Author and playwright Thomas Atkinson shares how he finds characters (or they find him), and how to make quirky characters from the fringes of society more fully realized. He’ll discuss the genesis of characters from his novel TIKI MAN and the evolution of minor character Tampon John from joke to supporting cast. Harry Crews’ fearlessness in choosing characters will also be discussed.

Thomas M. Atkinson is a writer and playwright from southern Ohio. His fiction and drama have received numerous awards, including five Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Awards and a Samuel French Off Off Broadway Festival winning short play, Dancing Turtle. His second novel, Tiki Man, will be published by Regal House Publishing fall of 2021. His short stories have been anthologized in the US, UK, and Ireland, and have appeared in The Sun, December, Southern Indiana Review, North American Review, Tampa Review, Madison Review, Fifth Wednesday, Indiana Review and others. Strobe Life was his first novel.  Watch Thomas read the opening to TIKI MAN.