I don’t normally send out an email this often, but Rednecks has been selected as one of five finalists for the 2025 Audie Award for Fiction! Last year’s winner was Ann Patchett’s Tom Lake, narrated by Meryl Streep, so we’re in good company indeed.

Our narrator Ramiz Monsef did one hell of a job with Rednecks. He has incredible range, handling everything from Doc Moo’s Lebanese accent to Mother Jones’s fiery Irish brogue to Sid Hatfield’s laconic hard-man utterances, not to mention the voices of everyday miners, townspeople, and children caught up in the Mine Wars. This was no easy book for a single narrator to tackle, and Ramiz nailed it.

The winners will be revealed on March 4 in NYC at the 30th Annual Audie Awards Gala, hosted by Amy Sedaris. I don’t know yet if I’ll be attending, but pretty dang cool nonetheless.

And…today is the last day to vote Rednecks for the Southern Book Prize! Winners will be announced on Valentine’s Day — fingers crossed.

Southern Book Prize Ballot

Lastly, I just want to thank all of you who read my work, and those who’ve already voted. Doing what I do was a dream of mine since I was a child reading Where the Wild Things Are in my room, and y’all are the ones who continue to make it possible.