Alabama Stories represents the life of one William “Billy” Johnson, a native Alabamian, told in a series of short stories over the course of 50 years.

In Prejudice, Billy meets a negro for the first time as a five-year-old and wonders why his father treats the man so differently from white men.

In Boone, Billy is an eight-year-old. He befriends an aging farmer in the backwoods of north Alabama, a man who has a psychotic love for his invalid wife.

In A Virtuous Woman, Billy is a witness to a vicious family feud between his mother, his aunt and his grandmother.

In Annie, Billy, at age eleven, and his cousin Roy love to “spy” on the tenants of their grandmother’s rental houses. When Annie Atkinson comes along, they bite off more than they can chew.

In A Gil McDougald, Billy, at age 12, has the adventure of a lifetime while collecting baseball cards on the 1954 New York Yankees.

In Franklin’s, Billy learns about bootlegging and politics in a small southern town.

Johnny Daytona tells a thirty-year saga about Billy and his hero-worship of one of the greatest pool player’s that ever lived.

Virgil is a born preacher and Billy’s childhood friend; the only thing Virgil loved more than the Lord was black girls.

Charley tells how sometimes angels appear in the most unexpected of places.

Lenny is a lonely Jewish man who can’t get over being jilted by his girlfriend.

In One Stupid Mistake, Bobby Worthington has the world on a string until one night when he does something stupid.

In Elaine, Billy meets his dream woman, falls in love and gets married.

In Reunion, old nightmares and new truths emerge at Billy’s high school reunion.

In Trapping Rabbits Billy wonders why his father delayed the spring plowing to teach him how to trap a rabbit.

Grandfathers, the final story, is in two parts. The first part shows Billy with his own grandfather in 1945. The second part, fifty years later in 1995, shows Billy as a grandfather with his own grandson.

This unmissable collection delivers various insights into Billy's life. A compelling slice of Alabama life.

Thanks, PG!: Memoirs of a Tabloid Reporter recounts the life and adventures of reporter Billy Don Johnson during his 20 years (1975-1995) working for the fictional tabloid The National Insider.

After his dreams of becoming a crusading journalist with daily newspapers are dashed, Billy throws himself into the wild world of diets, household tips, ghosts, UFOs, weird history, and celebrity scandal, all of which is designed to please Padrone Gallione (PG), the wonderful madman who was editor of the magazine.

Like the tabloid industry itself, this book is a combination of fact and fiction. Within, you will find untold stories from the lives of many famous people, get an inside look at how tabloid stories are created and examine the origins of celebrity scandal in American journalism.

Ultimately, this book is a tribute to the genius of Generoso Pope Jr., founder and publisher of the National Enquirer.

"As someone who worked in the tabloid business for more than 30 years, I can attest to the fact that Mr. Jones's book is totally accurate - and frequently hilarious. Set around his adventures in the fictionalized National Insider - no prizes for guessing what magazine that really is - he spills the beans on some fascinating stories. Do the tabs make them up? No. But how they get the stories is fascinating.". - Phil Bunton, retired National Enquirer editor

A fictionalized retelling of the Florida Chillingworth murders.

Bobby Lincoln, a young African American, seems to always be broke. He works a day job at a sugar mill and weekends on a charter boat, but he gambles it away, then borrows money to live on.

After his common-law wife says she’s going to leave him if he doesn’t start making more money, he agrees to take part in a murder which goes horribly wrong.

Once he and his accomplice have the victims on a boat taking them out to sea to murder them, he recognizes one as an old family friend and wants out of the murders.

His accomplice says it’s too late to back out and he’s in “too deep now.” To relieve his frustration, Bobby takes part in the murders.

After he collects the $2,500 he was promised, Bobby starts feeling guilty, can’t sleep, takes to drink, sees ghosts and finally confesses to his mother. His mother has him arrested.

In jail charged with murder, Bobby realizes he has to change.  With the help of Bags, a knowledgeable inmate who delivers books to other prisoners, he undertakes to self-educate himself and begins reading books about anything and everything. 

Days before he goes to trial, the DA calls him to his office to make a deal. If Bobby will testify against the main perpetrator and cooperate with the investigation and trial, he will let Bobby go free.

Bobby agrees and, over the next six months, he works with the DA, all the while still reading books and asking life questions of Bags. They get the main perpetrator convicted.

But Bobby's problems aren't over. While investigating and convicting the main perpetrator, the DA has discovered that a local group of bootleggers were involved in the killings. He moves to arrest the main players in the bootlegging operation.

When that happens, the bootleggers send their assassins to kill Bobby. When they can't find him, they kill his mother. Now Bobby has to avenge the murder of his mother.

When the assassins come for Bobby, he hides in a church. 

Will Bobby survive? Or will he become another victim of the bootleggers?

