Scott Douglas Vaughan

Our oldest son, Andrew, was born in November 1988. I was one proud daddy, and I didn't care who knew about it. If you've lived long enough and paid attention well enough you've bumped into those people who said something that really stuck with you. This advice, unwanted perhaps, maybe from a stranger, caused you to pause almost like bumping your head causes you to pause. But, you hear it, you process it, and it sticks with you - for a lifetime. Andrew was born on a cold, cold November morning - a Tuesday morning. Vicki came home from Northside Hospital, in Atlanta, on Thursday morning. Her mama came to stay with us for a few days, and I took advantage of that help to get out and be the proud papa. That led me to the Forsyth County Courthouse, in Cumming, GA, my hometown, where I went to the tax commissioner's office for a bit of business. The late Bobby Gilbert was tax commissioner at the time, and he congratulated me on being a daddy, and then just randoml...

Through website reviews, social media, email, handwritten notes, and telephone calls, I hear from a lot of people who have read all or part of my books. I appreciate everyone's feedback and I appreciate the questions - either about the book content or independent publishing. Regardless of the feedback, there's a theme that sort of wiggles its way to the top of many conversations, especially from those of us growing up in the 1960s and 1970s. It's a theme of gratitude, which honestly has caught me by surprise. "Thank you, Scott, for taking me back to a simpler time." In all honesty, no time is ever really simple. As you will read in the next book, Hickory Trail , the backdrop is a time of post-Vietnam culture shock, Watergate, the rise of the drug culture, and the national oil crisis and recession . . . all happening at the same time. It was not so simple. But, if you think of it as a time without all the screens - no computers, no mobile te...

I bumped into a friend who reminded me of a story. Once upon a time, I was a young newspaper reporter, covering a crowded local election in a south Georgia community. I won't lie to you. I was so deeply embedded in that election that I had a personal favorite - I wanted one of the candidates to win. But, I had to remain neutral, obviously, because back then newspaper reporters at least worked hard to be neutral. The candidate that I privately supported had a big uphill battle to win, but I've always, always supported the underdog in everything. On election day, I went to a polling location where I knew many of the candidates would be voting. The person I privately supported was walking out of the polling location and I stopped him. "How do you really feel about your chances?" I asked him. "What does your gut tell you?" "Every single person I've spoken to in the past week is voting for me," he said. "Based on that, I'm pretty ...

I have never strapped on running shoes and participated in an organized race. I actually enjoy a pleasant walk or even a good hike, but in this Earthly existence, you will probably never see me run. Unless I'm running for my life. My Vicki, 1987, with her Peachtree Road Race shirt I have been to a race. In the two years between the time my Vicki and I married and our first son was born, Vicki actually ran in a couple of races. In 1987, she ran in and completed the big July 4 Peachtree Road Race in downtown Atlanta. In preparation for that race, she ran a 5K sponsored by a local elementary school PTA in Lawrenceville, GA. I couldn't get close to the finish line of the Peachtree Road Race, but I was there at the PTA 5K. I stood with a cup of coffee and a free doughnut along with a bunch of other people. Well, okay, two free doughnuts. We were in position at the finish line, lined up on both sides of the runners' approach, ready to cheer for everyone. When Vicki approa...

With both my books, Brookwood Road and Elm Street , I took 90 days to write the initial drafts of 103,000 and 108,000 words, respectively. With each book, it took another seven months (210 days) for editing and proofreading. You read that correctly - it took about 3x as long to edit and proofread the books as it did to write the initial draft. That's why I say that writing is the easy part. It's also why I say that people with sensitive feelings have no business writing books. You will absolutely get your feelings hurt during the editing process. If you don't get stepped on during the editing and proofing process you are surrounding yourself with dishonest people. Sincere and thoughtful editing is a precious gift that's going to hurt. The hurt makes the book much better. Keep telling yourself, "This isn't about me." I have been edited for so long now - 46 years - that I just let it roll off my back, listen to most of it, and laugh at some of the com...

