Loblolly Writer's House home of Southern Historical Fiction and Gothic Romantic Suspense in Mississippi

In September 1865, Lt. Col. Eli Calhoon, C.S.A. returns to his war-ravaged home in Claiborne County, Mississippi determined to start again. But Mississippi, like the rest of the South, lies under the heel of an enemy drunk on power, in contempt of the Constitution, and determined the South will never again regain a position of influence within the Union. Desperate times call for desperate measures, and when an indiscretion lands a lovely Yankee heiress, Alice Shelton, into the hands of Col. Calhoon, he blackmails her into marriage and brings her and her fortune to Camellia Creek, a ghostly place haunted by its past and harboring an uncertain future.

The Devil's Bastard

From 1793 Spanish Natchez, comes a timeless tale of shameful family secrets. Charlsie Russell’s debut novel from Loblolly Writer’s House, The Devil’s Bastard, is a steamy, Southern Gothic, rich in history and steeped in suspense, mystery, and romance. Historical fiction at its best.

TDB is recipient of a 2007 Independent Publisher Book Award

The Devil's Bastard is the winner of a 2007 Jenkin's Group Independent Publisher Book Award Bronze Medal recognizing excellence in independent publishing.

Wolf Dawson

Against the backdrop of the post-Civil War South comes a tumultuous romance, ignited by vengeance and fanned by dark passions. Wolf Dawson is a sensuous love story rife with Gothic suspense.

WD is recipient of a 2008 Independent Publisher Book Award

Wolf Dawson is the winner of the 2008 Independent Publisher Book Award Gold Medal in the romance category, recognizing excellence in independent publishing. Additionally, Wolf Dawson is the 2008 winner of the Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group's Next Generation Indie Book Awards in the romance category and a finalist in the historical category of that same contest. See the press release.

Epico Bayou

Risking disclosure of a generation-old secret, a dying man arranges a dangerous union between his bastard son and cherished stepdaughter. Set on the Mississippi Gulf Coast at the turn of the twentieth century, Epico Bayou is historical suspense choc full of romance and mystery that will keep the reader guessing until the very end.

EB is recipient of a 2010 Rebecca's Reads Written Art Awards

Epico Bayou is the winner of the Spring 2010 Rebecca's Reads Written Art Awards in the mystery category. The Written Art Awards is a biannual literary awards program paying tribute to authors who are self-published or have had their books published by a subsidy publisher, small press, university press or independent book publisher.

In May 2010, Epico Bayou won Charlise Russell and Loblolly Writer's House its third Independent Publisher Book Award (IPPY). This novel won the silver in Regional Fiction (South).

River's Bend

RB is recipient of a 2012 Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group Indie

Thirty years following the War Between the States, a handsome stranger comes to Mississippi and marries an unwanted beauty in exchange for a now decrepit antebellum home steeped in lurid history and rumored to hold the secret to a fortune in missing Yankee gold. Mystery, suspense, and romance that will keep the lights on and the pages turning until the final mystery is solved. River's Bend is the 2012 winner of the Independent Book Publishing Professionals Group's Next Generation Indie Book Awards in the romance category, and is a finalist in the mystery category of Dan Poynter's Global eBook Awards.

RB is a 2012 finalist in Global eBook Competition