by Amanda E. West | Oct 8, 2026 | Cover, Shelbyville
The raging fire popped and hissed as it devoured the first floor. Flames licked the windows along the second story. One by one, the windows shattered, sending shards of glass onto the rose bushes below. Neighbors stared in disbelief. The owners wept, swiping...
by Amanda E. West | Oct 8, 2026 | Feature, Shelbyville
By the end of the Civil War, more than 750,000 soldiers had died — more than the combined losses of World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Locals from Bedford County, in nearly equal numbers, had enlisted on opposing sides of the battle lines....
by Amanda E. West | Sep 10, 2026 | Shelbyville, Stories
Genevieve Harris loads her daughter, Evalynne Stringer, and her two sons, Killian and Declan, into their handicapped-accessible van. Between working a full-time job, driving Evalynne to her after-school therapies, and making sure the boys don’t miss baseball practice,...
by Amanda E. West | Sep 10, 2026 | Shelbyville, Stories
You take between 12 and 20 breaths every minute. Over the next 24 hours, you will inhale and exhale approximately 17,000 to 28,000 times. Unless we are winded from overexertion, controlling our breathing during calming exercises, or intentionally calculating our...
by Amanda E. West | Sep 10, 2026 | Cover, Shelbyville
Ava Graves considers the characters in books her dearest friends. Novels, short stories, poetry, and the authors’ own stories fill Graves with an unending desire to create. They are the breath that fills her creative lungs and the adrenaline that fuels her...