This past Sunday, Vicki and I were able to visit with a book club that meets only a few miles from Brookwood Road in the southern end of Forsyth County, GA. There were about 15 ladies in attendance; most had read or they were reading Brookwood Road. This was not my first visit to a book club. My Vicki has been in a monthly book club for more than 20 years, and they have been nice enough to invite me to visit on occasion, specifically when I published both Brookwood Road and Elm Street . Visiting the book club, this past Sunday, in my hometown was especially fun. Vicki and I used the opportunity to go "home" to visit my mom, watch some football with family, attend church with family, and then attend the book club. It was also fun to be back "on location" in the exact area that inspired both books. At Sunday's club meeting, after a great dinner of Greek food, I told the club members my story, growing up with a passion for reading and writing my own storie...

The crossroads of Brookwood and McGinnis Ferry roads in 1980. Some of these stories are true. Some of these stories are based in truth. Some of these stories should have been true. That's the disclaimer appearing on the Dedication page of both Brookwood Road and Elm Street, and it will appear in future books as well. Yet people are always asking, "Are these stories true?" My answer: See the disclaimer. Let's look at Chapter 25 (The Crossroads) in my book, Brookwood Road. That chapter, like most of my chapters, is about 2,500 words. The gist of the story is that Frank (the main character) is finally allowed to ride his bicycle down Brookwood Road to the old crossroads. This was a big deal because riding a bicycle to the crossroads meant he was out of sight of his house and there was a bit of danger involved. Brookwood Road was notorious for speeding cars. I could have taken that synopsis, and flushed it out to about 700 words. Frank rides his bicycle on a d...

Let me give you some statistics about book publishing. In 2013, Forbes published a story that estimated 600,000 to 1 million books are published every year. (I know that's a wide range, but the story reported that there are a lot of conflicting sources.) Further, about 50 percent of the published books are independently published. (An independently published book is one published by the author. My books are independently published. The flip side to independent publishing is when an author contracts with an agent, who then works to sell a book to a publisher, who then buys the manuscripts and . . . maybe . . . publishes it.) The Forbes article also suggests that the average book sells less than 250 copies (I've seen other sources that project 150 as a goal) and a book has less than a 1 (One) percent chance of being physically stocked in a bookstore. Add to this another stark reality: People don't read. A 2015 Pew Research Center study showed that 72 percent of adults...

Brookwood Road, circa 1980 Since publishing Brookwood Road in November 2014, I've heard from a lot of people pleasantly surprised by the writing style and format of the book and its 2016 follow-up, Elm Street. The books are both written as episodic, meaning each chapter is a stand-alone story but that all the chapters (episodes) come together to craft a larger work of fiction. Think of the book as a television show and each chapter is an episode. In many cases, the episodes build on themselves. This is easy writing for me. Writing for newspapers, 1974-1994, any award-winning success that I had occurred through writing first-person columns that appeared on editorial pages. Through these columns, I told the stories of my life past and present. So, for 20 years I was trained to tell quick stories - usually 500 words or less. That form of writing became my sweet spot. I won awards from both the Georgia and the South Carolina press associations. In 1974, when I promised my Daddy...

In 1991, my maternal grandmother was 80 and her oldest sister was turning 100. I had the idea to bring them together and film them telling the stories of their lives. I especially wanted to hear my 100-year-old aunt talk about my grandmother's childhood. On a cold February morning, near my grandmother's birthday, the three of us gathered in my aunt's apartment at a Georgia assisted living facility. These two ladies - my Mema and her "Big Sister" - sat in comfortable recliners. I sat on a stool with my old VHS video camera on a tripod. I turned it on and started asking questions. It was a little awkward at first, but soon they forgot all about me and the camera. They just started telling stories - wonderful, fantastic stories - about family, first loves and marriage, parenting, school, and heartache. I've since had that recording saved to several DVD copies and stored away. I was reminded then and reminded again when I wrote my first book, Brookwood Road,...