Author’s Writing Brings Thrills and Chills
“I never dreamed a NASCAR Champion would become a close friend; I’d talk one-on-one with Chipper
Jones; interview the hottest teenage wonder on the fast track; and write a thriller so intense it scared even
me.”
According to Georgia author Anne B. Jones, writing has been a passport to thrills and chills. “I’ve been in the
dugout with the Braves at Turner Field, in a racecar at Atlanta Motor Speedway and have visited the “places”
my serial killer lured his victims. Writing is the most fun I’ve had in my life. Be careful! YOU may end up in my
next book!”
Deep in a secluded area of Lake High Falls, in middle Georgia, her neighbors are already wary. “Everything
was going fine, until I told them my next novel is Murder at High Falls! Some want to be in it and others are
afraid I’ll reveal their secrets. If the truth is known, many of my friends are in my non-fiction books and some
have their names or personalities as characters in Blackwater Rising.
My writing began while I was teaching in a school with inner city characteristics. Many of my students had
serious problems due to experience with physical and verbal abuse and violence. I was upset by what I found
and wanted answers. I wanted to be able to help them but education books were not enough.
“To learn more, I entered the doctoral program at Georgia State University and began research on the
causes and prevention of violence for my PhD dissertation. As a part of my work, I wrote STOP, one of the
first violence prevention curriculums for secondary schools. The Atlanta Council on Battered Women became
interested and decided to publish it. The field testing I did with my students resulted in our high school
Sociology classes being on an Atlanta TV station documentary. In order to educate myself firsthand, I also
worked with the Grady Rape Crisis Center, the Gwinnett County Victim Witness Program, and Gwinnett
County Domestic Violence Task Force. I served as a volunteer probation officer and participated in a metro
area police academy. My doctoral committee included professors in Psychology, Criminal Justice,
Education and Statistics. The dissertation ended up being three hundred pages long and its weight seems
like a ton. Even I am unlikely to read it!
“During the time I was working on my research, Thomas Harris’ Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs came
out. I enjoyed those books because Harris educated the reader about issues related to violence. Realizing
no one would enjoy reading my boring and statistical dissertation, I hit upon the idea of putting what I’d
learned in a mass- market book and making it a form of reading entertainment. Since I’m not into gore or
slice and dice, my serial killer drowns his victims.
While she was working on her thriller, Anne was persuaded to take a break and write a memoir for a former
NASCAR Champion. “My husband Sidney is from Cochran, Ga. and Cochranites keep up with their friends.
Before we moved to High Falls, we were attending a small church where his friend, Atlanta Motor Speedway
Chaplain Rev. Bill Brannon (from Cochran), is pastor. As wonderful as Bill’s sermons can be…that morning
my thoughts were more on my novel. As we were about to leave, Sidney nudged me and pointed to a slight,
unassuming man in the back row.
“That’s Rex White!” he announced with the reverence I might have reserved for a president. “If you want to
write a book, he’s the man you should write about.” That said, he took me by the arm and led me to the
former NASCAR Champion and the beginning of a book on racing was born.” Perhaps because of the
influence of being in church, Gold Thunder’s Preface begins “In the 1950s, Chevrolet racing fans prayed for a
savior and Varoom, Rex White answered!”
Because of the time spent together in writing Gold Thunder, Anne and Sidney became close to Rex. “We
had experiences would never have enjoyed otherwise and met many interesting people involved in
motorsports. By the time we finished the book, we had built a tremendous writing momentum and a firm
friendship. For me the joy of writing and the opportunities for expanding my world seemed endless. We were
so happy with what we’d done we decided to write another book. All Around the Track has stories of a whole
range of people involved in racing, from drivers, to members of pit crews to broadcasters. Rex and I
collaborated on the book and Sidney suggested people to include. Rex knew everyone already and they
admired him, so getting interviews was easy. Some of the most fascinating were Atlanta Motor Speedway’s
Ed Clark, new teen sensation Joey Logano, and David Pearson.
While working on All Around the Track, I was approached by Tony Van Victor, whose father, Walter, spent
over forty years as Atlanta Braves photographer. He would not rest until I agreed to write about his Dad.
Walter’s story, illustrated with his pictures and with a Foreword by Furman Bisher, became Brave at Heart.
All three books include many people who are now close friends and who have become a big part of our lives.
But, a person doesn’t actually have to be in a book to be a big part of it. Many of my friends and High Falls
neighbors have helped with testing out ideas, and, with proofing.
“Of all my books, Blackwater Rising, is the one dearest to my heart, because of its focus and the tremendous
amount of effort put into it. I was born in Sandersville, spent some of my life on the Georgia coast, and now
am back. I’m a middle Georgia girl who fell in love with writing, a southern literary author, who bleeds red clay
and salt water.”
