Rickey Pittman is the author of the novels Under the Witch’s Mark and Red River Fever (2015). He has also written two story collections and is a 1998 recipient of the Grand Prize in the Ernest Hemingway Short Story Competition. The author of several books for children, including Ariel: Therapy Dog of the Rio Grande Valley and The ABC Book of the Rio Grande Valley (2015), he presents his stories and programs at schools, libraries, and venues throughout the South, where he is also known as a folksinger.