Clyde Edgerton dubbed modern day Mark Twain

"He's a 20th century Mark Twain who captures the spirit and the vernacular of North Carolinians," said English professor Dr. Kathy Rugoff. "At the same time universal themes emerge in his fiction."

Rugoff speaks of Clyde Edgerton, a creative writing professor and author, who has written five best-selling novels, among a number of other stories.

Edgerton, who grew up in Bethesda, NC, is known for his southern style of writing. Many of his novels like "Raney," "Walking Across Egypt" and "Lunch at the Piccadilly" have strong southern dialogue, typically Baptist values and embrace southern hospitality and culture.

His writing career began in 1978, one year after graduation from the UNC Chapel Hill with a Ph.D. in curriculum and instruction. After having many of his early works rejected, he finally published "Raney," in 1985.

As his career continued, his notoriety rose. "Walking Across Egypt," a 1999 story about a Southern religious woman named Mattie Rigsbee who makes friends with a dogcatcher and his orphaned nephew, became a movie that starred Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Ellen Burstyn. Later in 2004, "Killer Diller," a novel about a car thief, musician and autistic piano player who become friends, was also made into a movie.

In addition to being a writer Edgerton is a professor. "I'd say that I'm split 50-50 between professor and writer. But, it depends on the time of year. During the summer I am 100 percent writer and trying to get other writers published," he said.

He was a high school English teacher, then an associate professor of English and education at Campbell University and St. Andrews Presbyterian College before becoming a full-time writer from 1989-1998. He resumed teaching as a visiting professor at UNCW in 1998 and became a full-time creative writing professor here in 2002.

Edgerton promotes his novels by hosting events where he reads from his best-sellers. Not quite as well-known as his novels, Edgerton has a musical CD entitled "The Safety Patrol" recorded with his band Rank Strangers. The band plays original music from the musical version of "Lunch at the Piccadilly," his 2003 novel.

His most recent novel, "The Bible Salesman," was published Aug. 11, 2008. It is the story of Henry, a Bible salesman, and Preston, a car thief. Preston convinces Henry to drive his stolen cars to specific locations as they meet other equally southern characters along the way.

It began as a short story contribution to an anthology that was a tribute to Flannery O'Connor. O'Connor, who died in 1964, wrote two novels and more than 30 short stories. She was primarily known as a Southern writer who said, "Anything that comes out of the South is going to be called grotesque by the Northern reader, unless it is grotesque, in which case it is going to be called realistic."

While writing the story for the anthology, Edgerton remembered two of O'Connor's characters that were his favorites: the misfit crook and Bible salesman. With those two in mind, he chose to write a short story with characters who resembled O'Connor's. From there the short story took a life of its own and blossomed into a 241- page novel.

Although Edgerton has had success in his career, he doesn't necessarily look at success the way others do. "I know my story is a success if the editor likes it, that's always a good signal. I always revisit, rewrite and rework it until I like it," he said.

The novel is already receiving positive reviews. Jeff Polish of The News & Observer said, "Edgerton is a master of not only describing small-town life, but also of making the reader long for it."