Milam McGraw Propst

Hello, I'm Milam McGraw Propst, an author and still mighty proud of it.

I was fooling around with my website just now and clicked on Barnes & Noble. Guess what I discovered? FOUR of my books are available through their "Nook Book" (ebooks). Included are "A Flower Blooms on Charlotte Street" along with "Ociee on Her Own", "The Further Adventures of Ociee Nash" and "Creola's Moonbeam."

The rest of this profile needs some updating, too. It's still in the 90's in Atlanta and all I want to do is cool off . . . even so, here goes. Kindly overlook any typos!

In a nutshell, "A Flower Blooms on Charlotte Street", the first book in the Ociee Nash series, is the story on which the marvelous film "The Adventures of Ociee Nash" is based. By the way, the film is available on NETFLIX, OR may be purchased on Amazon.com.

There are two new Ociees, Books IV and V, the last in Ociee's series. Book IV is titled "Ociee and Ben Nash, the Asheville Adventure" and Book V is appropriately called "Ociee Nash, the Finale." Please contact me at Milamwritesbooks@​gmail.com for signed copies. Also, do check out the lovely sepia covers on the left hand side of this website; one features a long lost photo of my grandmother, the real Ociee Nash.

You may want to visit Youtube for a nice treat. Simply go to "The Further Adventures of Ociee Nash." Here you will have a glimpse, an introduction to the five-book series, which is based on the early life of my beloved grandmother.

It's fun to welcome folks to my Authors Guild website and to the other sites listed here including Mercer University Press, Belle Books, Amazon.com., and Barnes & Noble . . . NOOK BOOK. What fun!

ALSO, I like to BLOG and, on occasion, play with FaceBook. Yikes, this stuff could/​may/​has become an obsession for me EVEN IF I DO NOT WRITE ON MY BLOG VERY FREQUENTLY. To read it, simply click on the link on the right side of this page. Here you will find recent updates and silly stuff that pops into my mind. Blogging has become a nice way to bring readers up to date on my work and on the work of some of my other, far more talented friends.

Here's the truth; admittedly low-tech, I'm neither a tennis player nor an ice dancer. I'm tired of cooking, find it too hot to garden, and many years ago, doing serious housework lost its appeal. So I WRITE. For most of my life, I'd enjoyed being a wife and a mother, one who also did volunteer work. Sprinkled in were a couple of professional careers, two with newspapers, and three in public relations. But like many women, I discovered my other self/​my real self a little later in my journey. My moment of clarity took place in a writing class taught by gifted author Carol Lee Lorenzo. In 1992, with Carole Lee's encouragement, I began writing a short story about my grandmother. It started out as a picture book with a little girl riding on a train, turned into a book, and with my often mentioned gratitude to Mercer University Press, was released as my very first novel, "A Flower Blooms on Charlotte Street."

So, as off March 2010, I have a total of seven books with two publishers and one very creative printer.
**The easiest way to purchase a book may be to write to me at my email address: milamwritesbooks@​gmail.com

The first Ociee: "A Flower Blooms on Charlotte Street" (Mercer University Press) NOOK BOOK

The second Ociee: "Ociee on Her Own" (Mercer University Press) NOOK BOOK

"It May Not Leave a Scar" A story of forgiveness and redemption (Mercer University Press)

"Creola's Moonbeam" One writer's look back . . . and forward (Belle Books) and NOOK BOOK

The third Ociee: "The Further Adventures of Ociee Nash" (Belle Books) and NOOK BOOK

The fourth Ociee: "Ociee and Ben Nash, the Asheville Adventure" (FuzionPrint)
The fifth and last Ociee: "Ociee Nash, the Finale" (FuzionPrint)

JUST FOR FUN:
Belle Books Marketing Director Deborah Smith created two promotional trailers on Youtube for my work.
The first, mentioned previously, is the Ociee Nash piece.
The second, a complete departure from our old-fashioned farm girl, is a funny take on "Creola's Moonbeam." Just a hoot, it takes the viewer on a one-minute vacation to the beach.

As a point of interest, the title of the third book in the series, "The Further Adventures of Ociee Nash", is a spin off from the wonderful family film “The Adventures of Ociee Nash” which premiered at Atlanta’s Fox Theater in 2003. Written, produced, and directed by Amy McGary and Kristen McGary, the movie is available on DVD.

THIS MOVIE REMAINS THE BIGGEST THING IN MY PROFESSIONAL LIFE!!

The film stars Skyler Day as Ociee with Keith Carradine (Papa) and Mare Winningham (Aunt Mamie) along with noted stage actors Tom Key (Mr. Lynch) and Anthony Rodriquez (The Gypsy). Ty Pennington makes a cameo appearance as one of the Wright brothers!
Kindly go to Ociee Nash.com

As I finished the last chapter of her final story, I tried to imagine what my grandmother might be thinking about all this attention being paid to her childhood.
"Much ado about nothing," she'd likely say with a twinkle in her eyes.
To which my late mother would surely add, "Milam, you always tell everything you know, and more besides!"

Born in Memphis, I’ve also lived in Birmingham, New Orleans, Springfield, Massachusetts, and currently in Atlanta in the house we redid in "Creola's Moonbeam."
Jamey and I have three grown children, Amanda, William and Jay. William and his wife Abigail have most generously provided us with our charming playmates, our two precious grandsons, Loftin and Emmett.
*The boys are pictured with me on the back cover of "Ociee and Ben Nash, the Asheville Adventure."

Thank you for your interest in my work.
Please feel free to send your comments at milamwritesbooks@​gmail.com. Again, you're welcomed to order any of my books, autographed and shipped, through my e-mail address.
AND DON'T FORGET TO CHECK OUT NOOK BOOK!

Enjoy! Milam