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If you want to find the South, ask directions from a Southerner. If you want to find the people,              meet them where they live. Because the South is more than hurricanes, heat, and humidity ... The South is more than sweet tea, antebellum homes, and the Civil War ... Every story a writer could ever want to tell is here, buried beneath the soil.

If you want to find the South, ask directions from a Southerner.

There is something extravagant and wild about what they have to say — snakes on the roof of a car, swamps, a delta, sweat, the smell of sea, buzz of an air conditioner, Coca-Cola ... ~ Natalie Goldberg

If you want to find the people, meet them where they live.

Being Southern isn't talking with an accent ... or rocking on a porch while drinking sweet tea, or knowing how to tell a good story. It's how you were brought up ... family (blood kin or not) is sacred ... And food, along with college football, is darn near a religion. ~ Jan Norris

Because the South is more than hurricanes, heat, and humidity ...

Summer in the Deep South is not only a season, a climate — it's a dimension. Floating in it, one must be either proud or submerged. ~ Eugene Walter

The South is more than sweet tea, antebellum homes, and the Civil War ...

How often have I lain beneath rain on a strange roof, thinking of home. ~ William Faulkner

Every story a writer could ever want to tell is here, buried beneath the soil.

And after 30 years of covering the South, I'm just scratching the surface. Faulkner said: "To understand the world, you must first understand a place like Mississippi." Consider this an introduction.

Engagement is not a buzzword — it's a survival skill.

If you're looking for a writer to aggregate content, regurgitate press releases, or deify pundits, I'm not the one. If you're looking for a writer to spew statistics, quote jargon, and bill by the hour, well, that's not me either.

If you want to connect with people, we should talk.

If you want to know how people feel, what they think, and who they are, I might be your writer. If you want a seasoned journalist who prefers to be in the field instead of behind a desk, someone equally skilled with both pen and camera, someone who keeps a suitcase packed and notebook ready, I might be your writer. If you want a journalist who is a native Southerner — who understands its people, knows its terrain, remembers its past and cares about its future — I might be your writer.


Because if it's people you want to reach, I'm all in. And if you've got a story, you've got my interest. Email me today.

Carolina Waste looks to future with Mack

As customers launch green initiatives, Carolina Waste has expanded to meet those opportunities by gathering, collecting and sorting through light, dry waste materials at its Carolina Processing & Recycling facility. The company handles more than 800 tons of material each day, and recycling now comprises 15 percent of the 250,000 tons of light, dry waste materials Carolina Waste collects and processes each year.

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Carmen Sisson April 7, 2015 January 6, 2018Content Marketing, Recent Bylines Carolina Waste, content marketing, Mack Trucks, Randall-Reilly, South Carolina 0

3 Inspired People – Summer 2015

Columbus teen actress Avani Poindexter uses career to inspire her peers. Scott Reed uses the arts to unify the West Point community. Dr. Roy Ruby retired from MSU but still comes to work every day.

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Carmen Sisson April 1, 2015 May 6, 2015Recent Bylines Catfish Alley, Columbus, inspiration, Mississippi, Starkville, West Point 0

Volvo keeps Alabama Motor Express rolling

By Carmen K. Sisson | Randall-Reilly/Volvo ASHFORD, Ala. — When trucks aren’t rolling, companies lose revenue, and no one knows that better than Taylor White, vice president of Alabama Motor Express in Ashford, Alabama. The family-owned business Alabama Motor Express started off with only a few trucks, but the company…

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Carmen Sisson March 17, 2015 January 6, 2018Content Marketing, Recent Bylines Alabama, Alabama Motor Express, content marketing, Randall-Reilly, trucking industry, Volvo 0

Selma’s long march, 50 years later

Selma is a reflection, both good and bad, of life in Alabama’s rural Black Belt, where poverty remains entrenched. Selma has both been lifted by and bears the burden of its history. As one of the main cities in this agricultural area, many expect it to forge a renaissance and lead some of the South’s poorest counties back to prosperity while providing a glimmer of hope to an increasingly racially polarized nation.

