I never set out to write a book.

Back in 2020, I started keeping a list in the Notes app on my phone. Every time I heard a Southern saying I'd never heard, I'd add it to the list. At first, it was just a way to remember the phrases I grew up hearing.

One saying became ten. Ten became fifty. Before long, I had collected more than one hundred.

Some were hilarious. Some made absolutely no sense. All of them reminded me of home.

The more I traveled, the more I realized just how unique these sayings really were. Expressions that felt completely normal to me would leave people staring back with a confused look on their face. It made me realize that these weren't just funny phrases, they were pieces of Southern culture, passed from one generation to the next through stories, family gatherings, and front porch conversations.

Of course, simply writing them down didn't seem like enough. A lot of folks way more talented than me came together to make this vision come to life. I'm eternally grateful to them.

Today, Sayinisms is more than a coffee table book. It's an ongoing collection of Southern sayings, stories, and expressions that deserve to be remembered, shared, and laughed at for generations to come.