Alabama native and best-selling author Michelle Richmond was awarded the Hall-Waters prize for contributions to southern literature from Troy University‘s English department.

“To me it’s such a welcome home,” says Richmond. “It’s such a wonderful homecoming and it feels so much to me to get to be a part of this in my home state because I feel like I became a writer in Alabama and that’s sort of where I cut my teeth and where so many of my stories come from.”

Richmond writes a variety of genres from expectations in marriage to mystery thrillers but what each novel has in common is the reflection of life being pushed out of your comfort zone.

“I just want to write about ordinary people who find themselves in extraordinary and extremely difficult situations and how they navigate those situations,” says Richmond. “So there’s often a lot of grief and loss but in the latest book there’s also satire.”

For the full story watch Talor’s report.