Seated at her floor desk, author Faith Harkey listens intently. She enjoys feeling grounded with the earth while she creates, likening writing to living inside a dream. She listens, waiting for a character’s voice to arise, and prepares for the 12 to 16 hour days ahead when she will become absorbed with telling their story. Then suddenly, it happens.
“I was sitting down to see what was bubbling up in my psyche one day and it turned out to be an 11year-old character,” says Harkey. “A little girl whose voice was so loud, she was placing demands on me that I write her story.” Harkey never expected to become a middle-grade school author, targeting an age range from late elementary through middle school. She was surprised by the voice that would become the main character of her first published novel, “Genuine Sweet,” and even more intrigued by the commanding presence of Hush Cantrell, the star of her most recent book, “Sneak Thief,” which she will be reading from at Midtown Reader on March 23.
Both novels take place in the imaginary small town of Sass, Georgia, a mashup of rural Florida, Georgia, and Idaho. Harkey grew up a city kid, but now calls Tallahassee home and the place she can “fill her cup” with the community’s literary offerings in between novels. She and her husband often traverse the nooks and crannies of America and the south as well, unearthing rural life’s nuances.
“I believe there are a lot of stereotypes about people in rural communities,” states Harkey. “In my experience traveling across the country I’ve met brilliant, highly educated people, artists with insight into the human condition, and people with thick accents that speak slowly but think very quickly. I hope that we can take another look at what it means to be from a small town and learn from each other.”
During her time in Idaho, she witnessed several small-town phenomena that appear in her novels. One such instance is stores pulling double duty, like a Radio Shack providing school band instruments. Another day, she glanced out her window to see a herd of kids walking their 4-H project sheep down the road on leashes.
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