A random sign for free dogs inspired Mary Miller to drop a manuscript she'd been researching and create the character of Louis McDonald, Jr. for her hilarious and heartbreaking novel, BILOXI. She tells James about feeling indebted to her characters, teaching herself to write, looking in holes with her dog, needing to find joy, and reading with John Grisham. And bologna. And feet licking. Plus a chat with Bennet Johnson from Literati Bookstore in Ann Arbor, MI. 

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Mary Miller: http://www.maryumiller.net/

BUY BILOXI: Buy BILOXI from an Indie Bookseller

ALSO BY: BIG WORLD, THE LAST DAYS OF CALIFORNIA, ALWAYS HAPPY HOUR 

Mary and James discuss: 

Frederick Barthelme

Jerry Seinfeld 

THE MOTEL LIFE by Willy Vlautin 

THE OFFICE 

THE MOVIEGOER by Walker Percy 

THE SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tartt 

Books-A-Million

ZOETROPE

ON WRITING by Stephen King 

BIRD BY BIRD by Anne Lamott 

Elizabeth Ellen 

Aaron Burch 

Square Books 

Lemuria Book Store 

Bennet Johnson 

Literati Bookstore

Parnassus Books

John Evans 

Richard Howorth

Lisa Howorth 

Grisham Writers in Residence 

John and Renee Grisham 

Michener Center for Writers 

Ann Patchett 

Ole Miss 

Mississippi State 

Claudia Smith Chen

Kevin Sampsell 

REM 

Elizabeth Spencer 

Tom Franklin 

Beth Ann Fennelly 

W. W. Norton & Company 

Charlie Day 

IT'S ALWAYS SUNNY IN PHILADELPHIA

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Bennet Johnson 

Literati Bookstore: https://www.literatibookstore.com/

Literati Cultura: https://www.literatibookstore.com/literati-cultura-collectors-club

Bennet and James Discuss: 

Mike & Hilary Gustafson 

SING, UNBURIED, SING by Jesmyn Ward 

ON EARTH WE'RE BRIEFLY GORGEOUS by Ocean Vuong 

YOU KNOW YOU WANT THIS by Kristen Roupenian 

OHIO by Stephen Markley 

MIDWEST LITERARY WALK

PACHINKO by Min Jin Lee 

HAWKING by Jim Ottaviani 

"Boys Town" by Jim Shepard 

Calvin Trillin 

Amy Hempel 

Mary Ruefle 

Kevin Wilson 

Hannah Pittard 

Lorrie Moore 

Ernest Hemingway 

Literati Book Store Presents 

John U. Bacon 

Randall Munroe

Sister Helen Prejean 

Salman Rushdie 

Jonathan Safran Foer 

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http://tkpod.com / [email protected] / Twitter: @JamesScottTK

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