Dearest Readers,

There is a hard frost upon her ladyship’s hedges and a magnificent, if hungry, red tailed hawk standing in the field across the road, apparently guarding her ladyship, the editor’s mailbox. Or perhaps he is waiting for a letter? The air is crisp and cold even here on the Carolina coast and indeed, if it weren’t for the unhappy, clipped frostbitten blossoms on the early flowering plums and redbuds, her ladyship would think that it is not March at all, but late January instead. She has checked her William Morris calendar, however, and has been reassured that it is, in fact, spring.  For one thing, her seed orders have begun to arrive in the mail. For another, the bare branches of the trees have all taken on the soft look they get when the small twigs begin to bud.  And most telling that a new season is upon us; the 2009 SIBA Book Award Nomination list has been announced.

Her ladyship, the editor, loves this first, long list of books that were favorites of southern independent booksellers last year, for she always finds something new and interesting to read.  And it is, indeed, quite a long list--ninety-eight different titles in six different categories! Why, there is enough reading here to keep her ladyship occupied for at least a week! (Some of the books, she notes, are rather short, being written for children).

She also detects a certain preoccupation with New Orleans and its environs on this list, and perhaps also with barbecue. See if you do not agree.

Her ladyship, the editor

Authors 'Round the South

Authors Round the South is the home of one of the most extensive listings of literary events in the South, including author readings & appearances, book club meetings, book & literary festivals, open mics, poetry slams and writing groups. No matter what part of the South you live in, you can find a bookstore and author appearance near you!

Coleman Barks, author of Winter Sky: New and Selected Poems 1968-2008 at Malaprop's Bookstore & Café in Asheville, NC	Brenna Barzenick, author of Tsumommy: Riding the Wave Motherwood at Garden District Book Shop in New Orleans, LA	Brigitte Byrd, author of Fence Above the Sea at Charis Books & More in Atlanta, GA	Peyton Carmichael, author of The Monkey's Easter Tale at Alabama Booksmith in Birmingham, AL	Alan Cheuse, author of To Catch The Lightning at McIntyre's Fine Books in Pittsboro, NC
John V. Cinchett, author of Vintage Tampa Signs and Scenes at Inkwood Books in Tampa, FL	Adele Colvin, author of The Donkey's Easter Tale at Book Seller in Birmingham, AL	Julia Ebel, author of Jack Tales and Mountain Yarns at Fireside Books & Gifts in Forest City, NC	Tim Gautreaux, author of The Missing at Square Books in Oxford, MS	Robert M. Gorman, author of Death in the Ballpark at Park Road Books in Charlotte, NC
Charlotte Hughes, author of Nutcase at Bay Street Trading Co in Beaufort, SC	Todd Johnson, author of The Sweet By and By at Country Bookshop Inc in Southern Pines, NC	Julie Korzenko, author of Devil's Gold at FoxTale Book Shoppe in Woodstock, GA	Barbara Levenson, author of Fatal February at Blue Elephant Book Shop in Decatur, GA	Linda Long, author of Great Chefs Cook Vegan at Regulator Bookshop in Durham, NC
David Lusk, author of Saul of Tarsus a Docu Novel at Burry Bookstore in Hartsville, SC	Marlee Matlin, author of I'll Scream Later at Fountain Bookstore in Richmond, VA	Jayne Anne Phillips, author of Lark & Termite: a novel at Quail Ridge Books & Music in Raleigh, NC   and Lark & Termite: a novel at Lemuria Bookstore in Jackson, MS	Nicole Seitz, author of Hundred Years of Happiness at Two Sisters Bookery in Wilmington, NC and 100 Years of Happiness at Litchfield Books in Pawley's Island,	Adam Shepard, author of SCRATCH BEGINNINGS: Me, $25, and the Search for th at Country Bookshop Inc

Need a speaker? Choose a STAR!
These STARS authors are on the road and most willing to come to your book club, meeting or event

The following authors are traveling this month and open to meeting with book clubs, talking to schools and participating in library programs. To find out more information click on the author's name to see their profile and request them for an event. There are hundreds of authors in the STARS directory, and new writers and trips are added every day. Visit the STARS directory at Authors Round the South for more information.

Book Festivals & Special Events

Natchez Literary and Cinema Celebration
Date: February 19 - 22
This five-day literary and cultural event which each year focuses on a different general aspect of southern history features lectures by nationally known scholars and writers, related films, tours, book signings, exhibits, plays, readings, concerts, entertainments and meals.

