Veteran journalist Ralph Ellis has published his first novel, “The Accident Report,” a crime/mystery novel infused with small town newsroom details and a cast of quirky Southern characters.
Ellis, who cut his teeth at local newspapers before joining the Atlanta Journal-Constitution and CNN, may have more than a passing resemblance to his main character, Ronald Truluck.
Set in the summer of 1974, Truluck is working as a rookie reporter at a newspaper in a tiny North Carolina town, but he has dreams of being the next Woodward and Bernstein.
When a city councilman is involved in a drunk driving incident and the police let him walk, Truluck smells a cover up. It’s no Watergate, but in the sleepy hamlet of Millerton, it’s implications seem just as large.
“Ronald is somewhat like me, but I never had a story like this,” Ellis said. “He’s delusional about his importance as a reporter and caught up in the fervor over Watergate.”
Ellis got his start at The Thomasville Times in North Carolina before moving on to The Field & Herald in Conway, SC. Eventually, he was hired by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, working in the Fayette County bureau office.
Now a Decatur resident, Ellis started dabbling in fiction in 1999 and wrote a novel about a journalist working in Atlanta, but it never went anywhere, Ellis said.
Cut to the pandemic and Ellis decided to try his hand at fiction once again and the first book in a planned Ronald Truluck series was born. He’s already at work on the second book, which sees Truluck covering shenanigans in 1980s era Myrtle Beach, and has ideas for three more.
While many novelists have a set time for writing, Ellis said his motivators were fellow authors in a critique group at the Atlanta Writers Club.
“I’m not a disciplined writer,” Ellis conceded, “so my motivation to keep going was having a set deadline to turn in pages to my critique group.”
To Ellis’ delight, his fellow writers encouraged him to keep going on “The Accident Report” and offered valuable insight along the way.
While Ellis calls himself a “semi-retired” journalist, he still freelances and encourages young people to keep working in journalism despite the “fake news” outrage manufactured by politicians.
“Being a reporter is a great job,” Ellis said. “It might be the greatest job in the world. You get to talk to people all day long, you’re socially mobile, and it’s a great way to overcome your introversion.”
And his advice for fellow novelists? “Put your fingers on the keyboard and start moving them.”
Ellis will be a featured author at the North Georgia Regional Book Fair on Sept. 13 and will be conversation with fellow novelist Mickey Dubrow on Sept. 21 at A Cappella Books.
