Cutv News Radio

Helena, AL – Writing isn’t just putting words on paper; it's reaching out to people, inspiring and encouraging them through the words. A great story can offer an immersive experience where the reader observes the drama unfold like they’re a character in the same room. No one knows this better than Annie Jones Holmes, acclaimed author of Beneath the Willow, a collection of short stories, and its sequel Willows Under Trial. First published in 2015, Beneath the Willow, follows the lives of residents of Willow Bend, a settlement of people who had left a sharecropper’s farm in postbellum era. “It's not a true story,” Holmes admits. “It's historical fiction with a realistic concept. It deals with the issues that happened during that postbellum era. They endured many hardships with humor, as well as attempting to deal with the grievance of the situation.” Originally a playwright, Holmes adapted her plays into the short stories collected in Beneath the Willow. “I call it a "divine revelation." I can sit and write wor