SEE SOME OLD FRIENDS - GOOD FOR THE SOUL

One of the most rewarding aspects of my book trips is seeing friends I haven't been around in ages. It was great to visit with Karen Powell, a radio colleague from my long-haired beatnik Casey Kasem-wannabe days of 1982-1983, when I visited the Bryan Public Library in West Point last week. Karen, who lost her eyesight in recent years, spends a lot of time these days advocating on behalf of the blind through several charitable organizations to raise funds and awareness. She showed great patience while trying to teach me the finer points of running a radio control board when I was in my teens--I was no more of a techno-geek in those days than I am now. All the equipment at that radio station was woefully outdated, by the way, and might as well have come to the New World on the Mayflower.

Karen, Libby, and me.

After a very early trip to Meridian to promote my new book on WTOK television, I drove to Philadelphia, Mississippi to sign at Dancing Rabbit Books and hopped from there to Books A Million in Meridian. In addition to seeing my brother, Stuart, and his son, Garrett at the store in Philadelphia, it was great to see proprietor Steve Stubbs, who's also an author (and wrote a must-have history of the Neshoba County Fair). Dancing Rabbit is not only a bookstore; there's fantastic artwork along with a multitude of Civil War books and artificats throughout the store. Dancing Rabbit is located on Beacon Street in downtown Philadelphia, and you'll thoroughly enjoy a tour of the store and a few minutes with Steve.





Signing THE LONG ROAD HOME at Dancing Rabbit Books.

BEHIND THE LOG TRUCK

I spoke Thursday evening at 5 p.m. at the Robinson Memorial Library in Raleigh, Mississippi and called librarian Sherri Harris a few minutes before start time to give her an update: I was one of about a gazillion vehicles puttering along behind a log truck a few minutes outside town. The driver wasn't actually headed to the library, although he got within one block of my destination before turning onto another highway and slowing down a few other folks. I've gotten stuck behind plenty of log trucks in my lifetime, but that's the first time one has ever been responsible for me being late for a book event. No worries, though. Sherri and the members of her book club are very nice (as well as avid readers), and we had a good laugh over it.

I cranked up the BookMobile and headed for the Gulf Coast first thing Friday morning, watching the sun rise as I headed to the McIlwain Public Library in Gautier. I was the featured author at the annual used book sale and met some very nice people.



I'm so hungry I could eat a sandwich this big!





This nice lady from Germany will plunge into the Oakdale series with a signed copy of JUDGMENT DAY.





With author Daisy Karam-Read (FROM MANHATTAN TO MISSISSIPPI, and THE LOVE AFFAIR CONTINUES) and Gautier librarian Randy Smith

I'm asked about digital downloads at every talk these days and the impact they've had on what I do as an author and publisher. In terms of availability, my novel, THE MAGNOLIA TRIANGLE, is available for download if you have a Kindle. The same is true of the most recent John M. Floyd collection of short stories, CLOCKWORK. My new novel, THE LONG ROAD HOME, will be available for download on Kindle very soon. Plans are to go back and offer the other great Floyd collections (RAINBOW'S END and MIDNIGHT) and my first Oakdale book, JUDGMENT DAY, on Kindle, as well as all future Dogwood Press titles. Have a great day!

 

WE HAVE LIFTOFF!

Polly Hammett, Joe Lee, Sheri Krause, Donna Biggert, Johnny Biggert at Lemuria - Jackson MS (10/4/11)

Funny how the months leading up to the publication of a book seem to take years, but Opening Night, as I think of it, zips past in the blink of an eye. It is a joyous occasion, though, and friends stopped by Lemuria in Jackson, Mississippi (which they did on Tuesday, October 4) and The Book Mart in Starkville, Mississippi (Thursday, October 6) to pick up copies of The Long Road Home, Part III of my Oakdale suspense series.

After talks this week at Mississippi public libraries in Florence, Raleigh, and Brandon, I'll drive to the Mississippi Gulf Coast for a 10am-2pm event at the Gautier Public Library. There's an annual used book sale at the Gautier library each year, and I'm honored to be this year's featured author. I'll speak, sign books, and meet a lot of nice people. One person I'll definitely see is Valerie Winn of Gautier, who's the next Dogwood Press author. I'll publish Valerie's excellent literary novel, Forsaking Mimosa, in April 2012. Much more about that book will be ahead on both this blog and on my web site, http://www.dogwoodpress.com/.