The Influence of My Southern Background on the Novel

My family has lived in the South at least 200 years and I’ve lived there my entire life, except for a single year I spent in Africa. Beyond that, the South is not only a geography on the map, but it’s also a peculiar region in the mind which haunts, possesses, confounds, and in some cases, exerts an autonomy that you cannot define or dispute. The South is the most soulful place on earth. It has leaned heavily on me my whole life. Considering everything, how could it not affect my writing?