The Future Is Now
Hank Cotton & The Southern Writers Guild
I started this publication with a single goal in mind — become a published author.
And in the past year I have realized that goal hundreds of times. I’ve published over a hundred pieces on this blog alone! I’ve launched a community publication as well, Stories from the Jukebox, where I’ve also published many stories and essays. And today, I have another announcement — a very big one.
But none of this would have been possible had I been fixated on the future, or worrying about the past. If I’d only focused on where I wanted to be, I would have never gotten here. Because the future isn’t obtainable — it doesn’t exist. There is only the Now.
Just like my recent essay titled, Each Day Is A New Beginning — in each moment we have the opportunity to accomplish something. And though it may be a very small accomplishment indeed, the result of each of those wins is what makes our goals obtainable. Small steps baby, we ain’t gonna get there all at once. But if we Keep Choppin, the tree will eventually have no choice but to fall. Focus on the Now.
“Nothing has happened in the past — it happened in the Now. Nothing will ever happen in the future — it will happen in the Now.“ -Eckhart Tolle
Now for my big announcement-
I’ve published my first book! The Ugly Duckling, by Hank Cotton, is available for purchase on Amazon Now!
Hank Cotton, a Hotshot Truck Driver, doesn’t know that he’s picked up an unlikely passenger.
In this, his debut story—our hero Hank Cotton, is tasked with getting not only a travel trailer from Indiana to Florida; but also Jenny Deal, a thirteen year old runaway that’s been kidnapped and forced to perform as a sex worker.
Will Hank be able to out run her pimp, and out smart the crooked Alabama lawmen looking to stop him?
Find out how Jenny got in this mess—whether Brooke, Hank’s wife will understand why he’s got an underage sex worker with him, and whether Hank is able to get his cargo delivered safely in this novelette length story titled, The Ugly Duckling.
And this leads me to my second big announcement-
I’ve partnered with two other amazing writers to create, The Southern Writers Guild!
The Southern Writers’ Guild will serve as Hank Cotton’s home, and will house all of his short stories. And this first novelette, The Ugly Duckling, will be released as a serial over the next 8 weeks. The first episode will air this Thursday, January the 22nd, at 7:00 PM EST, with the remaining episodes following the same schedule. It’s prime-time, must-see TV, baby!
The Ugly Duckling will be released for free, and then paywalled one week after the final episode is published. So Subscribers to the Southern Writers’ Guild will get The Ugly Duckling for FREE!
If you’re one of my current blog subscribers, just kick back and relax — you can skip this step. Because I’m going to do it for you 😉 I’ll be importing all of The Southern Copywriter blogs’ current Subscribers, straight to the Southern Writers’ Guild. Look for your insider subscription email to hit your inbox today!
Here’s our cast, and more info on the Southern Writers’ Guild!
About the Southern Writers’ Guild
We are the Southern Writers’ Guild: a deliberate assembly of stubborn scribes—poets, novelists, essayists, playwrights, journalists, and songwriters—who stake our claim on this tangled South, by blood or by choice or by some inexplicable pull that won’t let go.
We write out of its pine thickets and its futuristic data centers, from the weight of old ghosts and the flicker of new possibilities. We avoid both the sepia gloss of nostalgia and the acid burn of despair. We aren’t about stroking egos and trading compliments, but rather we tend the fire of the craft. We read one another honestly, push sentences until they bleed truth; We are witness over the sunny Southland, where contradiction upgraded its wardrobe and learned to code.
Not every story is about the South, but the South is in every story. Because Southern is a state of mind.
The South is a beautiful contradiction, and being Southern entails living inside those contradictory currents. The American South is a place—red clay, magnolias, languid heat, bears and gators. But Southernness is an attitude. Independent, skeptical, measured. We see you out there. We tell stories. -Beau/Rick West
The Southern Writers’ Guild is currently made up of three founding members, primalbeet, Gray, and MJ Polk(me😁). As I stated earlier, it will serve as Hank Cotton’s home. But it’s also home to Hank’s cohort — Beau Pritchett IV, and Grace, both of which will have books coming out within this next year too!
And the best part is, you don’t even have to wait around for us to publish these books to read our work — we’ve already uploaded over 15k words of prose! There are currently 17 stellar short stories available to read for free. And I expect that number to be 20 by the time Hank releases the first episode of, The Ugly Duckling, on Thursday night! Plus you can expect another, The Porch story or two, each Monday or Tuesday, with the next episode of The Ugly Duckling released every Thursday, for the next two months.
Still curious? Tune into our Live Stream tonight! Where I’ll be joining Gray and Rick to announce the Southern Writers’ Guild to Substack! And if I’m not mistaken, Rick has an interview with Hank Cotton lined up for this week too.😉
Oh and one more thing — we’ll be opening the Southern Writers’ Guild up to other writers as well! So if you’re a Southern Writer that’s interested in joining the Guild, just keep ya pants on. We’ll get around to that part soon enough…
Feel free to message any of us to get on the list.
I’ve also revamped my website, TheSouthernCopywriter.com. It’ll serve as the Guild’s formal book publication site. You’ll be able to find all of our books there. And both Hank and Rick’s debut books are listed now!
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That's just wonderful! Congratulations MJ 🌹
All very exciting! Congrats to you and Hank!