{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"Alabama Writers Showcase","description":"On this week's Keepin It Real, Cam Marston seems to think writers are a good bit like Labrador retrievers - they can't not chase the stick. And writer can't not tell a story. ----- I stepped into the Mobile Literary Festival back in April not knowing what to expect. What I found surprised me and, ultimately, inspired me. Here\u2019s what happened. But first - I used to own labrador retrievers. I learned they could never not chase the stick. Or the socks. Or the pinecone. Whenever I tossed something, they had to go after it. They couldn\u2019t control themselves. It was who they were. It was in their bones. What I found at the Mobile Literary Festival was kind of the same \u2013 these people could not NOT tell a story. They had to write the stories that they witnessed or that were forming in their heads. They had to write. Few of the people made any real money from their writing. Maybe enough for a meal once a month or a load of groceries. Most of them did it for the joy of the hobby and the joy of commiserating with their fellow writers about the challenges of writing and telling their stories. I loved these people. I got the same feeling sitting with these writers as I do when I stand at the finish line of a long road race and watch people who have no God-given running talent push themselves over the finish line. They do it out of desire, deep perseverance, and guts. They just want to do it. And I loved \u2018em. They inspired me. To celebrate these writers, I pitched an idea to Alabama Public Radio. \u201cLet\u2019s create a space,\u201d I said, \u201cwhere Alabama based writers can have their voices heard. And I want to feature the ones that aren\u2019t famous. The ones who, like a labrador retriever, can\u2019t not tell their stories.\u201d They agreed to give it a try. So on Wednesday, July 9th at 7:30pm, we\u2019re launching this thing. It will be a thirty-minute segment of one writer reading his or her work. Maybe it\u2019s original for the broadcast, maybe it\u2019s a chapter of a book they\u2019ve written or are working on. Who knows. It\u2019ll be writers reading their own stuff. John Nielsen. Remember his name. He\u2019ll be one of the first ones. His story is called Angels of Fire in the Kudzu Realm. It\u2019s awesome. Jodie Cain Smith will read from her newest book. She uses her theater training to really really read her story well. Rob Herndon has been working on a book for years and will read Chapter Two. You\u2019re going to love his characters. And Lynn Oldshue has been telling people\u2019s stories for years. She met a bunch of folks who were roaming around the docks getting a peek at the US United States which is tied up here in Mobile. She tells their stories. And the writers inspired me so much that I give fiction a shot for the first time since my creative writing class back in college. I loved it but it was harder than I remember. But I loved it. Put it on your calendar \u2013 July 9th at 7:30pm. We\u2019re calling it the Alabama Writer\u2019s Wednesday Night Showcase. It\u2019s new. It\u2019s different. And I don\u2019t think there\u2019s anything like it anywhere out there. This will be fun. I\u2019m Cam Marston and I\u2019m just trying to Keep it Real. ","author_name":"Keepin' It Real with Cam Marston","author_url":"https:\/\/cammarston.com\/keepin-it-real-with-cam-marston\/","html":"