EVERYONE WHO WRITES, OR WANTS TO WRITE, IS AWARE OF A PRESSURE

" I WRITE BECAUSE I CAN’T STAND PAIN"

AUTHOR

JOAN SPILMAN

Joan holds an MFA from Wichita State University where she was awarded the fiction fellowship.

She is the author of Silver Bottle, a novel narrated by four generations of Appalachian women, of which Kirkus Reviews said, “Spilman’s textured prose masterfully evokes the hard- knock lives and locales of these women. A highly readable and adeptly crafted addition to the literature of Appalachia.” BookLife recommends her writing for fans of Fannie Flagg, Pat Conroy, and Sue Monk Kidd, adding, “Vivid descriptions and emotional intelligence create a lasting impression.” Book Trib states, ” The overarching message is more grand. This is a sociological study of poverty, lack of education, and religious intolerance (as Lorraine says, ‘Religion isn’t like cleaning a chicken, you can’t take the messy parts out!’)”

Testimonials

On The Waddling Dead: Evil Hatchling

“This is a wonderful book for young children and adults as well. Well written with adorable illustrations. The book is both entertaining and educational. The Waddling Dead is a must have book for your personal collection if you enjoy hearing your children laugh. I hope there will be more books in this series. Kudos to Ms Spillman for her creative spirit and talent for writing!!!”
- Gregory McCracken

“I opened my mail & stood reading this book right there on the spot. Joan Spilman is comparable to Janet Evanoich. Can't wait for more books in this series!!!”
- Charlotte Vossler

“I love this book and can’t wait for more! There is so much energy and creativity on every page that it can actually maintain a child’s focus. The characters are wonderful and the story hilarious. It’s always a bonus when a children’s book is enjoyable for adults too, this way no one gets bored no matter how many times it’s read, and it will be read many times.”
-M

The Waddling Dead: MegaChomp, D.D.S.

“Enormously funny story of a boy who turns his strangeness into a profession.”

- Eaglehaslanded

On Sansablatt Head

“If you loved reading The Chronicles of Narnia (C.S. Lewis), or either of the Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children (Ransom Riggs)books, or The Wrinkle in Time Quintet (Madeleine L'Engle) you will love this clever story of 12 year old, bratty and obnoxious, Alec, who learns that cooperation, respect, thankfulness, and selflessness are what people need to learn to have friends. If you start reading this thinking it is for children, that is not only what this clever book is. Instead, this story is a fantasy/adventure that also has a few fine drawings to illustrate points. Alec, his rescued dog, Diogenes, and the Sansablatt Head travel to another place, chillingly dangerous but whimsical, to help restore power to the rightful King. I would have loved reading this aloud to my granddaughter and her cousins, but reading it for myself was really entertaining, too. I am anxious to read more of Ms. Spillman's work”
- Jill Z

Click the link below to check out more testimonials

Reviews

A literal novel unspools a multigenerational saga about West Virginia Women
Harsnbarger Mill, West Virginia. Lorraine Rhodes and her siblings were abandones on a sad Easter by their alcoholic mother, who left them to be raised with litte support in their judgmental, religiously conservative, small Appalachian town. Now married with children of her own—whom she. is raising purposefully to be suspicious of religion—Lorraine harbors an understandable bitterness toward her mother, Carmen Amber Rhodes, who occasionally visits her in dreams....

Spilman’s multigenerational tale of four women in a rural West Virginia family (“stuck in the middle of no place with nothing") is rich with secrets and sorrows. In four sections, each woman narrates her own story. Lorraine is an embittered wife and mother who has never forgiven her mother, Carmen, for abandoning her when she was a child. Decades after that traumatic event Carmen writes a letter to Lorraine explaining why she left and never came back. Lorraine's adolescent daughter, Jenna, struggles to deal with the letter’s fallout. The fourth voice belongs to matriarch Lizzie, Carmen's mother, whose choices cast long shadows over her descendants Each narrative is a page-turner, and Lizzie's astonishes from beginning to end....

Title: Silver Bottle
Author: Joan Spilman
Genre: Fiction/General Fiction (including literary and historical)
Audience: Adult
Word Count: 100,000
Assessment:

Plot: Siver Bottle, a book that portrays a loss of innocence, places women as the moral center of he family Spilman creates an emotional and physical disconnect that instills a feeling of impermanence, similar of the theme of transience in Marilynne Robinson's Housekeeping. Like Robinson's characer Sylvie, Spilman writes her character's oddities in such a way that leaves readers widely uneasy but unable to explain why....

Reminiscent of Pearl Buck? This is a finely crafted piece of literature that you may wish to compare to a sculpture. The careful choice of words and phrasing set this book apart from the crowd. The setting is in mythical Harshbarger Mills WV and is seen through the eyes of Lorraine while you explore this setting and the family influences that make her.
This book is an experience that you will want to share with others through conversation and correspondence. Could this book happen anywhere? For sure it can.

A Hold That Won't Let Go
Every so often literary characters take up residency in a reader's psyche as if they've quietly lived there all along, just waiting to be discovered. In "Silver Bottle," a novel by author Joan Spilman, they move in, pull up a chair, and begin to dissect their stories in ways that are compelling and stunning. Spilman's literary gifting is interweaving the vivid stories of four women, connected by blood but separated by purpose, who share their personal and funny narratives of dysfunction, tough choices, sacrifice, and abiding love. Skillfully depicting Appalachia's unique culture, in "Silver Bottle" Spilman also offers an entertaining step back in time with an endearing twist that promises to not disappoint!

EVERYONE WHO WRITES, OR WANTS TO WRITE, IS AWARE OF A PRESSURE

" I WRITE BECAUSE I CAN’T STAND PAIN"

AUTHOR

JOAN SPILMAN

BOOKS

Onions And Potatoes

When Death was a Family Affair

Mountains and Moonshine

Appalachian Dialect Disappearing Fast
The Covered Bridge

Testimonials

Click the link below to check out more testimonials

Reviews

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Contact Info

Available for readings in the Tri-State Area of West Virginia, Ohio and Kentucky

joanspilman@gmail.com

316-209-2410

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