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Carmen Sisson March 6, 2015 July 15, 2015Published Favorites, Recent Bylines African-American, Alabama, Black Belt, Bloody Sunday, Christian Science Monitor, Civil Rights, racism, Selma, South 0

3 Inspired People – Spring 2015

Tim Brinkley fights crime in West Point with a level head, a steady hand, and a Bible. MSU super fan Ron Caulfield brings happiness to Starkville. Humane Society director Karen Johnwick continues a lifelong commitment to animal rescue.

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Carmen Sisson March 1, 2015 May 6, 2015Recent Bylines Catfish Alley, Columbus, inspiration, Mississippi, Starkville, West Point 0

Mack’s mDRIVE transmission wins fans

Highway Transport has always been a big user of Mack Trucks, Edwards says, and the fleet operates 70 percent Mack. He likes the Mack brand for its heavy-duty strength and durability, but there was one catch: As other haulers moved to automated transmissions, Highway Transport balked, worried about specs and driver response.

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Carmen Sisson February 20, 2015 January 6, 2018Content Marketing, Recent Bylines content marketing, Highway Transport Chemical, Knoxville, Mack, Mack Trucks, mDrive, Pinnacle, Randall-Reilly, Tennessee, truckers, trucking industry 0

In Nashville, steel guitars mix with silicon start-ups

Modern Nashville, Tenn., exudes both a trendy and traditional ethos. It has a relaxed, yet professional atmosphere that appeals to young people. The cost of living is lower here than in many cities. By day, Millennials can make their own rules and create their own business start-up culture. At night, they can enjoy the city’s cultural and culinary offerings.

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Carmen Sisson February 1, 2015 March 11, 2015Recent Bylines business, Christian Science Monitor, economy, entrepreneurs, jobs, Millennials, Music City, Nashville, South, start-up, Tennessee 0

3 Inspired People — Winter 2014

Pastor Larnzy Carpenter Jr. inspires Starkville with love. Community activist Frances Hairston works to heal Crawford race relations. And history teacher Chuck Yarborough uses the past to improve the future in Columbus.

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Carmen Sisson December 1, 2014 May 6, 2015Recent Bylines Catfish Alley, Columbus, inspiration, Mississippi, profiles, Starkville, West Point 0

J.B. Hunt adds new Freightliner Cascadia Evolution to fleet

Alexander “Grey” Feaster has all the symptoms of a man in love. He can’t stop talking about the new lady in his life — her soft voice, her gentle ways, her natural beauty. Feaster, 39, just received the 2015 Freightliner Cascadia Evolution, the newest member of the J.B. Hunt Transport Services fleet.

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Carmen Sisson November 24, 2014 January 6, 2018Content Marketing, Recent Bylines big rigs, Cascadia Evolution, content marketing, Freightliner, J.B. Hunt, Randall-Reilly, transportation, truck driving, truckers, trucks 2

Book Review: “The Water is Wide,” Pat Conroy

By Carmen K. Sisson | Planet Weekly | GoodReads.com This is hands-down the best book I have read by Pat Conroy, remarkable considering it is his second book, published in 1972 when he was 27. The Water is Wide is a memoir, like most Conroy novels, and it is based on…

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Carmen Sisson October 23, 2014 May 25, 2015Recent Bylines book review, fiction, Pat Conroy, reading 0

Heroes among us: J.B. Hunt reaches out to veterans

Anthony Harris keeps his dog tags hanging inside his truck. Brent Stoufer and Joshua Matson wear camouflage ball caps while on their routes. All three have something in common: They are military veterans and are among the first drivers to participate in Hunt’s Heroes, a new program officially launched in April by J.B. Hunt Transport Services.

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Carmen Sisson October 1, 2014 January 6, 2018Content Marketing, Recent Bylines content marketing, J.B. Hunt, jobs, military, Randall-Reilly, truck driving, truckers, veterans 0

3 Inspired People: Fall 2014

Gospel-gabbing used car salesman Allen Jones gives cars to seniors in Caledonia. Music teacher Angie Riffell creates a unique homeschool opportunity in Columbus. And Dorothy Ryland gives West Point residents the keys to the American Dream.

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Carmen Sisson October 1, 2014 May 6, 2015Recent Bylines Catfish Alley, Columbus, inspiration, Starkville, West Point 0
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