Paul Yarbrough writes books with a Southern connection. He lived and went to school in Louisiana (South Louisiana).
“My wife was from North Louisiana. There is a big difference in the two areas. I met her after I moved to Houston, ” Yarbrough reflects. His first two books, Mississippi Cotton (WiDo Publishing, 2010) and A Mississippi Whisper (WiDo Publishing, 2014), were, as the titles suggest, set in Mississippi.
He says, “While they are fiction, there is a great deal of autobiography in both Mississippi novels. My original plan was to write a novel about Mississippi (my roots), Louisiana (my wife’s roots), and Texas (my son’s roots). However, I have written two novels about Mississippi and one about Louisiana.”
The author’s new book, now under contract with WiDo,™ encapsulates Southern culture from post-Civil War era to current time, told from the viewpoint of a farming family in the Port Breaux area of Southern Louisiana. The story follows the two boys, Forrest and Travis McKinzie, as they grow up in an evolving South.
“I know much about Louisiana, its history and the people’s great loyalty to their state and to the South as well,” Yarbrough says. “I wanted to cover a much longer span in this one to touch on more history. Not only in the South but throughout the country. To show how much things have changed, particularly in the universities.”
Yarbrough’s wife of forty-three years passed away last year, creating many challenges for the writer. Having lost his right arm, he relied on her to do the typing for his manuscripts. He has several other books in process but as Yarbrough says, “Whether or not I finish them, we’ll have to see.”
He has one completed called “The Tennessee Walls” that he is currently rewriting for a YA audience. Yarbrough has also begun the Texas novel he’d planned for his son, working title “The Yeller Rose of Texas.” He has also written nonfiction articles, published in The Daily Caller, The Abbeville Institute, and Virginia Right.
WiDo’s managing editor, Karen Gowen, has this to say about Yarbrough’s books: “Paul does such an excellent job of creating authentic characters, with dialogue that just carries you along into their lives and into the story. He gives you such an interesting perspective of Southern culture through the eyes of his characters. We are very excited about his new book.”
Paul Yarbrough has worked for two oil companies and been an independent consultant in the oil business mostly as a landman for the past forty years in Houston,Texas. He is married with one son, Douglas, who now lives in North Louisiana. Paul has published a handful of short stories, flash fiction and essays in a variety of forums. Learn more about Paul Yarbrough at his website: www.paulhyarbrough.com.