Sally Kilpatrick, sallykilpatrick.com Born in Tennessee. Writes from Marietta. Sally Kilpatrick wrote her first stories in elementary school. "Each week, my fifth-grade teacher had us write a story that included all the week's spelling words," she says. "We had to get really creative to use all 20 Raymond Atkins words." Kilpatrick went to the University of Tennessee and earned an Eng- Raymond Atkins, lish degree, then married, moved to raymondlatkins.com Georgia, taught high school Spanish Born in Massachusetts. Writes from for eight years and gave birth to two Rome. children. She enrolled in a profesRay Atkins moved to the South sional writers program at Kennesaw when he was 13. "I've been obState University in Kennesaw. serving the people here for a long As her life unfolded, Kilpatrick time," he says. "I think most writers always carved out time from her are observers of people." busy schedule to pursue her writing, He was first published in a coland in 2010 she completed the first lege literary journal in 1978. "But draft of "The Happy Hour Choir." then I took a 30-year break from "The publishing world moves writing to get married and have slowly," she says. "But I kept writing children," he says. "I had to pay throughout the process." bills, so I worked as an industrial In 2013, Kilpatrick didn't sell just maintenance manager." one book to Kensington Publishing His first novel, "The Front Corp.; she sold three and optioned Porch Prophet," was published in a fourth. Her books fit nicely in the 2008 and was awarded the GeorSouthern fiction genre, featuring gia Author of the Year Award for quirky, familiar characters navigating First Novel. Since then, Atkins has through life's unexpected turns. published four more novels and is "I'm working on the fourth one working on another, titled "Set List." now. It's titled 'Bless Her Heart,'" she He's the "English guy" at Georgia says. Northwestern Technical College in Rome and is a staff member at Tips from Kilpatrick Rhinehart College in Waleska. * Finish the book you are work"I write books that help people ing on, and then keep writing. get through the day," he says. "Life * Set writing goals that are can be hard sometimes, and I like attainable and within your to offer hope. I love the promise of control. some type of redemption." COURTESY RAYMOND ATKINS COURTESY TERRY KAY "I gradually learned what was required to be a writer," Kay says. "It's not something you learn overnight." Though his first novel, "The Year the Lights Came On," was published in 1976, Kay's signature novel, "To Dance With the White Dog," wasn't released until 1990. It quickly took its place of honor among Southern literary classics, was made into a Hallmark Hall of Fame television movie and established Kay as one of the South's most beloved writers. Today, with 17 books to his credit, Kay is working on a play and a novel set during World War II. "I don't write to tell a story; I write to discover the story," he says. More online at www.georgiamagazine.org 19 http://www.sallykilpatrick.com http://www.raymondlatkins.com http://www.georgiamagazine.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Georgia Magazine - October 2016