Faye Gibbons

I had an interesting childhood. Born in the mountains of north Georgia

at a time when almost nobody there had luxuries like running water,

indoor toilets, and electric lights, I grew up without television. It

was a great advantage. I had adventures. I played in the woods, rode

in wagons pulled by mules, and went to Primitive Baptist churches. I

even picked cotton a few times.

For entertainment, we told stories. Some of the stories were family

history, like how my father met my mother on his way to marry another

girl. Others were funny stories, and some were hunting yarns. Best of

all, however, were the scary tales my grandfather told us as night

moved in-stories of ghosts and mountain lions and people buried alive.

Those in the last category were made all the more scary by my

grandmother’s absolutely true stories of the dead folks she had “laid

out” back before mountain people began using undertakers. She said

there was one corpse who never got cold under the arms. I suppose I

began to absorb the basic elements of storytelling during those

sessions.

When my parents got me in school around age nine and I learned to

read, I discovered a world of new stories in books. Soon I began

reading to my sister and younger brothers. Eventually, I began to make

up my own stories, sometimes to entertain them and sometimes just for

myself. I didn’t write my stories down. They mostly worked out my

dreams of getting an education and moving far away from the Georgia

mountains to some interesting and exciting places.

It wasn’t until I’d finished college, taught school for eight years,

and become a wife and mother that I tried writing. My husband,

Benjamin, and two sons, Ben and David, encouraged me all the way. When

my first story came to me, it was rooted squarely in the Georgia

mountains and the kind of country people I had grown up with. I’d

finally realized that I was a part of those people and that I felt

good about it.

My stories start with a picture, or sometimes several pictures, in my

mind. There is generally a main character, but I don’t know much about

him or her until I begin writing. What I am usually very sure of is

the setting. It’s almost always rural. I’m a country woman, and I feel

more at home surrounded by trees and fields, and so do my characters.

My stories frequently involve families, because family is so important

to me.

Almost all my stories have funny parts and scary parts because I love

these elements in the stories I read. Dogs frequently show up too,

even when I haven’t planned them. You might guess that I’m a dog

lover. My dog, Bo, is a member of our family. I talk to him and (don’t

let this get out) I sometimes talk for him.

When I visit schools, I tell students to go for their dreams-whether

those dreams are to write, paint, make movies, or fly jets. I’ve found

out through my own experience that people can do the wonderful things

they want to do, if they’re willing to work for their dreams.