Tiffany McDaniel has spent years honing her writing craft. She has had to focus with steely determination upon that most difficult of objectives; to see her work being published. Her novel "The Summer That Melted Everything" was recently issued by Saint Martin's Press.
This is a work of literary fiction. That is a term that is frequently abused but not in this case. What makes McDaniel's novel so striking is her originality-the language she employs is so vivid that it tumbles and spins across the pages. Here is a sample paragraph:
"The lukewarm past had been overtaken by the scalding now. Gone was the perfect temperature. The breeze. All replaced by an almost violent heat that turned your bones into volcanoes, your blood into the lava that yelled their eruptions. Folks would later talk about that sudden onset of heat. It was their best evidence of the devil's arrival."
That mention of the devil refers to the visitor who has arrived as the heat is rising in a small town in Ohio. This is the story of a family, a somewhat peculiar one, and it takes readers into rather bizarre nooks and strange, dark crannies. Oh, how McDaniel can write!
But she doesn't want me to ruin this adventure for her readers. No spoilers here. Listen to the interview. Read her book. Share this discovery with the other discerning readers that you know. We'll be hearing a lot more from Tiffany McDaniel!
The Book Nook on WYSO is made possible by six local library systems in southwest Ohio: the Greene County Public Library, Washington-Centerville Public Library, MidPointe Library System, Clark County Public Library, Dayton Metro Library, and Wright Memorial Public Library.
