What will you do with your dash? You know, the dash between the date you're born and the day you die?

Ethan Whitehead wasn't doing much with his. He had defied the odds in the Middle East as an embedded reporter during the war, experiencing the kind of up-close trauma that would either break a guy, or inspire him to new heights when he survives. It was definitely the kind of trauma that made headlines. But that was a long time ago. The kind of distant memory that came up only in cold sweats and sudden flashbacks.

Oh sure, life is good now. He had what some would say was a glamorous job as a globetrotting journalist living in London. He was happily married to a remarkable and gorgeous woman. But he wasn't fulfilled. He was simply going with the flow.

When an unspeakable tragedy strikes his family living in a small Alabama town, Ethan is forced to return home to the States to tackle some harsh truths about his family and his past.

Full of twists and turns, with just the right touch of wry humor and human insight, this debut novel from Ryan Hall will keep you turning the pages, ready for what comes next. Pick up your copy today.
About the Author: I guess you could say that I was born to write. I was born to tell stories. I was born March 12, 1977 in Tuscaloosa, AL. I practically grew up in the shadows of Bryant-Denny Stadium. When Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant passed away in 1983, Mrs. Taylor took our kindergarten class out to watch the funeral procession go down McFarland Boulevard. I have attended close to 100 Bama sporting events. In other words, the Crimson Tide is in my blood. After graduation from Tuscaloosa's Central High School in 1995, I matriculated across the street to the University of Alabama. Most of my education was within a few miles of each other. It was while I was a student at Bama that my love of storytelling grew. While I majored in Journalism I was not drawn toward the ink, but toward the radio. I even had my own radio show five days a week, which was hosted by Alabama broadcasting legend Doug Layton. But that's not where my love of storytelling was born. It was in a small pasture outside Ashford, AL in the summer of 1987. I was all of 10 years old. My sister and I were visiting my grandfather. Melborn Ivey was a nationally known farmer and veteran of World War II. While fighting in the battle of Guadalcanal he took a Japanese bullet in the left arm and was awarded the Purple Heart. But granddaddy was the single best and most natural storyteller I've ever known. As he and I were seeing if one of his irrigation rigs was functional one night, he told me a story that had me convinced that a race of alien monkeys had sabotaged his equipment. There were no alien monkeys - only fireflies. I wanted to turn "Monkeytown" into something he could read. So my mom and I put something together for him the next time we visited. He loved it and that became my very first byline. My mom and grandfather were instrumental in my development as a writer. My love of storytelling and my love of writing are owed to Ann Ivey Hall and Melborn Ivey.