edited by Doris Ivie and Leslie M. LaChance

Featuring 83 authors and artists:

Connie Jordan Green . Marilyn Kallet . Jeff Daniel Marion .  John Nolt . James "Sparky" Rucker . Terra Swindle Whitlock . Flossie McNabb . Alison Condie Jaenicke . Jean Hess . Edye Ellis . Jennifer Watts . Heather Akers . Margaret Miller . Linda Parris Bailey . Elaine Oswald . Vernon Lee Gillian . Stephanie Rankin . Jane Pearce . John Dominic Barbarino . James B. Johnston . Amy Rothrock . Penny Tschantz . Elizabeth Guenther . Melodi Collier . Marybeth Boyanton . Margo Solod . Tim Grindstaff . Linda Parsons Marion . Donna Doyle . Patricia Shirley . Laura Still . Linda Bolt . John Martin . Sally Gouffon . Jannette Giles . Maureen A. Mooney . Lance Livesay . Karen Head . Ann Smelser . Heather Joyner . Annabel Agee . Sue Orr . Judy Loest . Caroline P. Norris . ReGina Newkirk and William B. Hawk . Beto Cumming . Julie Auer . Curt Rode . Jeannette Brown . Randall Brown . Shelley Huskey . Richard Remine . Rebecca Cook . Jack Renfro . Margery Weber Bensey . Ronald H. Lands . Jo Ann Pantanizopoulos . Jane Sasser . Angie Vicars . Carol Luther . Rajeshree Solanki . Austin Adkinson . Kay Newton . Jeanne McDonald . Elizabeth Corbett . Deborah Scaperoth . Evie Rawlings . Sarah Small . Jeff Daniel Marion . John Reaves . Julia Nance . Eli Mithcell . Paul Ashdown . Steve Sparks . Carolyn Moser . Arthur J. Stewart . Chuck Bowers . Robert Hopkins . Candance Reaves . Ted Olson . Jane Sasser . Evie Rawlings . John Nolt . Robert Boyd . Linda Bolt . Jennifer Cypres . Don Williams . Jennifer Watts . David Keffer.

Read an excerpt from "Singing Mr. Armstrong at the City Gardens," a short story by Alison Condie Jaenicke

I love the title of this book, Breathing the Same Air. It reminds me of how I often describe what living in East Tennessee is like for me. I simply breathe better here than anywhere else I've ever been. Some of it, I'm sure, is becauseof those majestic mountains, fertile valleys, and dazzling springtimes. But most of it has to do with the genuine authenticity of this place. The contributors to  this book articulate that notion far better than I can...

Within these pages are familiar pastoral reminiscences and thoughts that will always resonate with native and non-native East Tennesseans-poems or stories of home, country, family, tradition. Some paint scenes of life lived simply, much as it has been for generations in this area. But there are other voices as well --voices that reflect the changes that are taking place in the cultural, social and economic landscape of the region.

I want to thank The Knoxville Writers' Guild for recognizing the rich cultural diversity of the region as a valuable asset and the contributors to this volume for making that value visible in such exquisite ways. It is not at all surprising to me that artists, particularly writers, would lead the way in this area. They are the tellers and the keepers of the stories that help us to know each other.

Edye Ellis
Co-Chair,  Nine Counties. One Vision