 Trade it and upgrade it now at Appalachian Wireless and receive up to $700 off when you trade your old, eligible device in and upgrade to a new iPhone 14 Pro Max or Samsung S23 Ultra on an unlimited Appalachian advantage plan because we are you. We are Appalachian Wireless. Recently the local award-winning author W. Jeff Barnes received critical acclaim for his debut novel, Mingo. This historical fiction novel tells a story set during the overlooked historical period of the West Virginia Cold Wars. This release, the book has been named the 2022 Readers' Favorite International Book Contest Gold Medal Winner for Southern Fiction. Mingo is historical fiction and it tells the story of fictional brothers, Durwood and Baskin Matney, who become separated in 1908 upon the death of their mother in Maitwan or in Mingo County, West Virginia. And when they reunite 12 years later, it's on the day of the Maitwan shootout. And they find themselves on opposite sides of this gun battle, hurtling towards the Battle of Blair Mountain, which was the largest armed insurrection in U.S. history after the Civil War. Barnes was inspired to write thanks to one of his high school teachers, saying she was the reason he was drawn to writing fiction. Mingo is available both in local bookstores and online. You know, it's a wonderful feeling to have people read your book and reach out and tell you how much it meant. I had a friend of a friend who read it and she sent me an email and she said, if she had encountered the Mind Wars in a history text, her eyes would have glazed over. But in the context of historical fiction, she found it interesting and compelling. And then after she finished my book, she then went out and did her own research on the Mind Wars, which I think illustrates the power of historical fiction, how it can draw people in and introduce them to an event or people or both, that they might not otherwise know about. I've spoken to the West Virginia Humanities Council and book clubs and again, not only just to talk to them about my book, but to introduce them to this important, but I think often overlooked period of American history that tends to, if we took the time to kind of study it, would I think help us figure out how to get past where we are today. But again, just it's been a pleasure to have people read, actually read my book and tell me that they enjoyed it. Reporting from Outantop News, I'm Nick Colum.