Sandy and Wayne

by Steve Yates

The last thing Sandy Coker needs is love. In the 1990s, she's one of very few women tapped by the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department to be a lead inspector in the lonesome, cutthroat world of heavy construction. Contractors she minds are transforming the rugged Ozarks and driving new interstate through mountains, treacherous and wild. She holds the key to millions of dollars in compensation for work that can cost not only livelihoods but lives. When she meets dirt foreman Wayne Sheridan of Missouri, stars collide and, for both of them, the timing could not be worse. With prose that evokes the sweeping landscape of the Ozarks and the simple beauty of a country music song, Sandy and Wayne is the story of two lost hearts, clashing ambitions, and possibilities that seem forbidden.
Chosen by New York Times -bestselling author Lauren Groff for the inaugural Knickerbocker Prize and honored by novelist Lisa Zeidner as a finalist for the Faulkner / Wisdom Prize, Sandy and A Novella was originally edited by Heather Jacobs and published in the letter-press journal Big Fiction . It was later published again as a standalone book by Dock Street Press in Seattle.

160 pages, Paperback

Published November 16, 2020

About the author

Born and reared in Springfield, Missouri, Steve Yates is an M.F.A. graduate from the creative writing program at the University of Arkansas. Unbridled Books published his third novel The Legend of the Albino Farm in 2017. Lauren Groff chose his novella, Sandy and Wayne as the inaugural Knickerbocker Prize winner, and it was published by Dock Street Press. His collection, Some Kinds of Love: Stories, won the 2012 Juniper Prize in fiction and was published by the University of Massachusetts Press in 2013. His novel, Morkan's Quarry and its sequel, The Teeth of the Souls, were published by Moon City Press. His fiction has won two fellowships from the Mississippi Arts Commission and one from the Arkansas Arts Council. Portions of Morkan’s Quarry first appeared in Missouri Review, Ontario Review, and South Carolina Review. A novella-length excerpt was a finalist for the Pirate’s Alley Faulkner Society William Faulkner / Wisdom Award for the Best Novella. Yates has published short stories in TriQuarterly, Southwest Review, Turnstile, Western Humanities Review, Laurel Review, Chariton Review, Valley Voices, and many other journals. He is associate director / marketing director at University Press of Mississippi in Jackson, and lives in Flowood with his wife, Tammy.

Reviews

[Susan O'Bryan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good novel takes you places you've never been. The words take you away and put you in another person's shoes. That's exactly what Steve Yates has done with "Sandy and Wayne," a novella that proves doing the right thing is not easy.

Sandy is an inspector for road development, a job where she has to be tough and rough. Wayne is the foreman on a road crew brought in after the previous contractor went broke. He's from the East; she's hard-core Arkansas. Thrown together in unexpected circumstances, they learn the value of being true to themselves even though it hurts.

Yates has done his homework to bring readers into the world of road construction, heavy machinery and tough crews. Yet he also immerses them in the beauty of the landscape and the love of being outdoors.

As a novella, the story isn't long. You can choose to read the book or listen to the audiobook. If there was a real Sandy, she'd have the voice of this narrator. "Sandy and Wayne" moves along quickly and leaves you wanting to hear more. Let's hope Yates has more in store!

[Pete · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great little book.