The Alabama Writers’ Forum
The Alabama Writers’ Forum, a partnership program of the Alabama State Council on the Arts, works to cultivate our state’s literary culture. We do that through supporting writers at all stages. We encourage our young writers to find their creative voice through the Father Goose Poetry Festival for Kids!–and through our Alabama High School Literary Arts Awards. We support the work of our state’s literary community through our Alabama Authors Directory, First Draft magazine, and other programming and opportunities for writers across the state. And we celebrate our state’s rich literary legacy through the Alabama Writers Hall of Fame. We are, above all, a community of writers united by our desire to advance the literary arts in Alabama. If that describes you — join us! There are many ways to get involved.
Heart of Stone
Heart of Stone By Emma C. Fox Owl's Nest Publishers; 2026 Paperback: $14.99 Genre: Historical Fantasy Reviewed by Lynn Lamere It is rare that a sequel is better than the original, but Fox’s second installment, Heart of Stone, in her Serpent and Stone series proves to be just that. Fox includes a plethora of characters to pull her story together, and she skillfully, with lovely prose, fleshes out each character to make them an integral part of the story. Intrigue begins quickly as the reader meets Lilia who is tagged as different because of her dark hair and green eyes, the opposite of the fair features of her mother and dead father, Stepan. Anya, one of the village girls near Lilia’s age, even threatens, “Stepan Matyevich might have claimed you as his own, but your face proves otherwise. One day we’ll find out your mother’s dark secrets.” Her father had explained any remark about her appearance by sharing his lifelong work in the darkness of the mines and stating with a smile, “Is it [...]
