V Jolene Miller

Sons of Steel V Jolene Miller

The air is muggy and the highway stretches into the night as the Jones family trades in the life in New Orleans for the steel mills of Gary, Indiana. The people they meet and the events that unfold when they reach their destination are complex, filled with dreams and decisions. Can William give his wife and sons a better life? Has Lester Hargrove been true to his friend or did he betray him in his death? Will Lee Buttrone's bakery survive the diabetes he's been diagnosed with or will his dream fade into black? More importantly, can Xavier Jones stop his brother Jack from making a decision that will turn a bad situation into something so much worse?Sons of Steel is the story of the Jones family, the people they meet, and the events that unfold when they trade in their life in New Orleans for the steel mills of Gary, IN. Told from various points of view in linked stories, this collection explores the dirty reality of William Jones' life as a millrat and those who loved him."The best way to read this collection is with callouses on the hands, sweat on the brow, and an ache in the back. The men, women, and children in these stories are so realistic that I can smell the 9-5 dripping off them, can feel the pain that their everyday brings, can understand the emotions they exude from the confines of a prison cell, from a mill, from a basketball court. The author brings real life into these stories." 2018 Jason Wenger Award for Excellence in Creative Writing