Allen Johnson Jr | Grandson of Coca-Cola United founder – debuts Blackwater Novels

 

Author Allen Johnson Jr debuts Blackwater Novels

 

Allen Johnson Jr., grandson to Crawford Johnson founder of Coca-Cola Bottling Company United, debuts his Blackwater Novels with the January 1 release of My Brother’s Story.

Allen, who writes for young people, served on the board of Coca-Cola United for 41 years. Johnson, who’s grandfather was a pioneer bottler, says the Blackwater Novels reflect the way he  grew up outside of Birmingham Alabama, in the 1940s.

“Boyhood was a verb, in my day,” he says. “After chasing, wrestling and exploring in the woods, we would come in and guzzle three or four six-and-a-half ounce Co’Colas, as we call them in the South. When I was a boy, we had no problem with obesity. We didn’t have time for it. We we’re always on the move and needed every calorie we could get!” – Allen Johnson Jr.

“Co’Colas are featured in all of the Blackwarter Novels,” Johnson says.

 

Debut of Blackwater NovelsThe Blackwater Novels are set in the 1930s along the Blackwater River and Blackwater Swamp, near the fictional town of Turpentine, Georgia, and in the countryside near Birmingham, Alabama. Explore the magic and mystery of nature . . . hear the critters in the swamp, sleep in a treehouse, find a hidden grave, and sleep on an island by the embers of a campfire. Get in trouble with the twins when they shoot green tomatoes in a giant slingshot, and dynamite a toilet with a cherry bomb. Join Linc, Sheriff Clyde and Dr. Mason when they confront the poisonous nest of snakes called the Ku Klux Klan, and Henry Granger’s evil presence in the dead house.

 

AUTHOR:  Allen Johnson Jr.

I live on Mercer Island, Washington, near Seattle, with my wife Jill, my filmmaker son Ben, who is now a weekend visitor, and three dogs; Sunshine, Piccolo, and Chloe.

My daughter April, who is currently making a documentary film, lives nearby in Seattle, and my first son, Colby, a filmmaker, lives in New Orleans. (I have to wonder if a gene for filmmaking runs in my family!) At the age of seventy-seven, I now pursue my two passions: writing and jazz guitar.

I was born and raised outside of Birmingham, Alabama. You can take a Southerner out of the South, but you can’t take the South out of a Southerner!

As a boy I had the good fortune of growing up with the space and freedom to be outside, have adventures, explore, and get into trouble. A boy’s purpose in life is to play, and the tantalizing possibility of getting into trouble added spice to that purpose.

I was also blessed with a rich heritage of storytelling from the members of my wonderful, extended Southern family. I share some of my family stories in the Blackwater Novels.

My boyhood in the South and my college years at the University of Alabama also gave me first-hand experience of the good people coming together with love to help each other and to confront racial hatred.

I am grateful to my Southern past for giving me the rich experiences to draw on in writing the Blackwater Novels. I consider these books to be parables on how to live. This may explain why some things work out better in the novels than they do in real life.

— Allen Johnson Jr.

 

ILLUSTRATOR:  Kelley McMorris

Kelley McMorris is an illustrator living near Chico, California. A native of California, she received her BA in Japanese from San Jose State University after studying abroad in Nagoya, Japan. After graduation she decided to pursue her lifelong love of drawing, and received her MFA in Illustration from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco. Kelley’s award-winning work has been featured in Applied Arts, ImagineFX, Chaos Magazine, Leading Edge magazine and the SCBWI bulletin. She also collaborates with her husband on their independent game studio, Siege Games. In her spare time she enjoys cooking, knitting, playing video games and sleeping. Kelley is represented by Shannon Associates. Her work can be viewed at kmcmorris.com