The Writer’s Center presents a FREE virtual chat about the craft of fiction! We’re joined by novelist Tracy Cross (Rootwork) for a discussion of her debut novel and the writing life with her sister, poet Teri Ellen Cross Davis (a more perfect Union).
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We encourage you to order a copy of the books from your local, independent bookseller or online directly from the publishers.
Order Tracy’s Book » | Order Teri’s Book »
Tracy Cross is a writer of short, psychological horror stories and has had work appear in several horror anthologies, blogs and podcasts. She will be one of the featured writers in Other Terrors: An Inclusive Anthology in July 2022. Rootwork is her first published novel. It has elements of a true life story her maternal grandmother shared with her before her death. Tracy likes to make soap and apple pies, but never together. She lives in Washington DC but claims Cleveland, Ohio as her home. You can find out about her at tracycrossonline.com or on Instagram at tracycrosswrites.
Teri Ellen Cross Davis is the author of a more perfect Union, winner of the 2019 Journal/Charles B. Wheeler Poetry Prize (February 2021, Mad Creek Books) and Haint, (2016, Gival Press) winner of the 2017 Ohioana Book Award for Poetry. She is the 2020 winner of the Poetry Society of America’s (PSA) Robert H. Winner Memorial Award and a finalist for the PSA’s George Bogin Memorial Award. She is the Poetry Coordinator for the Folger Shakespeare Library in Washington DC and lives in Maryland with her husband, poet Hayes Davis and their two children.
About Tracy’s Book
Set in a small parish in Louisiana in 1889, Rootwork follows sisters, Betty, Ann and Pee Wee. When school lets out for the summer, the girls head off to stay with their hoodoo-practicing aunt, Theodora, an empowered woman equally feared and revered by the local townspeople. They learn how to make “hot foot powder” and the secrets of a good “black cat bone.” Need to get back at an enemy? A little goofer dust will help that. The girls delight in their new hoodoo adventure until a tragic event involving the malicious town sheriff strikes, transforming not only their lives but also the sisters themselves. A story of love, folk magic, redemption and independence, Rootwork explores the strength of family and the darker side of the heart.