South Carolina Book Festival  
Date: February 28
A full weekend event, this festival features a Book Club Morning Toast, Brunching With Authors, author panels and presentations, poetry readings and nearly 150 vendors.

Much Ado About Books
Date: February 27 - 28
An annual fundraising even to benefit the Jacksonville Public Library, this festival features a keynote luncheon with well-known authors, readings, book signings, panel discussions, a special children’s area, writers’ workshops, exhibitors, and an Author’s Day in Schools.

Lex Allen Literary Festival
Date: March 7
Readings and a poetry panel along with the awarding of poetry and fiction prizes to students highlight this literary day of interest.

Virginia Festival of the Book
Date: March 18 - 22
Five days of literary events offers more than 300 authors and 200 events including special luncheons, a breakfast, an authors’ reception, author readings and presentations, panels and workshops, a Storyfest and Kids’ Book Swap and more.

Southwest Florida Reading Festival    
Date: March 21st
Events at this festival include various author programs, a festival marketplace, Authors’ Alley, a keynote speaker and a dance performance, a writing workshop, a luncheon Meet & Greet and several special evening events for adults. Events for children include storytelling, a writing contest, a free books, shows, a bookmobile and much more. Teen’s events include contests and giveaways, presentations by graphic novelists and other YA writers, a marketplace and more. There are also events in Spanish.

Lee County Reading Festival
Date: March 21st
“This free annual festival incites a passion for reading,” it proclaims. And it could be right with author panels, presentations, signings for adults; storytelling, games and activities for the kids; and a gala reception with the authors; a Chocolate and Spirits fundraiser; and more.

Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival
Date: March 25 - 29
Devoted specifically to Williams, this festival is a five-day celebration that encompasses scholars, writers and performing artists in panel discussions, theatrical and musical performances, a one-act play competition, lectures, literary walking tours, performances and a book fair.

Oxford Conference for the Book
Date: March 26 - 28
Not quite a book festival, yet not strictly a conference, this “conference” offers the public the chance to attend a series of program sessions without charge. Other opportunities include a Mississippi Delta Literary Tour, a Writers Workshop and a Youth Authors Fair plus a buffet, several lunches and a dinner; there are charges for these. 

Alabama Bound
Date: Saturday, March 29th
This book festival is hosted by the Birmingham Public Library, and focuses on Alabama writers and writing. Listen to authors read and talk and get books signed. You’ll also meet Alabama publishers and editors of magazines as well as representatives of writing groups.

Fay B. Kaigler Children’s Book Festival
Date: April 1 - 3
Held over three days, this festival offers workshops, lectures, signings, author luncheons and a closing reception. Registration is recommended.

Southern Kentucky Book Fest
Date: April 19th
“Open a book, open your mind” is their motto, and their focus on encouraging reading is demonstrated through their (pre-fest and fest) activities: 1Read for teens, Books & Baskets, Children’s Book Week, a used book sale, personal meetings between children and the authors, a Meet the Authors Reception, seven separate rooms each with its own panel and author presentations.

Malice Domestic
Date: May 1 -3
This is a three-day convention that brings together the readers and writers of the “traditional” mystery—those which contain no explicit sex or excessive violence, and usually feature an amateur detective, a confined setting and characters who know one another. In addition to author panels, presentations and signings, they have two auctions (one live, one silent) with proceeds going to a local charity

Blue Ridge Book and Author Showcase
Black Rock, NC
Date: May 8-9
Robert Morgan, Kathryn Stripling Byer, Sharyn McCrumb, Vicki Lane, Joan Medlicott, Gary Carter, Sheila Kay Adams, Keith Flynn and many other writers and poets will be in Hendersonville NC as part of the event.

Books in Bloom
Date: Sunday, May 3rd
This festival is one of the kick-off events for the their Festival of Arts, and offers a wide array of authors for every literary interest. Pretty location too.

Literary Gossip & News

Sometimes it feels as though only bad news is reported, does it not? Lately the papers seem full of stories of bookshops closing their doors, most recently, her ladyship was distressed to see, that of Wordsmiths Books in Decatur, GA.  Mr. Zachary Steele writes a fond and melancholy farewell. 

