Red Press’s first historical fiction novel is now a best selling novel for first-time author Jim Shope. Since the release on April 12, 2019, he has been making a steady flow of appearances for signings. Due to the wild success of Book One, a follow-up sequel will be released next year. Would you like Jim to speak to your book club or group? Contact him by clicking here. Congratulations, Jim! We’re so proud of your hard work.
From the back cover: Alfred Shope was just a boy from Skeenah Creek, in rural Western North Carolina, when the American Civil War began. With duty, he became an intuitive soldier seeing a lifetime of adventure and narrow escapes most could only imagine. Through his personal journey lives were saved and eventually love was found in the arms of Nancy Griffin. Witness the life and times of a man who lived life to the fullest, so that when he came to die others would hear how he truly lived.
First Page Excerpt: I’m ‘bout sure this is the same tree I slept in last time I was by this place, Alf thought as he untied his bedroll. It was almost daylight and time to hole-up for the day. Sergeant Alfred M. Shope was on his way home for the second time this year. He reckoned he was in North Carolina but still nearly a hundred miles from Skeenah Creek, his home. He had been walking most all night and needed some sleep. The hollowed-out sour apple tree made a good stopping place. It was off the road enough so as the casual eye of a passer-by would not catch the form of a man sleeping inside. If Bushwhackers saw him, they would kill him for sure just as soon as they would look at him.
About the Author: Jim Shope was born and raised in Macon County; he still resides and works there. His boyhood years were spent living “on Skeenah Creek.” In the late 1940’s the family did move closer-in to Blossomtown, but his roots remained and will always remain on Skeenah Creek.
Jim and his wife Nancy, to whom this book is dedicated, are both natives of the county. Nancy is a retired public school teacher, and Jim continues to work. They live in the Holly Springs Community with their three cats and two dogs. They are both members of and attend the First United Methodist Church in Franklin.
Jim is a graduate of the Tennessee Military Institute (1962), Young Harris College (1966), Piedmont College (1967), and Southwestern Community College (1975). He served in Vietnam with the 3rd Brigade, 82nd Airborne Division during that conflict. After his return from overseas in 1969 he served the remainder of his military obligation with the 210th MP Company of the North Carolina National Guard. Jim has previously worked as a land surveyor, a real estate appraiser, the County Tax Assessor, Tax Collector and as an instructor at Southwestern Community College. He is currently the Collateral/Construction Manager at a local bank.