porchscene

Exploring the culture of the South from Opelika, Alabama. All photos courtesy of www.porchscene.com unless otherwise noted as reblogged.

[porchscene]

Mary Jo Thibodaux, Tom Lawrence's enthralling heroine is back!

Mary Jo Thibodaux, Tom Lawrence’s enthralling heroine is back!

Just in time for the beach — Front Porch Press, LLC is excited to announce the release of Tom Lawrence’s final, two, fictional novels. Both available exclusively at www.amazon.com in paperback and on Kindle!

  Readers loved her in Jake’s Revenge, and Mary Jo Thibodaux is back with her refreshing independence, her bold disposition, and her inclination toward lethal solutions in Wu’s Byte and The…

View On WordPress

[porchscene]

Honoring Tom Lawrence

From left: Michael Schulz, Sam Lawrence, Mary Prater, Celeste Carpenter Cox, Rick Cox, Art Doty

  Starkville, MS

Memorial scholarship creates meaningful union at MSU

By: Addie Mayfield

A recent commemorative event honoring the late Mississippi State University alumnus Thomas R. “Tom” Lawrence, united members of the Will D. Carpenter family of Chesterfield, Missouri and leadership from Nashville,…

View On WordPress

[porchscene]

Southern Mystery and Suspense

Southern Mystery and Suspense

  Jake’s Revenge is the first of Tom Lawrence’s fictional novels. Set in and around Mobile, Alabama, retired army counterintelligence officer, Major Mary Jo Thibodaux takes on the task of unraveling a 50 year old mystery that may or may not be connected to the Kennedy family, the 1960s civil rights movement, the KKK and/or the New Orleans mob. As Jake’s Revengedevelops, the reader is treated to…

View On WordPress

[porchscene]

This Week's Southernism, Monday, July 10, 2017

This Week’s Southernism, Monday, July 10, 2017

    “Summer in the Deep South is not only a season, a climate, it’s a dimension. Floating in it, one must be either proud or submerged.”   ― Eugene F. Walter, The Untidy Pilgrim       Photo: Deborah Fagan Carpenter  

View On WordPress

[porchscene]

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!

You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten,  but it is patriotism.—Erma Bombeck HAPPY 4TH OF JULY !!!       Photo:…

View On WordPress

[porchscene]

This Week's Southernism, Monday, June 26, 2017

This Week’s Southernism, Monday, June 26, 2017

“In the South, history clings to you like a wet blanket. Outside your door the past awaits in Indian mounds, plantation ruins, heaving sidewalks and homestead graveyards; each slowly reclaimed by the kudzu of time.” ― Tim Heaton, Don’t Be Ugly: The G-Rated companion book to “Momma n ‘Em Said.”     Photo: Deborah Fagan Carpenter  

View On WordPress

[porchscene]

This Week’s Southernism, Monday, June 12, 2017 “Magic of Southern expressions? Similes and metaphorical allusions. They are the yellow highlighter of conversation.” ― Tim Heaton  

[porchscene]

Now Available on Kindle!

Now Available on Kindle!

Now Available on Kindle !

The Queen’s Captain The Queen’s Captain, Tom Lawrence’s newly released novel, is now available exclusively on Amazon in paperback and in their Kindle Store on e-book.

Kindle version:        https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Ddigital-text&field-keywords=the+Queen%27s+Captain

Paperback: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Ds…

View On WordPress

[porchscene]

A New Novel by Tom Lawrence !

A New Novel by Tom Lawrence !

THE QUEEN’S CAPTAIN A Ransom-Family Novel

Thomas R. Lawrence

  Front Porch Press, LLC is excited to announce the publication of Tom Lawrence’s most recent novel!

    The Queen’s Captain is a fictional piece, with historical overtones, joining Tom’s passion for story-telling with his love of history.

The charming Will Ransom figured prominently in Tom’s first fictional novel, Jake’s Revenge,…

View On WordPress

[porchscene]

Goodnight Delta Son

Thomas Rainer Lawrence September 6, 1939 – March 22, 2017

  He was infuriating, exasperating, ill-tempered, impatient, opinionated, and foulmouthed. He was also a clever, funny, devoted, kind, generous, down-to-earth, practical, and wise counselor, mentor, and friend. Tom Lawrence was a study in contradiction and complexity.

Tom left our midst yesterday after succumbing to a terminal illness…

View On WordPress

[porchscene]

Divine Little League

Once again, we’re hoping to bring some cheer to Tom Lawrence as he experiences this difficult time in his life. This is one of his charming stories (mostly true) that gives some insight into his childhood in the Mississippi Delta.

  Divine Little League By Tom Lawrence

It was full daylight when I woke up, and the attic fan still pulled the cool morning air across my bed. The artificial breeze…

View On WordPress

[porchscene]

The Canton Ladies' Club

The Canton Ladies’ Club

As many of you know, Tom is presently quite ill. So to help cheer him up a bit, Front Porch Press wanted to repost one of his earlier publications.  The Canton Ladies’ Club is a true story, recounted and skillfully embellished by Tom. Enjoy!

The Canton Ladies’ Club by Tom Lawrence

My first wife, Nancy, and I lived in an area of Jackson, Mississippi known as Belhaven, an older neighborhood that…

View On WordPress

[porchscene]

A Pause

As I Like It! A Pause

Due to some recent, unexpected, health issues, there will be some “pauses” in the schedule of posts to my blog in the coming weeks. Your patience will be greatly appreciated during the gaps. As you know, my views on multiple topics, such as restaurants, food, travel, and politics—to name a few— are abundant, and I’ll continue to share my thoughts as I’m able. Your continued…

View On WordPress

[porchscene]

Mike Lomax P.I.—Final Episode

Mike Lomax P.I.—Final Episode

SATURDAY SERIAL

To review episode 11, click here: https://tomlawrenceblog.com/2017/02/03/mike-lomax-p-i-episode-11/

  MIKE LOMAX P.I. FINAL EPISODE

Bessie licked her finger, patted the white powder, and placed it on her tongue. She grinned at Mike.

“Yeah, we know what Billy Ray was looking for, and I’m willing to bet he ain’t the only one.”

“I count 24 boxes,” Mike said, “and each has 12 of…

View On WordPress

[porchscene]

The Queen's Captain

The Queen’s Captain

The Queen’s Captain A Ransom Family Novel

The inspiration for a novel about the Ransom family was found in a short story I wrote in 2010. The piece was set during the reconstruction period following the War Between the States, and the central character for the narrative was based on a direct descendant of Miles Stuart Ransom, the protagonist of The Queen’s Captain. That short story was chosen…

View On WordPress

[porchscene]

Unchartered Waters

ASK I LIKE IT!

FEB 6, 2017

UNCHARTED WATERS

Less than a month into the Presidency of Donald Trump, the United States finds itself sailing in uncharted waters. Trump has triggered an active and vocal opposition movement that is expressing itself in the traditional avenues of those who believe we are careening in the wrong direction.

There are massive rallies in support of women’s rights, and, in…

View On WordPress

[porchscene]

Mike Lomax P.I.—Episode 11

Mike Lomax P.I.—Episode 11

AS I LIKE IT!

FEB 4, 2017

SATURDAY SERIAL

To review what happened in episode 10, click here: https://tomlawrenceblog.com/2017/01/27/mike-lomax-episode-10/

MIKE LOMAX P.I. EPISODE 11

As Mike walked across the back parking lot to his truck, he was thinking,

I feel better not withholding anything from Willard, and I told him all I know. But, I didn’t tell him all I think. I’m pretty sure I know who…

View On WordPress