The Half-Life of Carson Hood, the first novel by St. Simons Island resident Chuck Carter, won First Place and Grand Prize in the annual seven state Southeastern Writers Association competition. The story begins in a family cemetery on St. Simons where the title character finds someone buried in his grave and reaches its climax on the waterfront terrace of the Barrier Island Golf Club where the country’s first female president is addressing worldwide media. Research involved the Coast Guard, Secret Service, and a former Los Alamos nuclear scientist. The author is a former editor, publisher, and PR agent whose clients and subjects included Microsoft, Honda, the Chicago Bears and the Department of Homeland Security. Copies of the double award-winning book are available at G. J. Ford Bookshop, on Amazon, or from the author at chuckcarter74@gmail.com.