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Mike Miller and Fiction Writing in Columbia

December 20, 2008

Rosewood resident Mike Miller is one of the most creative and interesting folks that I know. He has authored a new collection of short stories called Lonesome Pines: Living and Dying in a Little Town and recently did a book signing at the Rosewood Market. I dropped by to get Mike to autograph a few copies for me and to chat about his writing and the creative process. 

Mike is well known in Columbia as a talented journalist and keen observer of the City's live music scene. A former reporter and columnist for the STATE newspaper, Mike has written a book on Hootie and the Blowfish and has been recognized as a SC Fiction Project winner. Although Mike was in Dillon, SC, for most of his youth, his earliest years were spent in Rosewood.  He attended South Kilbourne Elementary School, where I will be hosting the District 3 City Council Meeting on January 7th.

This is the first time Mike has published a work of short stories and his new work contains the story, "The Lamp," which was recognized by the SC Fiction Project. The stories are set in an imaginary small town near the North Carolina coast and feature a unique gang of southern characters and a band known as the Cedar Creek Boys. You can check out the book and the band at www.cedarcreekboys.com.

I asked Mike about the writing process and where he actually penned the stories for Lonesome Road.  He told me that he wrote most of them right in his house on Elm Avenue in Rosewood, in what he called his "writer's room." As I considered the creative process in Columbia I was reminded that Columbia is becoming known as an important center for artistic expression in our region and that our annual Book Festival, sponsored by the SC Committee for the Humanities, has put us on the map as a city that enjoys and values reading.

I have decided to start a list of District 3/Columbia authors and invite you to submit additions. Let's get started:
  • USC's Award winning writer Janet Turner Hospital
  • Shandon Area Historians Walter Edgar, John Hammond Moore, Marjorie Spruill, and Don Doyle
  • Children's book authors Caroline Bennet and Paula Bowers
  • Shandon Fiction writer Karen Petit 
  • Five Points Businessman and Fiction writer James D. "Don"  McCallister