About the Book
Ashes in the Snow is a thought-provoking collection of short stories and poems rooted deep in the traditions and dialect of West Virginia's hill country. Spanning more than a century, these tales often mirror the history unfolding beyond the mountains: the financial fallout of the Great Depression, the flu epidemic of 1913, and the catastrophic melt-down at Three-Mile Island. Yet at their core is the distinctive bedrock of Southern Appalachia, a region populated by characters whose strength and resilience makes for memorable reading. Like the stalwart heroes of his stories, L. Milton Hankins doesn't mince words. His tales are crisp and concise, making short work of a people and place for whom excess is a rare commodity. Nonetheless, Ashes in the Snow captures the full flavor of Appalachian life, offering up a rich tableau of birth and death, redemption and sin, humor and sorrow. At their best, these vignettes reveal a raw beauty that will linger long after the final page is turned.
About the Author: L. Milton Hankins was born in Hico, West Virginia, in 1941. He attended Berea College, the University of Hawaii, and the University of Charleston, where he earned his B.A. in history. He went on to earn his master's degree and doctorate in theology from Trinity Seminary, serving as a pastor in West Virginia, Virginia, and Ohio until 1997. In 1970, Candor Press published his first book of poetry, The Lady in the Pink Hat. Subsequent works of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction have appeared in numerous periodicals, including Appalachian Heritage, The Mountain Laurel, AIM Magazine, Fiction Forum, Christian Century, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the Roanoke Times, and Grit. When he is not writing, he studies the presidents of the United States, a lifelong hobby that has resulted in one of the country's largest private collections of presidential memorabilia. He lives with his wife, Deborah, in Catlettsburg, Kentucky.