So her ladyship, the editor, felt it would be instructive to point out the many, many bookshops that have thus far weathered this economic storm and that some, indeed, are doing remarkably well:

Something to Read, as an example, has reopened in Jackson, Tennessee.
Books & Books in Miami Beach, Florida, has also moved and expanded
The Art Bookstore has opened in Fort Myers, Florida.
A Sense of Humor has completed their move and renovation and has reopened in Asheville, North Carolina

According to their last store newsletter, Fiction Addiction of Greenville, South Carolina, will be moving and expanding later this spring. And in this era of bookstores closing left and right, it is heartwarming to read that Dee Gee’s Gifts & Books celebrates their 75th anniversary of continuous operation this year. They have asked for customers to send in their memories of the store, and have posted them on their website as a “Scrapbook of 75 Years”

Also of note:
Donna Tartt muses on the importance of the water tower in the Southern Landscape. Plus, she once interviewed Iris Murdoch. The illustrator of Eudora Welty’s children’s book, The Shoe Bird has passed away. And there will indeed be a North Carolina Literary Festival.

Author 2 Author: Todd Johnson & Karen Spears Zacharias

North Carolina native Todd Johnson discusses his debut novel, The Sweet By and By, with author Karen Spears Zacharias. Johnson’s novel about the interactions of five delightfully mule-headed women is written with a tender touch and a sharp eye.

Q: Your debut novel, The Sweet By and By, is about the interactions of five women – older women mostly. What is it about women over 50 that captures your fancy? 

A: To tell the truth, I never thought about it that way when I was writing the book. Two of the women in The Sweet By and By are certainly elderly; the others we meet at different times in their lives ranging from youth to middle age. But maybe there is something magnetic about “femmes d’une certaine age,” at least the ones I know. They don’t care so much anymore about what the world tells them they should be just because they were born women. And they’ve seen enough of life to laugh at it. So there’s freedom in that.

Q: You’re already an accomplished soul, having received a nomination for your work as a producer of the Broadway production of The Color Purple. What compelled you to write a novel for pity’s sake? Certainly it wasn’t the money. Do tell. Was it a promise you made to Mama or perhaps a vow to the devil?

A: If I were to make a pact with the Devil, it would have to be a lot more lucrative than anything I’ve done so far in my career. And I think it should also include a guarantee against weight gain in middle age. Then we might have something to talk about. Until then, I’m going to offer a cliché: I followed my heart. Sorry, but it’s the truth.

Q: I love Mister Benny, the doll that Bernice just can’t seem to part with. Most girls have had a doll like that at one time or another in their lives. How did you, a Yale educated man, come up with this notion that your character ought to have this raggedy doll she can’t let go of?

A: I love Mister Benny too. I came up with him in a moment of pure childlike daydreaming, but the idea really isn’t far-fetched. When I visited my grandmothers in nursing homes many years ago, I remember seeing exactly that kind of object attachment in some of the residents. The “why” of it is complex. But the effect on the person is what interests me --- a calming influence, a connection of sorts in a world of loneliness, the projection of emotions onto an inanimate object that in itself somehow keeps those same emotions alive in the individual. For Bernice, it may or may not be about her deceased son, Wade, depending on her interior state. Her behavior is only part of the picture.

Q: Your style reminds me a great deal of novelist Michael Morris. Morris wrote A Slow Way Home and A Place Called Wiregrass. Are you familiar with his work? Who are some of your favorite novelists and why?

A: Michael Morris is a wonderful writer; I could only be flattered by that comparison. I have more favorite authors than I could name. One of the first who comes to mind is Reynolds Price. I’ve always been drawn to his writing of families – what it means to be born into one and the associated obligations or lack thereof. I also love Dickens for his characters and sense of humor. Virginia Woolf for her brilliant writing of the space between actions and words. And of course Eudora Welty. I read “Why I Live at the P.O.” in junior high school, and it’s still one of the funniest and most touching stories I can think of.

Q: You embodied the aging Margaret with a great deal of dignity and clarity of mind and spirit. I couldn’t help but feel that she must have been modeled after someone you were very close to. Why did you craft her as you did?

A: Some people have asked whether Margaret was one of my grandmothers, but the answer is no. That said, both of my grandmothers did spend time in nursing homes near the end of their lives, one when she was in her nineties, and the other, while still a relatively young woman in her 60s, but very ill and no longer able to live alone. So watching both of them struggle to adjust to that environment and then ultimately decline with time clearly helped me write Margaret more honestly than I ever could have otherwise. I’ve gotten letters from readers who tell me that Margaret helps them feel better about what their own paths might hold. That’s an incredible gift to me.

Q: This is a novel that is character-driven, not plot-driven. Such novels can be a hard-sell. Tell us how you went about pitching this novel. Did you face any rejections? If so, how’d you come up with the gumption to press onward? 

