Savannah, Ga., USA––The young adult novel, Blood Kin A Savannah Story, written by Robert T.S. Mickles and featuring a foreword by Aberjhani, debuted at number four on ESSENCE Magazine’s Best Seller Book List for paperback fiction in the March 2008 “Hollywood Issue."

A taxi driver and native of Savannah, Georgia, Mickles said his surprise best-selling novel is based on stories passed down to him by, “My grandmother, Beulah Tremble. She was born not too long after slavery ended in the United States and her parents had actually been slaves. She lived to be 100 years old and at the time when she passed on to me the stories that had been passed on to her, I really had no idea what a powerful legacy they would turn out to be.”

The novel takes place during the Civil War and tells the story of two best friends, one black and one white, who discover they are actually brothers. Torn apart by the violence and politics of the times, they nevertheless struggle to recognize and preserve their newfound kinship for their own sake as well as for their families’.  The novel is the first in a projected four-part series. Part two, titled Isaiah’s Tears, has already been written and Mickles is currently working on third and fourth titles.

In his foreword for the book, Aberjhani, the award-winning author of “The Bridge of Silver Wings” and “Encyclopedia of the Harlem Renaissance” (Facts On File), notes that Mickles demonstrates a willingness “to examine the cracks and crevices of history in order to tell a story others might not be willing––or even able for that matter––to tell. It is the story of how Blacks and Whites stumbled across the dividing lines of race and slavery only to discover that each was as flawed, needy, and human as the other.”

While driving his taxi in Savannah, Mickles often shares his stories with passengers. For more on the writer, please visit his website at http://creativethinkersintl.ning.com/profile/AuthorofBloodkin .

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