Bobbi Faulkner

  I published my debut novel, Candy, Sweet & Sour,  June 6, 2021 on Amazon Kindle and in paperback.  To celebrate, get your copy FREE on Amazon kindle June 26th-June 27th, 2022!  Don't forget to leave your honest review! That it has been over a year is astonishing, and yet it is even more astonishing that it hasn't been two or five years given the events over the past 12 months.  Ups and downs to be sure.  In real life, Mama got sick and has been in intensive care.  After a couple of months, she is finally giving them heck in a rehabilitation facility, where she is cranky and tells her physical therapist she wants to sleep.  At night, she goes to the common areas like the recreation room and looks for flowers to rearrange and people to meet. Mama's flower arrangement. Mama picked these flowers in the garden. Goats at my daddy's house. Goats at my daddy's house. Some of the inspiration for Candy in my sister/mama's room at my daddy's. Me, out f...

Chapter 2: Beat Around the Bush Bertha I decided to start with phase one, buttering Grandma up, trying to get in her good graces to get her to get the Internet so I can do my research and figure out how to get our blood tested before I take more drastic measures like going back to school. I need her to love me like she loves Uncle Tommy, her adult son who just moved back in over here a few weeks back, after Daddy Bobby visited. I think he's about the same age as Dreama Mae, my oldest sister, maybe a little younger, which makes him a LOT younger than Mama. I almost said than Mama was, but that makes me sad. I don't like to dwell on Mama not being here no more. Sometimes I trick myself by telling myself maybe Mama's locked up like my brothers which is why I don't see her. Or maybe she's in a Witness Protection program because she saw someone rob a bank and has to testify or maybe she's been kidnapped by aliens. I know I saw her body in that casket, I know deep dow...

  Chapter 1: Secrets & Blood Chapter 1: Secrets & Blood ​​I have a secret. It's a secret so big it keeps me up nights. It feels like a bird in my chest trying to come out all beating around in there and batting his wings, causing a racket and making it where I can hardly sleep or even breathe sometimes. I swear I can see it moving in my chest just underneath my breastbone and below my collarbone. I have two secrets, actually, but one of 'em is bigger than the other. If you know me, you know how hard it is for me to keep secrets. Mama always did call me Mouth of the South, said if you wanted everybody to know something, all you had to do was tell me and I'd be sure to broadcast it. I'd do it even faster if you told me it was a secret and not to tell anybody. Mama sure did know me, and she knew how much I loved to spill the tea. Only this time, it's my tea, and I don't want to share. Not all of it, anyway. After Mama died and I came to live with Grandma De...

  My Writing (Wo)Manifesto  May I overcome fantasies of perfection & just write write (right) now! May I find a joyful balance between academic & creative writing & living. May I accept that  living  fully is a form of prewriting, of gathering stories, of filling my writer's cup. May I allow myself to make  mistakes, to write without fear, to understand that my work will always be in  progress . May my words be helpful to others, may they find those that are  seeking  them. --Bobbi Faulkner What is Your  Manifesto? After reading Sark's   Juicy Pens, Thirsty Paper  (2008),  I took her up on her invitation to write a contract with myself, to write my own writer's manifesto.   It is my contract with myself, my promise to stop letting my desire to be perfect keep me from writing.  I will never get better without practice, and this (wo)manifesto helps me keep my goals as a writer front and center, giving m...

  Candy, Sweet & Sour  is currently #34 in Coming of Age Fiction (Kindle Store) on Amazon (FREE 1/26/2022) To facilitate book club discussions of the book as well as to provide a teaching guide for teachers or a guide for individuals to use during reading, I teamed up with Charity Hudspeth to design   a teaching guide available for  Candy, Sweet & Sour , the coming of age novel featuring Candy Lovelet, by Bobbi Faulkner.  This guide provides chapter summaries as well as thoughtful discussion questions. Download free on  Teachers Pay Teachers  or get it  here , available at Barnes and Noble and other booksellers.

 I was so surprised to see that I got another book review in October. 🤩 Since school started back, I have had zero time to devote to promoting this book or writing the sequel (Click here to read chapter one of Candy, Too) . Seeing this review from a random person in Internet-land was a good motivation to get back to this writing work that I love! Candy, Sweet and Sour  is available for free on kindle unlimited or available for purchase. Check it out and let me know what you think of it!

  Click here to read more reviews (and leave your own!)  Reviews help readers find my book, and they help me to fine-tune my craft.  Thank you so much for your support and happy reading!

In the sequel to Candy, Sweet & Sour  by Bobbi Faulkner, Candy, Too  (to be released in fall on Amazon), Candy Lovelet starts 7th grade.  Will her life improve now that Mama is gone and she is away from her brothers? Read the first chapter here and on Wattpad .  

As an author, I am so excited to hear from my readers.  Here are three recent reviews that I found motivating and thrilling for different reasons.  I am excited to find my main character compared to Holden Caulfield from Salinger's  Catcher in the Rye .  I am pleased that readers find the chapters bite-sized and the book engaging enough to read it through in one sitting.  Please leave me a review on Amazon if you have read Candy, Sweet & Sour. Your reviews help new readers discover my book, and they give me valuable feedback as an author.

I have it on good authority that Candy, Sweet & Sour is an excellent beach read with its bite-sized chapters. Get your copy today on Amazon !  Free in the kindle unlimited store and also available in paperback.  Discussion guide available here  and available for free on Teachers Pay Teachers . Synopsis After the Lovelet family’s third house fire, Candy and her family are staying with Uncle Ronnie, “the town crazy”, in a less-than-desirable neighborhood. During Candy’s 5 th grade year at school, her two youngest brothers go on drug-fueled crime sprees and get arrested. Internet trolls bash the family online, other kids shun Candy, and a D.S.S. worker comes knocking on the door. Meanwhile, Candy reminisces about her oldest brother, who is already in prison, her oldest sister who has beaten the odds and become a teacher, and her other sister, who died before Candy was born. Candy suffers anxiety attacks as the events of the novel unfold. She sees that her love interest...

 My readers have started a trend, sharing their book love with me as they read Candy, Sweet & Sour.    Please share your BOOKLOVE in the comments.                     Available now on Amazon by girlfaulkner

If  Candy Wrote Poetry: Candy, from Candy, Sweet & Sour penned this poem in one of her notebooks.

 Crime Spree, Excerpted from  Candy, Sweet & Sour.   Click  here  to read chapter 1, Ninnies. 2 teens, alarmed Thwarted attempt at a crime spree 18 year-old Cooter Dale Wilson Of Cole Street in Marion, charged: 3 counts, Felony Breaking & Entering, Misdemeanor Injury to Property, 1 count of Felony Breaking & Entering a Motor Vehicle, A simple assault offense. Crime spree started Around 11 am on Monday, June 22 —busted the window out of a truck “They couldn’t find anything Inside the truck to steal, so All they took was a screwdriver,” Said the detective. Then, went to Quick Mart, Threw a rock at the door. The glass didn’t break— The alarm sounded. Ventured to Arizona Pawn, Wanted to break in to steal guns, Tried to pry open the door— The alarm sounded. Saw a police officer— Fled into the woods. Later, came out, Attempted to bust their way Into the ABC store. Tried once again— Alarm went off. The teens were drinking.

  Mother (excerpted from  Candy, Sweet & Sour  Chapter 35 "Laying Mama to Rest " Mother. Mother.  I wish I could be strong for you.  I want to take you back  through your past,  and ease those lines on your face,  take away the reasons for each gray hair that prematurely dots  that glorious red head.  I admire your spunk, your spirit, the children you’ve raised,  and the person I’ve become with your guidance.