A local author who’s used her birthplace of Gilmer County as a literary backdrop is looking forward to an upcoming book signing at her place of worship, Faith Chapel Church of God of Prophecy.
Joyce Southern Bennett will be signing her books and chatting with attendees at the church on Big Creek Road Saturday, July 24, from 11-2 p.m.
Bennett’s religious faith is prominent in her storytelling, which often draws from her childhood in the Roy Road area. She’s written five books including Streams of Gold, Beyond the Hill and Move Up the Mountain.
“I was raised out on Elford Road. Elford was my daddy,” she said.
Bennett’s latest novel, Gentle Was Her Soul, was inspired by her sister, Virginia McClure.
“I start it off in our childhood, and we’re talking all the way through it mostly,” she said.
The book is a novelization of McClure’s life, including her perseverance through hardships and selfless acts of kindness. It’s also a love story about Virginia and her husband, Clifford, Bennett noted.
“A tree fell on Clifford, and he was paralyzed for 30 years,” she said. “Virginia was the type of person that could’ve been on a wagon train or anything. (She was) someone that didn’t complain.”
Bennett, 81, has been a busy author since her first self-published book, Streams of Gold, came out in 2012. She’s recently been in talks with a Georgia film company about a television adaption of one of her books, Side Trails.
The film company and screenwriters are trying to get the show on the Inspiration Channel, Bennett noted.
“It’s in 1864 and the war ends. A young preacher is headed out to Wyoming to preach to the miners, and he runs across these teenagers and a toddler whose ma and pa have been killed,” she said about Side Trails, which was released last year.
Bennett said the church book signing will be open to the public.
“In the pandemic, of course I didn’t have any book signings, (so) I’d be tickled if people come. They can just drop in whenever is convenient,” she added.