Three local authors have published work that take readers from a failing Bible camp in the North Georgia mountains to a little mountain home in the Rockies and then to a little turtle named Elmer who was dancing the minute he hatched.

Award-winning Rome author Ray Atkins has published “Camp Redemption,” a novel which takes readers to the North Georgia mountains where they encounter Early and Ivey Willingham. Early is a lifelong underachiever who occasionally smokes marijuana, drinks malt liquor, and watches the world go by. Ivey is a modern day prophet who sees dead relatives and angels in her sleep. Together they own Camp Redemption, a failing Bible camp in the North Georgia mountains.

After they are forced to close the camp, Early and Ivey begin to attract a motley collection of people in trouble — an abused runaway from Apalachicola, Fla., an out-of-luck lawyer on the dodge and even a local bootlegger.

But these lives and stories converge on a frigid morning in high Georgia, and from that moment forward, nothing is the same at Camp Redemption.

The book won this year’s Ferrol Sams Award for Fiction from Mercer University and is available locally at Dogwood Books and Antiques on Broad Street as well as online at Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Another author, Rev. Bobby Green, gives local readers a look at what was and what might have been. From his childhood in Lindale playing football for Model High to his service in the military that took him to the wilds of Alaska, then to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains where he and his wife built a home and a life for their family. Green weaves history with a dream-like imagining of what might have been.

Many of the places and dates are historically accurate, but the book’s premise is focused on Green’s dream home in the mountains. He visited the Rockies years ago and fell in love with the land and the mountains and said it would be the perfect place for his dream mountain home. The book walks the shadowy line between reality and fantasy.

“My Mountain Home” is available from Rev. Green by writing to 4920 Rockmart Hwy., Apt. 4, Silver Greek, Ga., 30173. The book is also available online at Amazon.com.

Finally, local author and Rome Police Department retiree Lonie B. Adcock introduces readers to Elmer, a turtle who was dancing on the day he was hatched. But while such a master of dance steps is certainly bound for stardom, not everything in life always goes as planned. Will Elmer make it to the big time with his fancy footwork or does another future await him?

Complete with illustrations of Elmer’s animal friends including Bucky Beaver, Fluffy and Muffin Rabbit, Willie and Billie Goat and Professor Hootie, an owl, “Elmer the Dancing Turtle” takes readers on the journey of Elmer’s life and learning to accept differences in others, all while learning valuable lessons along the way.

Adcock said the book is suitable for all ages, but he hopes children will take a special interest in learning the lessons he tries to impart.

The book is available at Dogwood Books and Antiques on Broad Street, Barnes and Noble Booksellers.