Radley and Sloe have been best friends since elementary school. Having grown up in Milton, Florida, they have a strong sense of what it means to be "Southern."
At least, their version of what it means.
The two lifelong friends set out to become the "Voice of the New South." They have no clear plan and questionable writing talent, which introduces obstacles to their goal.
But the two men fear their real problem is a curse they believe was cast upon them by their former friend and co-worker, Shameus. They launch a plan to confront Shameus where he is performing as a comic-magician in Shreveport, Louisiana.
Karmen and Sloe's wife, Lizza must once more rescue their husbands from troubles of their own making.
A raucous journey through the American South introduces a New York-based publisher with a decided bias against the South, a former college basketball player turned bus driver with a desire to become a golf photographer, wacky Southern characters, and of course the one and only Shameus.
Author Biography:
A lifelong lover of books, writing, and sports, "Smokey Joe" Mayes is an award winning writer and erstwhile sports talk radio host. He has been published in local and national media and was awarded the 2009 Laurie O'Brien award for graduate nonfiction at the University of West Florida. Joe grew up in Northern California before moving to Germany to attend high school, where he met his future wife, Diane (though they had to wait nearly 40 years to close the deal). He is a twenty year US Air Force veteran, after which he rekindled his childhood (and often childish) passion for writing.Today, Joe lives in Krugerville, Texas with the lovely, albeit tiny, Diane, They are the faithful and loyal subjects of Her Royal Highness, The Notorious Z.O.E. who graciously allows them to live in her home. Diane and Joe are owners of Patchouli Joe's Books & Indulgences in Denton, Texas. Rodney Landrum went to school to be a poet and a writer. And then he graduated so that dream was crushed. He followed another path, which was to become a professional in the fun filled world of Information Technology. He has worked as a systems engineer, UNIX and network admin, data analyst, client services director and finally as a database administrator. The old hankering to put words on paper, while paper still existed, got the best of him and in 2000 he began writing technical articles, some creative and humorous, some quite the opposite. In 2010 he wrote The SQL Server Tacklebox, a title his editor disdained, but a book closest to the true creative potential he sought; he wanted to do a full book without a single screen shot. He promises his next book will be fiction or a collection of poetry, but that has yet to transpire. A somewhat reluctant latecomer to the Chronicles of Shameus, Diane's background as a 3rd grade teacher served her well in keeping Rodney's and Joe's wild ideas and even wilder stories between the ditches. A native of Dallas, Texas and graduate of the University of North Texas, Diane taught elementary school for twenty years before moving to Austin with her husband and former high school sweetheart, whom she hadn't seen for forty years.
