I heard the nicest story last night.

Decatur author Amanda C. Gable read from her new novel, “The Confederate General Rides North,” and I was glad to be carrying the book home after hearing passages about the an 11-year-old Civil War buff on a journey with her mother in the 1960s.

"The Confederate General Rides North" by Amanda C. Gable.

But the nice part was Gable’s own story. Like Katherine, the book’s main character, she grew up in Marietta in the 1960s with a pony and freedom to roam the woods, she told the crowd at the Georgia Center for the Book event. Gable went on to a Ph.D. from Emory, 14 years of work at Georgia Tech and a life in Decatur — a whole life of stories that have nothing to do with being a novelist.

In the late 1980s, she concocted the character, a young girl obsessed with the Civil War. In 1990, she published a short story about the girl. Over time, Gable created enough stories about the girl to believe she could write a novel about her. By then, it was …

Continue reading INTERVIEW: Decatur author Amanda C. Gable on writing her new novel ‘The Confederate General Rides North’ »

I was prepared for some kind of wizard-mania on Tuesday night, when “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” opened in theaters, but expected something less.

Not the book parties of a few years ago, or the madness that surrounded the first movie. Last time I’d checked, half of the eight midnight shows at Regal Mall of Georgia planned sold out. Surely the others would be full by the time I slogged up 85 and made it through a mall parking lot so massive one could be lost and not found till the economy improves. Still, I expected something…muted?

No pushing and no weeping that I witnessed, although theater employees said some folks were turned away. The truly dedicated could return for a 3:15 a.m. show. I take that back: the truly dedicated could’ve gotten in line for Juniors Mints and Cokes right around midnight, THEN enjoyed the show. Some attending the midnight shows were in costume and in line by 6 p.m., and they already had tickets.

Tony Montanaro, 19, hasn't read the books, …

Continue reading ‘Harry Potter’ movie a nostalgic, late-night hit for fans »