John S. Tarlton was born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana. He attended Louisiana State University, majoring in sociology and philosophy. After leaving LSU, he found employment in the land acquisition business, requiring him to approach, interact, befriend, headbutt, and negotiate with hundreds of wealthy and not so wealthy landowners across the Deep South. It was a journey among peoples: Cajuns, rednecks, cane and cotton farmers, country folk, shrimpers, once-landed Gentry, small towners, city slickers, and South Texas cowboys. Not mention the jazzy denizens of New Orleans.
On the hunt for adventure, Tarlton and several college friends discovered the Mississippi River. It was an era when, save for a few diehard fishermen, no sane person dared embark upon the Big Muddy. And yet, off they went, bang in the thick of it. And there they found the islands. A couple of islands below Baton Rouge and several larger islands upriver. Little kingdoms to explore and write about. A mighty river wilderness that tickled their fortunes.
Tarlton began writing drama in his mid-twenties. In collaboration with students and faculty from the LSU English and Drama departments, he joined in the creation of the New Playwrights Theatre. Eventually, hoping to gain more control over the creative process and less reliance on the whims of actors and directors, he began writing fiction.
Tarlton’s first novel, A Window Facing West, was selected as a Barnes & Noble, Discover Great New Writers selection and won the Eaton Literary Award. His second novel, The Cost of Doing Business, portrays a onetime female athlete who discovers the limits to tactful arbitration. Tarlton’s short fiction has appeared in The Crescent Review, The Southwestern Review, Mississippi Arts & Letters, The New Laurel Review, The Albany Review, The Louisiana Review, The Uncommon Reader, and other literary journals, and was anthologized in Something in Common (Louisiana State University Press).
Tarlton spends his mornings writing fiction, his afternoons cycling, and his evenings in the company of his wife, Nancy. Their first date was a canoe trip to an island downriver from Baton Rouge. They have two sons, both of whom reside in North Carolina.
Our End Is Where We Start was selected as a finalist by both the Tucson Festival of Books Literary Awards and the Permafrost Book Prize. The novel was shortlisted for the Moon Meridian Novella Contest and was longlisted for the Petrichor Prize. A portion of the novel was shortlisted for the First Chapter Competition, WestWord, a literary magazine, United Kingdom.
Regal House Publishing is proud to bring you Our End is Where We Start in 2027.
