Sean Dietrich

In Sean of the South's latest novel, a small 1950s town takes in a mysterious visitor whom they believe needs saving--but she might be the one who saves them. When a seemingly mute runaway with no clear origin arrives in the small Southern town of Moab, the residents do what they believe is right and take her in--until two suspicious strangers arrive and begin looking for her. Winston Browne, the town sheriff, has just received some devastating news when the runaway lands in his town's care. Keeping her safe becomes harder and harder as the story of where she came from slowly becomes more clear--and somewhat sinister when it brings to light a religious cult deep in the woods.

The Incredible Winston Browne

'Sean of the South' Sean Dietrich is known for his stories of steel workers, small towns and trusty bloodhounds, but most of all, the small, everyday evidences of true good in the world. Will the Circle Be Unbroken? is his story - told for the first time - of love, loss, and the unlikely hope that we're gonna be alright.

A Memoir of Learning to Believe You're Gonna Be Okay

Will the Circle Be Unbroken?

Unlikely heroes form unlikely bonds in this poignant and redemptive new novel from Sean Dietrich.

Stars of Alabama

Kinfolk

Sometimes it’s the most unlikely meetings that give us life’s greatest gifts. 1970s, Southern Alabama. Sixty-two-year-old Jeremiah Lewis Taylor, or “Nub,” has spent his whole life listening to those he loves tell him he’s no good—first his ex-wife, now his always-disapproving daughter. Sure, his escapades have made him, along with his cousin and perennial sidekick, Benny, just a smidge too familiar with small-town law enforcement, but he’s never harmed anyone—except perhaps himself. Nub never meant to change his ways, but when he and fifteen-year-old Waffle House waitress Minnie form an unlikely friendship, he realizes for the first time that there may be some good in him after all. Six-foot-five Minnie has been dealt a full deck of bad luck—her father is a convicted murderer serving a life sentence, her mother is dead and buried, and she has a Grand Ole Opry–worthy singing voice with no place to perform. Oh, and there’s the small fact that she’s unexpectedly pregnant, courtesy of a no-good high-school boy. Gradually, Nub realizes the gift he’s been given: a second chance to make a difference. Beloved Southern writer Sean Dietrich, also known as Sean of the South, once again brings people and places to life in this lyrical song-turned-story about found family, second chances, country music, and the poignant power of love and forgiveness. Heartwarming Southern fiction from Sean of the South Stand-alone novel Includes discussion questions for book clubs Also by Sean Dietrich: The Incredible Winston Browne, Stars of Alabama, and You Are My Sunshine

A laugh-out-loud funny true story of a loving relationship, a grand adventure, and a promise kept. It was only a few years after the starry-eyed young couple got married when scary news threatened to take the wind out of their sails. But Sean Dietrich's wife, Jamie, wouldn't let it. She dared to hope for and plan for a great big adventure, and she made him promise to do it with her. For love and the promise of biscuits along the way, Sean--who was never an athlete of any kind--undertook the bike ride of a lifetime and lived to talk about it. In this true-life tale, master storyteller Sean Dietrich--also known as the beloved columnist and creator of the blog and podcast "Sean of the South"--shares their hilarious, touching, and sometimes terrifying story of the long bike ride to conquer The Great Allegheny Passage and the C&O Canal Towpath trail. As you laugh out loud through every hard-won mile and lose yourself in his signature poignancy, you'll experience a great adventure that, in the end, will remind you of what's most important in life, the value of keeping your promises, and the importance of connection in your most treasured relationships. A feel-good read you won't be able to put down, You Are My Sunshine dares you to hope for an adventure of your own.

A Story of Love, Promises, and a Really Long Bike Ride

You Are My Sunshine

A collection of short stories from the author of Sean of the South, and Lyla. Columnist, humorist, and novelist, Sean Dietrich, is known for his commentary on life in the American South. In his newest work, Caution: This Vehicle Makes Frequent Stops For Boiled Peanuts, he delivers a set of quirky tales filled with smiles and a hefty dose of heart.

This Vehicle Makes Frequent Stops for Boiled Peanuts

Caution

A collection of short stories by Sean Dietrich, a writer, humorist, and novelist, known for his commentary on life in the American South. His humor and short fiction appear in various publications throughout the Southeast.

On the Road with Sean of the South

Small towns have a way of burying things, and small-town people have a way of keeping things that way. With reminiscence and narration, a local sheriff must comb through his own humid world to unravel the truth behind the death of a local boy. But it's not as easy as it seems, because no one is talking. The Other Side of the Bay is a remarkable portrait of the unique people in the Panhandle of Florida. The story weaves itself into the tall longleaf forests, and along the crests of the uneasy bay, telling a tale of the human spirit. This is a novel of how things aren't always as black and white as they ought to be, and how right and wrong aren't always easy to tell apart. It's an evocative tale that delivers its reader to the apricot sun rises and sepulchral storm clouds of their own bittersweet memories.The Other Side of the Bay is a remarkable portrait of unique people living in the Panhandle of Florida. Each page leads deeper into the mysterious longleaf forests, and along the crests of the bay uneasy bay. Things aren't always as black and white as they ought to be, and right and wrong aren't always so easy to tell apart.

The Other Side of the Bay

The first volume of a collection of short stories by Sean Dietrich, a writer, humorist, and novelist, known for his commentary on life in the American South. His humor and short fiction appear in various publications throughout the Southeast.

Sean of the South

From celebrated storyteller "Sean of the South" comes an unforgettable memoir of love, loss, the friction of family memories, and the unlikely hope that you're gonna be alright. Sean Dietrich was twelve years old when he scattered his father's ashes from the mountain range. His father was a man who lived for baseball, a steel worker with a ready wink, who once scaled a fifty-foot tree just to hang a tire swing for his son. He was also the stranger who tried to kidnap and kill Sean's mother before pulling the trigger on himself. He was a childhood hero, now reduced to a man in a box. Will the Circle Be Unbroken? is the story of what happens after the unthinkable, and the journey we all must make in finding the courage to stop the cycles of the past from laying claim to our future. Sean was a seventh-grade drop-out, a dishwasher then a construction worker to help his mother and sister scrape by, and a self-described "nobody with a sad story behind him." Yet he cannot deny the glimmers of life's goodness even amid its rough edges. Such goodness becomes even harder to deny when Sean meets the love of his life at a fried chicken church potluck, and harder still when his lifelong love of storytelling leads him to stages across the southeast, where he is known and loved as "Sean of the South." A story that will stay with you long after the final page, Will the Circle Be Unbroken? testifies to the strength that lives within us all to make our peace with the past and look to the future with renewed hope and wonder.

A Memoir of Learning to Believe You’re Gonna Be Okay

Lyla unerringly evokes the life of a troubled family and the love that grows in it. Quinn must learn how to exist in his mother's troubled world without being consumed by her selfishness. Set during the Great Depression, on the upper coast of Florida, this touching story is dripping with the sepia tones of Old-South culture. It is about growing up in an achingly anguished household and finding a way to survive. A stirring memoir that delivers the reader to a harsh world that is captivating, at times shocking, and triumphant. Written with fervor and affection for a wounded past, Sean Dietrich's newest work is an intense and heartfelt epic about the son of a restless woman, hard times, and those caught in the spurring drafts of fate.

Sean Dietrich

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