MonticelloLive

Fighting through an uneasy adolescence is tough enough for a 14-year-old girl, but imagine your father is not around and your mother is the frequently outrageous host of a punk-rock radio show who’ll say anything on the air.

That’s the premise of a new book, A New Kind of Music, written by Diane Payne, assistant professor of English and director of the Writing Center at the University of Arkansas at Monticello. The 153-page book is being published by Kristen Bailey and is available for $11.99 in paperback at www.lulu.com.

The central character of Payne’s novel is Layla, a 14-year-old girl struggling to fit in at school and in her community while trying to avoid the embarrassment caused by her “shock-jock” mother. As a result, Layla rebels against typical teenaged radio tastes and becomes of fan of National Public Radio, much to her mother’s chagrin.

A New Kind of Music is Payne’s second novel. Her first novel, Burning Tulips, was published in 2001 by Red Hen Press. She has had essays, fiction and poetry published in over 100 different magazines.

Payne has been a member of the UAM faculty since 2000. She is a graduate of Northern Arizona University with a master’s degree from the University of Arizona.