I have signed a contract to publish my second novel, Forest Folk, in April 2022.

Let me assure you that my publisher and I made no hasty decision about that sequel title. We played around with many viable alternatives. Mountain Folk 2: Electric Boogaloo had a nice ring to it. Mountain Folk 2: The Wrath of John was in the running. Bride of Mountain Folk presented intriguing possibilities.

In the end, however, we chose Forest Folk, because many of its scenes are set in forests and because trees and woods play an important symbolic role in the story. Just as Mountain Folk mixed real-life and imaginary characters and events to depict colonial life and the American Revolution, Forest Folk picks up the story around 1800 and depicts, among other things, the War of 1812, the early abolitionist movement, and the Trail of Tears.

One key character is the Cherokee hero Junaluska. And one of his early exploits is a desperate battle with a Tlanusi, a giant leech monster. The battle takes place in the Valley River near what is now Murphy, North Carolina.