Spring Break

What this teacher does on spring break.
1. Get taxes ready for tax preparer. Want to know how many trips I took on behalf of Invisible Sisters in 2009? A lot.
2. Do stuff like assemble the composter and weed the backyard. Yay!
3. Read. Read. Read. Also yay! What's on the list?
Oh, several things, but here are two top picks that I wish I could just inhale, but then I wouldn't get to wallow in them. Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann. Changing My Mind by Zadie Smith.
4. Syllabi for next quarter. Oh, later. At the end of break, maybe.


(Pic fm "Garden Guide Biz/uk.)

Honest Abe Freaked Me Out

This is Abe Lincoln, gesturing at the hotel he stayed in before he gave the Gettsyburg Address. This isn't really Lincoln, it's a statue.That crafty Abe. The hotel I stayed in was across the square from his, which now houses a thrift shop and some tourism knick-knack shops.Too bad about that. Civil War tourism isn't just for the senior set, y'all!

Down the street from Abe and me are the Thai restaurant where I had dinner with some of my hosts' finest creative writing students (excellent company, guys, and outstanding ginger shrimp, too) and later, drinks with old and new friends at a charming bistro, where people walked in and out and sat down from drinks (or left to get a burger and came back.)

I got to play "visiting writer" at Gettysburg College one night this week, and had a blast. I love reading in a comfy, informal room, and the forty or more students asked really incisive questions, laughed in the right places, and impressed me with their smartness. And the bookstore damn near sold out of Invisible Sisters!

And what a joy to see my friends and teachers K & F, too!


(This photo from the NYTimes because I can't seem to download my G'burg photos from my phone.)

The Other Event in Charlottesville this past week...

The other event in Charlottesville this past week was a Sesame Street Festival. Never mind the Virginia Festival of the Book, I got to kiss a childhood hero.

A wonderful few days in the company of outstanding writers; Katharine Weber, whose newest novel, True Confections, has me laughing out loud from her fierce humor, as well as moderating the "Unconventional and Wondrous Lives," I shared with debut memoirists (like me) Bibi Gaston, Jo Maeder, and Robert Leleux. On the last night, the historic Paramount Theater was the venue for an outstanding evening of readings by Liz Strout, Colum McCann, Ethelbert Miller, and Lee Smith.

Bethanne Patrick moderated a terrific panel about book reviewing, with Rebecca Skloot, the above-mentioned Katharine Weber, Ron Charles fm the Washington Post, and others.

Ran into wonderful poet and friend Major Jackson, and got to chat with also wonderful poet Kevin Young.

Am I gushing? Yeah, but with good reason.

Got to see my old friends, G, J, B, M, & J in varying capacities involving adult beverages.

Books, drinks, and the Cookie Monster. What's better?

As they say, "it's an honor just to be nominated!"

As they say, "it's an honor just to be nominated!" I mean it, though.

Check out this list of Georgia Author of the Year nominees! Good company, huh?

More chickens - this time a 'how to' here at home

I'll be out of town for this, but the chicken thing is sweeping the nation. Here, for example, is an intown chicken adventure (and a lesson in how to keep chickens) here in Atlanta.

Info courtesy of my new friend D. I suggest that you, uh, chick it out.

Looks like they've got other cool stuff going on, too.


(Image from "Harvest of History." It's really hard to find an image of a chicken who's not on a plate!)

Dutch cover!

Hey, look! I'm in Dutch! Thanks to fabulous agent S., by whose hand (and post office, and good deal making) these arrived in today's mail.

I can only recognize names in the book, and I know that mijn moeder means "my mother." When M. and I were in Amsterdam a few winters ago, people kept speaking to him in Dutch. He must look Dutch. Maybe he can read it?

Doin' the "my book's in Dutch" dance.

Hittin' the Road

Week after next, Charlottesville! I've admired the Virginia Festival of the Book from afar for several years, and this year, I get to play, too! Lots of great panels, activities, readings, and if we're lucky, we'll squeeze in a side trip to Jefferson's home, Monticello

Then a reading at Gettysburg College, and a visit with some terrific friends.

Shortly after that, Southern Kentucky Book Festival in Bowling Green. Pretty name for a place, huh? Yes!

Things that are causing me stress

Way too many potatoes in this house. Need to cook them before they grow eyes. Despite the joviality of Mr. and Mrs. Potato-head, actual potatoes with eyes are disturbing.

The Ballad of Uptown Gerry

Since I'm not writing at the moment, merely waiting for a shoe or two to drop, I thought I'd hook y'all up with the saga of my friend Elyssa East and the adventures of Uptown Gerry.

(A chicken.) The whole story's made it to New York Magazine, but a few weeks ago it was a fast-twittering, chicken-rescuing story. A "ticking clock scenario" as a screenwriter might say. Or "ticking cluck?"

When you're done reading this, read her book Dogtown . I don't recall that there are chickens in it. There's a murder, some history, naturalism, witches, and the 1980s.

Cedartown, Georgia

This bit of nascent-novel inspiration from my friend Sam Starnes - Waylon Jennings singing about Cedartown, Georgia.
Quite the appropriate tone, I think.