Contributor
Johnny Bullard is a native of White Springs, Fla., a small town of less than 1,000 inhabitants, located on the banks of the historic Suwannee River. His family has lived in the area for seven generations. Growing up in a family of great storytellers, Johnny loved hearing family stories, told as folks rocked on front porches, as well as those whispered on screened porches and around dinner tables. A graduate of Valdosta State University, Johnny received four college degrees, including a B.A. in English and three graduate-level degrees. Johnny did post-graduate work at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass.
Johnny has spent his life as an educator, public servant, singer/songwriter and writer/journalist. He writes a weekly column for the Riverbend News entitled "Around the Banks of the Suwannee." Prior to writing for the Riverbend News, he wrote for over two decades for the Jasper News and the Suwannee Democrat. Johnny has written several articles for journals and magazines, including Forum, by the Florida Humanities Council publication. Nightshade is his first published novel. Johnny lives on family property at the Eight Mile Still on the Woodpecker Route north of White Springs. Currently, he serves as the Chairman of the Hamilton County School Board. He makes his home on the site of an old turpentine distillery at the Eight Mile Still.
Bullard has written four novels, Nightshade, its sequel Secrets, Destini and Black Runs the River. All of these books are works of fiction set "around the banks of the Suwannee in north-central Florida."
Nightshade, published in 2015, is a story of hope, struggle, victory, and triumph set in the deep south. The pages are filled with intrigue, infidelity, sultry passions, betrayal and redemption. Set in a moss-festooned, fertile land of tall pines, scrub palmettos, white sand roads and dark rivers, where even darker and more sinister secrets whisper in the shadows. Johnny Bullard will attempt to make you laugh, cry and experience the agony and ecstasy that is Nightshade; strikingly beautiful, yet deadly poisonous.
Nightshade's sequel, Secrets, was also published in 2015 and takes up where Nightshade left off in the sleepy town of Seraph Springs in north-central Florida. This continuing saga of hope, struggle, victory and triumph in the deep south will reveal a multitude of intimate secrets that have long been held deep inside the hearts of many of the characters you came to love in Nightshade. Their intriguing secrets and life-consuming passions have been hiding within the white sand roads and dark rivers of Seraph Springs. They have been whispering in the shadows and are now ready to come into the light.
Destini, published in 2017, follows Destini Wilson, the glue that held her family and friends together for years and the woman who valiantly protected the children she cared for, while she comes to grips with her own destiny in this emotionally charged tale of life, death and rebirth. Destini will take you into the inner workings of a sleepy town in the deep south called Seraph Springs. Many of the same characters in Bullard's other two books, Nightshade and Secrets, will be reintroduced to you, including Destini and her closest friends Wanda Faye, Nadine, Carl Alvin, Miss Sissy and the ever-lovable Dee-Dee Wilson. Bullard will have you laughing and crying again as you discover the story of Destini.
In his latest novel, Black Runs the River, published in late 2019, Bullard tells a story of small towns that are often rich with long-hidden secrets and even unsolved crimes, some so dastardly and sinister they are hard for the faint of heart to fathom, let alone confront, especially when the evil-doers might already be dead. After one such mystery is uncovered in Seraph Springs, certain folks will finally be forced to pay their just dues for past crimes that were committed in the name of greed and deep-seated prejudice. The novel also touches upon environmental issues that are specific to the development of Florida, phosphate, timber and property development. Come join in the search for righteousness with some of your favorite characters from Bullard's previous novels, Nightshade, Secrets and Destini.
Bullard's novels are available on Amazon.com and Kindle. His novels are for sale at the Blue Goose Studio on Marion Street in Lake City. He has done a number of private signings and has read to groups from his books. His website is https://www.facebook.com/Pittstown.
You may contact him at his e-mail address at chat1924@windstream.net. He is available for book signings, sales and readings.