Raised in the flatlands of the Mississippi Delta, Whiskey Gray is a southern fried storyteller who has been entertaining audiences with her stories and characters since she was four years old. Now a proud resident of the central California coast, Gray loves doing life with her husband, Paul. When not writing, Gray can be found enjoying a good cigar, shopping for vinyl records, or watching college football. Crazy Kind of Beautiful is Gray’s first novel.
Crazy Kind of Beautiful is the story of Madison, a tough, resilient fifteen-year-old who is taking care of her six siblings while her father battles terminal cancer. Though Madi and her siblings are supposed to have a caretaker in the eventuality of their father’s death—the son of an old war buddy of Madi’s father—it turns out that the caretaker in question, Bobby, is battling his own demons with PTSD and is succumbing to addictions in order to cope.
And with Madi’s mother having left the family five years prior to the story beginning, she finds herself in a dire predicament as her father’s health worsens by the day. An unexpected confession from her father rocks Madi’s world, but might just be the solution to her troubles.
I come from a very large extended family. My mom is one of fifteen kids, and all of her siblings had anywhere from two to four kids, giving me too many first cousins to count.
I spent about ten years working in student ministry. After that, I spent some time studying acting and even had a low budget production company for a short time. That’s around the time that my husband and I decided to move to California. Unfortunately, I became ill shortly after arriving in California and battled ER visits and hospital stays for over three years. Since recovering, I’ve been in a position to focus full time on writing.
TV Shows - I’m a big fan of character development.
Right now I’m watching a lot of older sitcoms for research, but I can’t wait for new seasons of This is Us and A Million Little Things to start back up.
Great Scott! I love Back to the Future.
That’s a tough question! I think the fiction book that had the most impact on my life was actually John Grisham’s The Client. I was in maybe 7th or 8th grade when I picked up a copy of his book. Being from Mississippi, I was mesmerized by the idea that this book was written by someone from my home state. I had already figured out that I wanted to write, but it wasn’t until I became familiar with Grisham’s work that I really believed someone from Mississippi could “make it.” Before The Client, I didn’t really enjoy reading. Something about that book kept my attention and made me hunger to write my own stories.
When I think of amazing writers that I want to emulate, I actually think of script writers Bill Lawrence (Scrubs, Cougar Town) and Dan Fogelman (This is Us). They’ve both created such amazing, well written shows. I love shows that can make you both laugh and cry, even though I don’t really like crying. This is Us is so well thought out and told in such a beautiful way while Scrubs was great at pulling the wool over your eyes in episodes like “My Screw Up”. If I ever create something half as good as Scrubs or This is Us, I’ll be pleased.
Due to health issues, I don’t drink much whiskey anymore. When I do, I prefer bourbons. My favorite, though, is actually a scotch. Dalmore’s Cigar Malt is the best I’ve had and is certainly great on special occasions with a cigar.
I have an addiction to soda - Coke, Dr. Pepper, Mt. Dew… anything but grape or rootbeer. My doctor gets on to me all the time, but I just can’t kick the habit.
There are so many great cigars that I don’t think I could ever pick just one. If it’s a special occasion and I’m going to spend more on the smoke than usual, I’ll reach for an Oliva V Melanio or a Cohiba Red Dot. For more of a good everyday smoke, I’ll reach for the Habana Reserve by Romeo y Julita or the Vintage Cameroon by H Upmann.