{"id":1714,"date":"2014-07-16T22:13:59","date_gmt":"2014-07-16T22:13:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/anne.myupcomingsite.com\/?p=1714"},"modified":"2014-07-17T01:11:58","modified_gmt":"2014-07-17T01:11:58","slug":"guest-blog-jameson-gregg-shares-excerpt-from-his-comic-novel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/anne.myupcomingsite.com\/?p=1714","title":{"rendered":"Guest Blog: Jameson Gregg Shares Excerpt from his Comic Novel"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"LBC_cover_web\"<\/a>
\n<\/a>In today’s final post focused on the craft of humor writing, The Writing Well is delighted to spotlight the work of Jameson Gregg. His just-released book, Luck Be a Chicken<\/a> (Deeds Publishing), a comedic novel about south Georgia rednecks scrapin’ by in their wheel-estate,<\/span> is earning rave reviews.\u00a0 Cassandra King, New York Times’ bestselling author, writes:\u00a0 \u201cAnything can happen, and does, in this rollicking farce, set in a sleepy south Georgia town where the Sweat family resides in the Garden of Eden Trailer Park. Jesus returns to earth as a Mexican forklift driver at the Majestic Chicken Plant, a NASCAR-loving redneck named Butterbean takes on corporate corruption, and the scales of justice swing every-which-way. If reading Luck Be A Chicken doesn\u2019t make you laugh out loud at least a dozen times, you owe me an RC Cola and a Moonpie.”
\n<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

According to Amazon reviewer MaryLou Cheatham,\u00a0 “Jameson Gregg mixes raw realism and compassion with brazen satire in Luck Be A Chicken. He paints the rough side of life with comic relief. Farce and embellishment live on the top drawer of his humor toolbox.\u00a0 The sensory impact, the humor when it is least expected, and the nail-biting anxiety propel the rapid turning of pages to the end.”<\/em><\/p>\n

The excerpt below captures the humor of this talented Southern storyteller.
\n<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI got a man here to drive for you. His name is Hay-Seuss.\u201d<\/p>\n

The well-postured man of medium height was light skinned for a Latino. His black hair skimmed his shoulders, and a thick beard hedged his chin. His clothes were threadbare but clean.<\/p>\n

The man smiled and nodded as Bean looked him up and down. \u201cHow you spell that?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2019Fraid he don\u2019t speak too much English,\u201d Wilbur said. \u201cHe spells it J-e-s-u-s. Like in the Bible.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou mean Jesus is coming to work at Majestic Chicken?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe ain\u2019t Jesus,\u201d Wilbur said. \u201cHe\u2019s Hay-suess. I wish he was Jesus.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHow you make a \u2018Hay\u2019 out a \u2018J\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBeats me, Sweat, take it up with Mexico. Job center claims he can drive a lift. All you got to do is show him what to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cGuess I\u2019ll have to show him \u2019cause I damn sure can\u2019t tell him, now can I? How long has he been drivin\u2019?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know, Bean, ask him. You need to finish cleanin\u2019 cause we\u2019re probably going live after lunch. I got to go.\u201d Wilbur whirled and shuffled away.<\/p>\n

Bean sized up Jes\u00fas. Clear, intelligent eyes. Sincere and agree\u00acable attitude. Seemed anxious to work. Bean felt an odd compul\u00acsion to show this man respect.<\/p>\n

\u201cBuenos d\u00edas. Mi nombre es Butterbean Sweat. Mucho gusto. \u00bfEs usted de M\u00e8xico?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cS\u00ed, Se\u00f1or Sweat. Soy de Veracruz.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bean remembered last week\u2019s special at Amigo Gordo with great fondness\u2014Chili Rellenos del Veracruz. This feller cain\u2019t be all bad.<\/p>\n

Bean walked him over to the second Nissan forklift and point\u00aced. \u201cYou know how to drive this?\u201d<\/p>\n

Bean pretended to hold his hands on the wheel, turning left and right.<\/p>\n

\u201cS\u00ed, Se\u00f1or Sweat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bean released a key from his belt ring and tossed it to the new man, pointed to an open area,<\/p>\n

and twirled his wrist. \u201cDrive around this area and do some stop-and-goes and turn. Compre\u00achend-o?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cS\u00ed.\u201d<\/p>\n

In seamless movements, Jes\u00fas mounted and cranked her. She beeped when he threw her into reverse then she glided like an ice dancer, cutting flawless geometric, loop-de-loop patterns, backward and forward, curving in perfect concentric circles.<\/p>\n

Bean\u2019s jaw dropped. The smoothest thing I ever seen on a forklift. A tear welled up.<\/p>\n

Jes\u00fas glided the lift beside Bean, stepped down, and nodded.<\/p>\n

Bean tried to gather his composure. He started to speak, stopped himself, and stood in awkward silence. Finally he stepped close to Jes\u00fas and whispered. \u201cAre you really Jesus? I mean<\/p>\n

Christ, like in the Bible, who come back like You said You would?\u201d<\/p>\n

Jes\u00fas smiled and shrugged. \u201cNo comprendo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cCome on, you can tell me. I won\u2019t tell nobody. I always knowed You was real. Really, I swear I did. I knowed You\u2019d sneak back when we wasn\u2019t watchin\u2019, but I didn\u2019t think You\u2019d be drivin\u2019 no forklift in a chicken plant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jes\u00fas shook his head. \u201cNo comprendo, Se\u00f1or Sweat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bean studied genuine confusion in the man\u2019s face. The real Jesus would know English, I\u2019m purty sure. He walked Jes\u00fas through the work routine in Spanglish then heard Wilbur\u2019s voice and turned.<\/p>\n

___________________<\/p>\n

About Jameson Gregg<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Jameson<\/a>
Jameson Gregg<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jameson Gregg has worked as a lawyer for two decades, most recently practicing business, corporate, banking and real estate in Georgia’s second-oldest law firm before leaving the legal field to devote himself to writing full time. <\/em><\/p>\n

His 2014 debut novel, Luck Be a Chicken, won first place in the annual Northeast Georgia Writers’ Club competition.\u00a0 Jameson is a member of the Atlanta Writers’ Club, the Northeast Georgia Writers’ Club and the Stonepile Writers’ Group. <\/em><\/p>\n

A native of Mississippi who now resides in the North Georgia Mountains, Jameson has a BBA from the University of Mississippi and a JD from the Mississippi College School of Law.<\/p>\n

Check out his recent author interview on Gainesville, Ga., radio<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In today’s final post focused on the craft of humor writing, The Writing Well is delighted to spotlight the work of Jameson Gregg. His just-released book, Luck Be a Chicken<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[692,821,610,816,819,822],"class_list":["post-1714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-author-interview","tag-author-interview-2","tag-comic-novel","tag-humor-writing","tag-jameson-gregg","tag-luck-be-a-chicken","tag-satire"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/anne.myupcomingsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/anne.myupcomingsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/anne.myupcomingsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anne.myupcomingsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anne.myupcomingsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1714"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/anne.myupcomingsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1724,"href":"https:\/\/anne.myupcomingsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1714\/revisions\/1724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/anne.myupcomingsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anne.myupcomingsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/anne.myupcomingsite.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}