When Arlene Fleet headed off to college in Chicago, she made three promises to God: She would never again lie, she would stop fornicating with every boy who crossed her path, and she'd never, ever go back to her tiny hometown of Possett, Alabama (the "fourth rack of Hell"). All God had to do in exchange was to make sure the body of high school quarterback Jim Beverly was never found.

Ten years later, Arlene has kept her promises, but an old school-mate has recently turned up asking questions. And now Arlene's African American beau has given her a tough ultimatum: introduce him to her family, or he's gone. As she prepares to confront guilt, discrimination, and a decade of deception, Arlene is about to discover just how far she will go to find redemption — and love.

"Arlene Fleet, the refreshingly imperfect heroine of Jackson's frank, appealing debut, launches her story with a list of the title's deities: 'high school quarterbacks, trucks, big tits, and also Jesus.' The first god, also a date rapist by the name of Jim Beverly, she left dead in her hometown of Possett, Ala., but the last she embraces wholeheartedly when high school graduation allows her to flee the South, the murder and her slutty reputation for a new life in Chicago. Upon leaving home, Arlene makes a bargain with God, promising to forgo sex, lies and a return home if he keeps Jim's body hidden. After nine years in Chicago as a truth-telling celibate, an unexpected visitor from home (in search of Jim Beverly) leads her to believe that God is slipping on his end of the deal. As Arlene heads for the Deep South with her African-American boyfriend, Burr, in tow, her secrets unfold in unsurprising but satisfying flashbacks. Jackson brings levity to familiar themes with a spirited take on the clichs of redneck Southern living: the Wal-Mart culture, the subtle and overt racism and the indignant religion. The novel concludes with a final, dramatic disclosure, though the payoff isn't the plot twist but rather Jackson's genuine affection for the people and places of Dixie. Agent, Jacques de Spoelberg. Major ad/promo, author tour. (Apr.) " Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.)

"Joshilyn Jackson's stellar debut has all the elements of great southern fiction, a plucky heroine with a sense of humor,a gripping tale and a mysterious dead body that needs explanation. Arlene Fleet, with a crystal clear voice and purpose takes the reader on a wild ride of despair, hope and redemption that no reader is likely to ever forget. What a storyteller! What a new, original voice!" Adriana Trigiani, bestselling author of Big Stone Gap and Lucia, Lucia

"This winning novel is the kind that readers crave: you can't stop turning the pages, but you wish it would never end." Christina Schwarz, author of Drowning Ruth and All is Vanity

"This bright, tender, eccentric novel grabbed me on page one and never let go. I'm sure Flannery O'Connor is smiling down at Joshilyn Jackson, for writing such a fine first novel of the deep south. Her phrases are so funny, true, and unexpected — a joy to read. Be prepared for a heart-wrenching ride, all the way to redemption. Gods in Alabama is crazy good." Luanne Rice, author of Beach Girls and Dance With Me

A crime from her youth threatens a young woman's future in this extraordinary debut novel that follows in the bestselling Southern tradition of "Big Stone Gap."

Joshilyn Jackson was born in the Deep South and raised by a tribe of wild fundamentalists who taught her to be virtuous and upright. Unfortunately, it didn't take, and Ms. Jackson dropped out of college to pursue a career as an actor. She worked in regional repertoire and traveled the southern third of the country with a dinner theatre troupe, but after a few years she realized that she preferred writing plays to acting in them.

She returned to school and graduated with honors from Georgia State University with a degree in English. While living in Atlanta, she worked as both a writer and actor with The Players, a children's theatre group. She moved to Chicago and managed to recover from a near-terminal case of culture shock just in time to earn her MA in English from the University of Illinois at Chicago. Ms. Jackson taught English at UIC, trying to explain the function of the gerund and why Moby Dick is a great book to crowds of hung-over 18 year olds. In her first year of teaching, she won the Student's Choice Award for Best English Instructor.

After graduate school she ran for warmer climes, returning to her hometown and marrying the boy next door. She currently lives just outside of Atlanta with her husband, their two children, and a twenty-three-pound, one-eyed Maine Coon cat named Franz Schubert.

Her children's play, Another Snow White, was produced by The Players in Atlanta. Her play Screwing Lazarus was produced by Pawme Productions at The Basement Theatre in Chicago, and played for sold out crowds for the entire run. She worked as a staff writer and then an editor for the Postfeminist Playground, a website that racked up a half a million hits by over a hundred thousand unique users each month.

She has worked as a writing consultant, a ghost writer, and sells humorous essays as web content to companies like American Greetings and SocialNet. Her short fiction has been published in literary magazines including TriQuarterly and Calyx, and her short story SixLips appeared in ChickLit II, FC2's anthology of up and coming female writers.

She is currently at work on her next novel, Between, Georgia, the story of a woman connected to two warring families, trying to find her place in both of them while their generations-old feud rages through their small town.