The War in Sallies Station (Five Star First Edition Womans Ficti

“. . . a compelling story, deftly and artfully told by a writer at the top of her form.” — Robert Inman, author of Dairy Queen Days

In the beginning, God created Sallie’s Station. He molded it from red Georgia clay and Cherokee-brown rivers with names that flowed. He fashioned hills: green, secret places, ankle-deep in leaves, stitched with blackberry and honeysuckle, with a deep summer smell. At ten, Frannie Gordon thought he made it just for her, in a golden time where only good things happened. But then the threat of evil crept over the land, and Sallie’s Station went to war . . .

Mignon Franklin Ballard was born and reared in Calhoun, Georgia and graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in journalism.

Her first book, Aunt Matilda’s Ghost, a novel for children, received the Excellence in Writing Award at the Winthrop College (now Univ.) Writers’ Conference for the best published book in the category by a South Carolina writer.

Raven Rock, a mystery for adult readers, published by Dodd Mead in 1986, was followed by Cry at Dusk in 1987. Carroll & Graf brought out Deadly Promise, a Christmas mystery, in 1989. All were published in England and were selections of several book clubs. Two were also published in paper.

A fourth novel of suspense, The Widow’s Wood, was published by Carroll & Graf in 1991, followed by Final Curtain in 1992, and Minerva Cries Murder in 1993. Angel at Troublesome Creek, the first in a mystery series featuring Augusta Goodnight, guardian angel “temp,” was published in hard cover November 1999 from St. Martin’s Minotaur. Berkley released it in paper in February 2001. St. Martin’s published An Angel to Die For in October 2000, and Silver Dagger Mysteries, an imprint of Overmountain Press, reissued Aunt Matilda’s Ghost in March of 2000, and published a reprint of Raven Rock in September of 2000. A third angel mystery, Shadow of an Angel, will be published by St. Martin’s.

A short story, Waiting for Pixie, was included in a mystery anthology, Malice IV, and her short fiction has been published in “Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.” “Mary Higgins Clark Mystery Magazine,” (Duke University) “Archive,” and others.

Ballard lives with her husband, Gene, in Fort Mill, South Carolina and they have two grown daughters and five grandchildren.