A gripping tale of murder, redemption and the search for God.   

"If you liked The Bridges of Madison County, you will LOVE the Duck Springs Affair!"
 
Devoted mother Cassie Carter is hard working and dedicated to running her small farm in Georgia. She tends to her home and sickly son daily while her truck driver husband is away on long hauls across the country.

Her life and values take a sharp turn when a handsome and intelligent construction worker disrupts her daily routine. 

Damaged romantic Paul Hamilton has a void in his life that leaves him wandering from affair to affair, empty and unfulfilled. He identifies with the haunting poetry of Edgar Allan Poe, yearning to capture an elusive love.

When Paul’s highway construction company begins a new job near her home, the two start an affair, using a complicated set of signals to communicate and schedule their romantic interludes. 

What starts as a fling, soon develops into something much deeper. Their trip to Atlanta cements the relationship and turns their life upside down.

In the Duck Springs Affair, Paul and Cassie’s worlds collide and explode. Will what they offer each other sustain and give them what they need out of life and love? 

Or, are they doomed to suffer the tragic consequences of their decisions as each searches for the perfect love? 

“Stories that hit your heart, your sense of whimsy and your memories of different times - – writing about the south of the fifties in a nostalgic and loving way - with the touch of darkness.”

In the first tale, Going Home, a small-time hoodlum, being led to the electric chair, remembers he has a few things he wants to do before he leaves this earth.

In Boone, an eight-year-old tells the poignant story of an aging, crippled farmer who has a psychotic love for his wife.

Two social misfits risk it all to love an unwanted child in For Love of Daniel.

Cousins Billy and Roy, constantly spying on tenants of their grandmother’s rental houses, bite off more than they can chew in the haunting Gothic tale Annie.

Alma Dawson’s life is turned upside down in The Agreement when she tries to raise money to pay for her daughter’s last year of college.

In The Surrogate, a young woman conspires with her uncle to commit murder.

A dying ten-year-old takes revenge on his tormentor in Serpentus Saragossii.

In the suspenseful Tembo Makaburi, karma catches up with a greedy, arrogant big game hunter.

In the final novella, The Angel Years, the Johnsons get an unexpected visitor while trying to protect a family secret.

“I will add John Isaac Jones to my list of must-read southern authors!”

"What a story!" - Amazon reviewer

After the Johnson family learns the youngest daughter is pregnant and unwed, they devise an elaborate plan to keep it a secret from the outside world.

Part of that plan includes a lavish lie which is designed to make the scheme seem more believable.

Once the child was born, however, this lie would not only come true, but change the lives of every member of the family.

A story about an unwed mother, sibling rivalry, dark family secrets and a visit from an angel.

"This poignant, charming novella warmed my heart more than anything has in a LONG time. It had a distinctly fairytale-ish feeling to it and made me smile all the way through." - Amazon reviewer

Although they had always dreamed of having a family, tall, horse-faced Frances and stubby, one-eyed Jack had reconciled themselves to a lifetime of abject loneliness. Then one day, out of nowhere, an infant is dropped into their midst. A fairy tale for adults!

Ever have a fantasy about bumping into an old flame in some unexpected time and place?

Maybe a restaurant, a train station... or even an airport?

That's what happened to Barbara McMillan while she was on standby.

Poor little Wilton!

The ten-year-old was dying of a terrible disease, but his Aunt Hilda refused to allow him any peace during his final days.

If he tried to make his favorite ham and cheddar sandwich, she chided him endlessly for using too much mayonnaise. If he walked across the living room, she demanded that he walk around the edge of the cloth rug because she wanted to keep it clean.

If he dropped a single speck of melted butter on the tablecloth while eating his warm biscuit with wild cherry marmalade, she chased him away from the table. There was no end to the grief his Aunt Hilda was bringing into his life.

Then, one day, little Wilton decided to do something about his tormentor.

"Be not forgetful to entertain strangers for some have entertained angels unaware." - Hebrews 13:2

When his father died, Billy Johnson felt he would never lose the vicious, gnawing grief that had formed in the innermost recesses of his soul. His father had been his mentor, his adviser, his fishing buddy, his protector, and most of all, his dearest and closest friend all of his life. It was grief he felt he could never be totally free of. Then, out of nowhere, a miracle occurred!

"Southern Gothic is alive and well!" - Amazon reviewer

Cousins Billy and Roy were just two mischievous boys--probably meaner than most--but still just bored, country kids looking for some adventure and excitement.

During the nights they spent with their grandmother, their favorite pastime was spying on the tenants of their grandmother's rental houses.

Over the years, the two had spied on all of their grandmother's renters at one time or another, but the one who provided the most fun and excitement was a lonely, desperate woman named Annie Atkinson.

Not for the squeamish!