Alayne Smith

A Mystery Solved, A Prediction Fulfilled is a dual-timeline novel that opens in 1962 with college junior Ellen Jones, a broadcast journalism major. Ellen has decisions to make about her career and personal life. She lost her former boyfriend, Luke, due to deceit and betrayal. Does she have feelings for Jo Jo, the boy who grew up with her at Callander? But Ellen's current dilemma is a mystery back home in Marshall, Alabama. A carving in a mint julep cabinet indicates her great-grandmother married one man in May 1866, while an inscription in the family Bible says she married someone else seven months later. Ellen and Essie know little about Mary Ellen as they begin to trace the clues. We follow 15-year-old Mary Ellen Davis, a budding reporter and volunteer at Jericho School, where Thomas Brown Mitchell teaches the children of sharecroppers. Mary Ellen loves working with Thomas Brown but finds herself drawn to Thaddeus Baird, who is visiting the area for the summer. This Ellen Jones novel is the third in a series from author Alayne Smith.

Finalist, William Faulkner - William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition 2020This Is Ellen Jones Reporting follows the story of Ellen Jones as she follows her dream to become a broadcast journalist. Set in 1961, this sequel to Ellen and the Three Predictions draws on the developing stories of the familiar characters of Luke the Legend and Ellen with glimpses of her beloved Callander home and the vibrancy of their college years at a small college in Miami.Set against the backdrop of a tenuous time in the nation's history, the characters come to grips with their changing personal stories and the change at play in the world. Ellen, now in her junior year of college, faces a pivotal decision. Will she return to finish her degree or will she follow Luke to the career of his dreams when he graduates in May? Ellen and Luke both enter news stories for competition in broadcast journalism's prestigious Peabody Award. One wins the award. The other is expelled from college.

Educating Sadie follows one woman's struggle to help another woman rise above a life of poverty and abuse in nineteenth-century Alabama. Amanda Oglesby, a first-year teacher, meets Sadie Wiggins, a sharecropper's wife, on the night of the first open house at her new school. Childless, Sadie is drawn to the school: she's bright and wants to learn. The relationship develops when Amanda invites Sadie to attend daily school classes. Amanda, convinced of Sadie's intellect, is determined to offer Sadie an education despite the counterproductive efforts of Sadie's abusive husband. A benevolent school board chairman, a beloved boarding house owner, a midwife, a handsome plantation owner, and a misanthrope move in the background of Educating Sadie, a portrait of the American South at the turn of the century.Educating Sadie was a finalist in the William Faulkner - William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition.

Educating Sadie follows one woman's struggle to help another woman rise above a life of poverty and abuse in nineteenth-century Alabama.Amanda Oglesby, a first-year teacher, meets Sadie Wiggins, a sharecropper's wife, on the night of the first open house at her new school. Childless, Sadie is drawn to the school: she's bright and wants to learn. The relationship develops when Amanda invites Sadie to attend daily school classes. Amanda, convinced of Sadie's intellect, is determined to offer Sadie an education despite the counterproductive efforts of Sadie's abusive husband. A benevolent school board chairman, a beloved boarding house owner, a midwife, a handsome plantation owner, and a misanthrope move in the background of Educating Sadie, a portrait of the American South at the turn of the century.Educating Sadie was a finalist in the William Faulkner - William Wisdom Creative Writing Competition.