About
Jeffrey Dale Lofton hails from Warm Springs, Georgia, best known as the home of Roosevelt’s Little White House. He calls the nation’s capital home now. During those early years he spent many a night trodding the boards of DC’s theaters and performing arts centers, including the Kennedy Center, Woolly Mammoth, Washington Shakespeare Company, Signature Theatre, and Studio Theatre. He even scored a few television screen appearances, including a Super Bowl halftime commercial, which his accountant called the finest work of his career.
When he stepped away from acting for other, more traditional work (much to his parents’ delight and relief), he also focused on pursuing post-graduate work, ultimately being awarded Master’s degrees in both Public Administration and Library and Information Science. Today, he is a Senior Advisor at the Library of Congress.
His writing is infused with a southern voice gleaned from his Georgia childhood, and his characters live on the fringes and face bullies as if they were paper predators. His debut novel RED CLAY SUZIE tells the story of Philbet, a gay boy enraptured by cars, who struggles with body-blow rejection to find resolution in life lessons learned in Grandaddy’s vegetable garden.
Featured Work
Red Clay Suzie
Fueled by tomato sandwiches and green milkshakes, and obsessed with cars, Philbet struggles with life and love as a gay, physically-misshapen boy in rural Georgia.
He’s happiest when helping Grandaddy dig potatoes from the vegetable garden that connects their houses. But Philbet’s world is shattered and his resilience shaken by events that crush his innocence and sense of security; expose his physical deformity skillfully hidden behind shirts Mama makes for him at home on her Singer; and convince him that he’s not fit to be loved by Knox, the older boy he idolizes to distraction.
Over time, Philbet finds refuge in unexpected places and inner strength in unexpected ways, leading to a resolution from beyond the grave.
Other Works
Awards and Recognition
- Center for Fiction First Novel Prize Longlist \ Seven Hills Literary Prize for Fiction \ Foreword Indies Silver Book of the Year LGBTQ+ Fiction \ A Lambda Literary Most Anticipated LGBTQIA+ Book \
