Randy Wise

I remember a visit to my grandmother's farm when I was about four. She gave all the kids bowls of ice cream, telling us when we ate all of it a magical picture would appear in the bottom. I remember eating all of mine (as if I needed help) and looking at the little scene in the bottom of the bowl. A man and a woman rode in a surrey, pulled by a lone horse. I still remember the scene, but would have forgotten it long ago without the "magic".

I am a Texas writer who enjoys Southern fiction. My favorites from the American Romantic period are Washington Irving and Melville. I'm also heavily influenced by Twain and Thurber. From the twentieth century writers I like Steinbeck, Faulkner, Carson McCullers and Charles Frazier. My writing style falls somewhere between literary and commercial fiction, strongly influenced by the Southern Gothic tradition. My goal as a novelist is to capture an era in American life and preserve it for generations, being true to my heritage and my voice.

My previous publication credits include a children’s poem, “I’ll Buy My Daughter an Elephant”, published in the 12th edition of "Say Good Night to Illiteracy", an award-winning publication dedicated to raising awareness for the cause of literacy. I'm also in the 2008 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest book (I'm a "Dishonorable Mention").