Welcome! I’m Duke Southard, an author, retired educator, and lecturer.
I have published seven novels, a commissioned history, and an anthology of
award-winning short stories and essays.
Please check out my blog where I write about true crime and a wide ranging variety of literary and everyday subjects.
My Programs
My programs are offered free of charge to any schools, public libraries, and educational/community groups.
Free Book
Grab a free copy of my book, The Week from Heaven and Hell
My Books
View a list of my published books, including Tainted Justice.
Recent Posts
Tale of Two Books (5)
Here is the latest on my revision project. A Favor Returned (New Edition) has been sent to the publisher. Based on what they see, it may or may not need additional work. Obviously, I am of the opinion that it is a superior version to the original. The story remains...
Stacey Burns Scorecard-Cont.
My many hours (days, months and even years) of work on what I call the Stacey Burns murder project have left me believing in several important truths. Here they are: I believe the killer of Stacey Burns should be arrested, convicted in a court of law, and sentenced to...
Tale of Two Books (4)
The process of rewriting my first novel, A Favor Returned, has moved into the editing stage. To refresh everyone' memory, the original came out in hard cover in May, 2000, published by Peter E. Randall and distributed by University Press of New England. That edition...
Courage? Or Not
Could it really be this hard? I have named nine people closely involved in the (supply your own adjective-mine would be indefensible) murder of Stacey Burns. All I asked was for each of them to answer just two questions for me in the interest of...
Stacey Burns- Scorecard
As promised on March 5, here are the results of my "questions" blog. Total people asked to answer two questions-7 Total people responding to request-1 The Stacey Burns case always returns many more pageviews than does the "Tale of Two Books" so today I'll include a...
Stacey Burns-Comments
All right, I know this is supposed to be the time when the blog deals with The Tale of Two Books but a comment on my last blog moves me to respond. I approved the comment so you should be able to see it. The premise that the Stacey Burns case involves a cover-up and...
Stacey Burns Murder-Two More Questions
Here is the score card so far. I have mentioned by name five people I would like to ask just two questions about the Stacey Burns murder case. These ten questions would be directed primarily at confiirming information which already appears in Murder in a Small Town:...
A Tale of Two Books (3)
The revision of A Favor Returned continues. The paperback/e-book version will be called either "New Edition" or "Revised Edition" or possibly even something else to indicate that it is a new book. Here is a fascinating reality that every professional writer already...
More Stacey Burns Questions
As you may have noticed, for the last few entries, this blog has alternated between A Favor Return (New Edition) and Murder in a Small Town: The Tragic Death of Stacey Burns. Toay, we return to the Stacey Burns murer case. Here are the names of two more people for...
A Tale of Two Books (2)
A Favor Returned. Some who have read the book in its original hard cover version have expressed concern that the story will lose its power during this revision. As mentioned in blog #1, this revision is designed to improve the flow of the story, not to change it. It...
Staecey Burns-Questions
In several of my blogs about my work on Murder in a Small Town: The Tragic Death of Stacey Burn, I refer to two questions I would love to ask of thirteen people associated with that horrific crime. It is not difficult to guess who those thirteen might be. Today, I'll...
A Tale of Two Books (1)
On occasion, I will be updating my progress on the complete revision of my first novel, A Favor Returned, which was published in hard cover in May, 2000. This is the first entry on this subject. Why am I revising the novel instead of just publishing it in paperback...