“I never dreamed a NASCAR Champion would become a close friend; I’d talk one-on-one with Chipper
Jones; interview the hottest teenage wonder on the fast track; and write a thriller so intense it scared even
me.”
According to Georgia author Anne B. Jones, writing has been a passport to thrills and chills. “I’ve been in the
dugout with the Braves at Turner Field, in a racecar at Atlanta Motor Speedway and have visited the “places”
my serial killer lured his victims. Writing is the most fun I’ve had in my life. Be careful! YOU may end up in my
next book!”
Deep in a secluded area of Lake High Falls, in middle Georgia, her neighbors are already wary. “Everything
was going fine, until I told them my next novel is Murder at High Falls! Some want to be in it and others are
afraid I’ll reveal their secrets. If the truth is known, many of my friends are in my non-fiction books and some
have their names or personalities as characters in Blackwater Rising.
My writing began while I was teaching in a school with inner city characteristics. Many of my students had
serious problems due to experience with physical and verbal abuse and violence. I was upset by what I found
and wanted answers. I wanted to be able to help them but education books were not enough.
“To learn more, I entered the doctoral program at Georgia State University and began research on the
causes and prevention of violence for my PhD dissertation. As a part of my work, I wrote STOP, one of the
first violence prevention curriculums for secondary schools. The Atlanta Council on Battered Women became
interested and decided to publish it. The field testing I did with my students resulted in our high school
Sociology classes being on an Atlanta TV station documentary. In order to educate myself firsthand, I also
worked with the Grady Rape Crisis Center, the Gwinnett County Victim Witness Program, and Gwinnett
County Domestic Violence Task Force. I served as a volunteer probation officer and participated in a metro
area police academy. My doctoral committee included professors in Psychology, Criminal Justice,
Education and Statistics. The dissertation ended up being three hundred pages long and its weight seems
like a ton. Even I am unlikely to read it!
“During the time I was working on my research, Thomas Harris’ Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs came
out. I enjoyed those books because Harris educated the reader about issues related to violence. Realizing
no one would enjoy reading my boring and statistical dissertation, I hit upon the idea of putting what I’d
learned in a mass- market book and making it a form of reading entertainment. Since I’m not into gore or
slice and dice, my serial killer drowns his victims.
While she was working on her thriller, Anne was persuaded to take a break and write a memoir for a former
NASCAR Champion. “My husband Sidney is from Cochran, Ga. and Cochranites keep up with their friends.
Before we moved to High Falls, we were attending a small church where his friend, Atlanta Motor Speedway
Chaplain Rev. Bill Brannon (from Cochran), is pastor. As wonderful as Bill’s sermons can be…that morning
my thoughts were more on my novel. As we were about to leave, Sidney nudged me and pointed to a slight,
unassuming man in the back row.
“That’s Rex White!” he announced with the reverence I might have reserved for a president. “If you want to
write a book, he’s the man you should write about.” That said, he took me by the arm and led me to the
former NASCAR Champion and the beginning of a book on racing was born.” Perhaps because of the
influence of being in church, Gold Thunder’s Preface begins “In the 1950s, Chevrolet racing fans prayed for a
savior and Varoom, Rex White answered!”
Because of the time spent together in writing Gold Thunder, Anne and Sidney became close to Rex. “We
had experiences would never have enjoyed otherwise and met many interesting people involved in
motorsports. By the time we finished the book, we had built a tremendous writing momentum and a firm
friendship. For me the joy of writing and the opportunities for expanding my world seemed endless. We were
so happy with what we’d done we decided to write another book. All Around the Track has stories of a whole
range of people involved in racing, from drivers, to members of pit crews to broadcasters. Rex and I
collaborated on the book and Sidney suggested people to include. Rex knew everyone already and they
admired him, so getting interviews was easy. Some of the most fascinating were Atlanta Motor Speedway’s
Ed Clark, new teen sensation Joey Logano, and David Pearson.
While working on All Around the Track, I was approached by Tony Van Victor, whose father, Walter, spent
over forty years as Atlanta Braves photographer. He would not rest until I agreed to write about his Dad.
Walter’s story, illustrated with his pictures and with a Foreword by Furman Bisher, became Brave at Heart.
All three books include many people who are now close friends and who have become a big part of our lives.
But, a person doesn’t actually have to be in a book to be a big part of it. Many of my friends and High Falls
neighbors have helped with testing out ideas, and, with proofing.
“Of all my books, Blackwater Rising, is the one dearest to my heart, because of its focus and the tremendous
amount of effort put into it. I was born in Sandersville, spent some of my life on the Georgia coast, and now
am back. I’m a middle Georgia girl who fell in love with writing, a southern literary author, who bleeds red clay
and salt water.”
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