Tag: Mississippi Book Festival

Summer Events are Better Indoors

I hope you don’t think I fell off the face of the earth! It’s the end of August and only my second blog post of the month. Editing my second manuscript has kept me busy most nights and weekends. Last weekend I was on the road in the rain. If you didn’t see my posts on Twitter, here’s a recap.

I took my dad with me to the Mississippi Book Festival at the state capitol on Friday, August 17. From Pine Bluff, Arkansas, to Yazoo City, Mississippi, it rained. A deluge pounded us from Dumas to McGehee. It was clear at Lake Village for lunch, but the storm caught up to us when we returned to the road. We got to our hotel, checked in and relaxed for a bit before going to supper. While in the restaurant, another downpour occurred, knocking out the DirecTV service. By the time we finished eating, it was back to overcast skies and a few drops.

Saturday, August 18, had a 70% chance of rain. We got to the capitol and setup my table in the Author’s Alley tent. It was a hot, muggy day under the tent. A light rain popped up around 2:00 and last thirty minutes. The humidity ramped up after that. At the end of the day, we returned to the hotel with sticky clothes.

Sunday morning the rain returned. It came down while we traveled northeast through Mississippi. At the Arkansas state line, we exited the storm. When we returned to Springdale, it rained again. By that time, we were eating supper at a local restaurant. Overall, we didn’t get too wet physically but dealt with a bunch of rain and high humidity over three days.

Sales were not great on Saturday. One of the many things I learned during this trip is this: attend indoor summer events where there is air conditioning. Outdoor events can be great, but when the humidity is over 90%, and the temperature is over 80, you want to be indoors, not under a tent.

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What I’m Reading – Many readers I know like to inquire what their favorite author is reading. At the end of each blog post, I’ll let you know what book is open on my Kindle. I hope my choice of reading material inspires you to read a variety of authors and topics. Currently, I’m reading book thirteen of the Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael series, The Rose Rent.

Bill’s Cajun House of Pleasure is available on Amazon, as an eBook, and in physical formats. It is also available on the Barnes and Noble website.

Retreat and Upcoming Festival

Last weekend I was in Winslow, Arkansas, at Oghma Creative Media’s annual retreat. It was great to meet the other authors my publisher has signed. We also heard what the plans are as the company continues to grow. The Sky-Vue lodge in the Boston Mountains is a wonderful setting. We saw a storm roll in, and when the sun is out, you can see a vast majority of the mountain range. Meals were included in the three-day event and we ate well. Looking forward to next year’s retreat.

In two weeks, I’ll be at the Mississippi Book Festival. It’s at the state capitol on Saturday, August 18. Pulitzer Prize-winning authors Rick Bragg and Jon Meacham will be there. Julia Reed, Salman Rushdie, and Jesmyn Ward round out the official panelists. I’ll be in the Author Alley’s tent along with M. M. Le Blanc (Cajun historian), first-time author Pamela E. Lockridge, Michael Piazza, Andrew Plattner, and many more. You can check out the whole list here. I’m looking forward to this romp in the swamp!

Mississippi Book Festival 2018

Editing continues on my second manuscript. I wasn’t able to get as much done as I wanted last week. This week should be more productive.

A couple of Louisiana anniversaries to note. Yesterday, back in 1901, the Allen Green School opens in Grambling. You know the school as the name it adopted in 1946: Grambling State University. On the same day, Louis Armstrong was born in New Orleans. He was a jazz trumpeter and his “Hello, Dolly!” song knocked the Beatles out of the number one spot on the Hot 100 in 1964. He was 62 years, 9 months and 5 days old, the oldest person to ever hold the number one spot on the Hot 100.

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What I’m Reading – Many readers I know like to inquire what their favorite author is reading. At the end of each blog post, I’ll let you know what book is open on my Kindle. I hope my choice of reading material inspires you to read a variety of authors and topics. Currently, I’m reading book twelve of the Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael series, A Raven in the Foregate.

Bill’s Cajun House of Pleasure is available on Amazon, as an eBook, and in physical formats. It is also available on the Barnes and Noble website.

Spontaneous Summer Plans

Another week has flown by and spontaneity has hit. During lunch with my parents, my sister asked us to go see Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom. It was an on the spot decision and off to the theater we went. The movie has its flaws. After all, this is the fifth time the world has let dinosaurs run amok, twice in America, and it looks like there will be one more in the series. When will we learn that dinosaurs and humans just don’t mix well together? Still, it was great to spend time with my sister, nephew, and parents.

Open up your calendars, you have two chances to see me in the next ten days. First, I’ll be at the West Fork Treasure Trove, 36 Main Street, West Fork, Arkansas from 2-3:15 this Saturday, July 7. Then on Tuesday, July 10, I’ll be giving a talk from idea conception to publishing (and everything in between) at the Village Writing School’s meeting at the Pizza Hut in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, from 12-2. Also, on Friday, check out Two Ends of the Pen blog and learn more about me and Bill’s Cajun House of Pleasure. At the end of the month is my publisher’s retreat in the Ozark hills.

On August 18, come get your pleasure at the Mississippi Book Festival at the Capitol Building. I’m looking forward to being around so many other authors and fans of books. It’ll be a romp in the swamp. On September 9, come see me at the Fayetteville (AR) Public Library Second Sunday author talk from 12-2. It’s also the start of the NFL season, but books are more fun anyway.

I’m working on setting up other events for the summer and fall. Hope to meet you at one of them. I’ll gladly autograph your copy of Bill’s Cajun House of Pleasure. And in case you missed my post from this week, I finished the first draft of my second manuscript. Going to do some editing on it before sending it to my publisher. Hopefully, my second book will be printed before the end of 2019.

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What I’m Reading – Many readers I know like to inquire what their favorite author is reading. At the end of each blog post, I’ll let you know what book is open on my Kindle. I hope my choice of reading material inspires you to read a variety of authors and topics. I finished reading book nine of the Ellis Peters’ Brother Cadfael series, Dead Man’s Ransom. My review is on Goodreads and Amazon. Tomorrow, I start book ten, The Pilgrim of Hate.

Bill’s Cajun House of Pleasure is available on Amazon, as an eBook, and in physical formats. It is also available on the Barnes and Noble website.