A nod to the Clinch

Katie Dunn wrote a nice article about my novel Riverswept and how it is inspired by the landscape of the coalfields and the Appalachian Mountains. Here's the link.

Excerpt from the August 6, 2015 article in The Coalfield Progress:

Neva Bryan knows well the misconceptions often attached to the Appalachian region by people living outside the area.

A Wise County native Bryan, 48, recalled this week a geography lesson that her cousin endured as a child. This cousin grew up in Richmond, but often visited Bryan’s family in the summer.

During a third grade geography lesson back home in eastern Virginia, Bryan said, her cousin’s teacher asked students to name Virginia rivers. Since he knew the Clinch River from summers spent along its banks, Bryan’s cousin named that river. The teacher told him that no such river existed.

Bryan, a local author and assistant director of professional and career development at the University of Virginia’s College at Wise, said it bothers her when people refuse to take the time to explore areas beyond their own perceived realities. "I hate to think there are places like the Clinch River — North America’s most biodiverse river — that people don’t know that much about."