Tony C. Franklin was born and raised in the Southeast Arkansas town of Hamburg. He grew up on a small farm one-half mile from the Arkansas/Louisiana state line. One set of grandparents lived in the Delta town of Wilmot, Arkansas; the other set lived on Hopkins Hill, west of Jones, Louisiana, and the renowned Bayou Bartholomew. Tony tries to pay homage to the South he remembers growing up in.

He currently resides in Fort Smith, Arkansas. He is a poet who also writes fictional "grit lit" and "southern noir" short stories and creative non-fiction stories. He is currently working on his second novel.