I am proud to announce The Cutting Season was awarded the Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence on January 23rd of this year at ceremony hosted by the Baton Rouge Area Foundation in Louisiana. The highlight of my trip, besides sharing a stage with Mr. Gaines, was spending a warm afternoon having lunch with Mr. Gaines and his beautiful wife, Dianne. This is me in his back yard, standing in the entryway to the old plantation church and school he restored.