A: I’m sure what you’re pointing out is true. The most I can tell you is that I didn’t think about selling the novel until it was time to sell it. Until then, I focused on writing the story that meant something to me. There’s no other way in my opinion. I was very fortunate to find an agent early on who shared my passion, and soon thereafter, several publishers who felt the same. Of course my agent had a sense as to which editors might share her enthusiasm; that’s her job as well as her expertise. But don’t get me wrong --having come from a background in music and theatre, I’ve heard “no” a lot more often than I’ve heard “yes.” I’m sure it will always be that way. The question is what you do with the “no” – or what the “no” does with you. Then you pick up and go on from there, that’s it.

Q: You write with such vivid, rich descriptions. I’m thinking of candy hearts inscribed with “Massage my feet” and labeling carnations the trailer park of flowers. Did these treasures just pop up while writing or did you collect them on index cards over a period of time in anticipation of this?

A: I’m not an index card keeper. I’m easily overwhelmed by too many little scraps of paper. Like Flannery O’Connor, about every two months, I turn into someone crazy and throw away all the paper I can get my hands on. Including bank statements if I’m not careful. I do carry around a small leather notebook though. Unfortunately, what ends up in it is neither very inspired nor inspiring. Most of the time, there are lists of things like: “Call exterminator.” “Dump on Monday.” “Dog food.”  Not really so unlike my Valentine messages when you think about it. Things both necessary and important.

Q: What difficulties did using the setting of a nursing home pose?

A: A nursing home is not a cheerful place – no surprise there. Nor is it the land of Facebook “status updates.” My challenge was to find a way to care about characters in a setting in which nothing much happens to distinguish one day from the next. I chose to use holidays on the calendar as a loose structural arc – in a nursing home, those are the times when there may be guests or some sort of special acknowledgment. The routine is broken, so there’s a window for something new. Soon it became clear to me that the book wasn’t about a nursing home at all, but the associations of five women who would have never come together apart from that setting. Those unlikely contacts and the resulting friendships change their lives. When that happens, the nursing home itself fades.

Q: Lorraine’s recitation of Miss Margaret’s fading is so on-point, it’s painful to read. Was it as painful to write?

A: It was one of the hardest parts of the book for me. I haven’t lived anything remotely close to that experience. So I sat at my desk, scribbling and scratching out, trying to let myself feel everything the two of them might be feeling or imagining, not to mention articulating. I cried more times than I can remember with absolutely no idea where I was headed.

Q: Each of the women have a flash of smart-ass attitude in their approach to life. Do you think southern women in particular steel themselves with humor? 

A: Thank God for people who don’t take themselves too seriously, and not only in the South. That’s why the women of The Sweet By and By can sling attitude at each other the way they do. It’s affectionate, and underneath, there’s also something self-effacing, even at its most sarcastic. One thing these women are NOT is cynical. Cynicism bores me. I think about 1/3 of a teaspoon is plenty for most recipes.

Q: What next?

A: I’m working on it. It’s Southern. Hopefully funny. And probably sad too. I usually don’t take much of one without a little bit of the other. That’s all I can tell you now or else I may need to revisit that pact with the Devil.

From the Blogs

The Authors

A Good Blog is Hard to Find: Denise Hildreth contemplates writing fiction that about things that are important: From the time I was little I loved the power of a story. The ability to take people to places they’ve never been, places they’re hearts long to go, and teach them things their hearts are hungry for. My first book offering wasn’t fiction. It was non-fiction. I wanted to write books that changed people’s lives. But no publisher wanted to publish it. No, it was the first fiction book that I had ever written about a rigged beauty pageant, where women taped their boobs and sprayed their butts…(read more)

Maggie Reads: In an economic depression, Maggie revisits an earlier depression: In these sad economic times emphasis is being placed on work or more importantly the lack of work in our society. Looking for a history of work, I found Reg Theriault’s How to Tell When You’re Tired: A Brief Examination of Work. It is less of a history and more of Theriault own experiences having entered the work force during the depression as a crate maker for fruit. The book chronicles his life among fruit tramps then eventually becoming a longshoreman.

Theriault has a work ethic I admire and found my head nodding in agreement to most of his statements such as, “Poverty and hard work are twin plagues; education is the vaccination against them,” or “I work with an acceptance that it is easier to do the job than to fight it.”…read more

Elsewhere:

Debbie Moose explains how to fry pork chops without turning them into floor tile. Mindy Friddle sees a great blue heron and it naturally puts her in mind of Charles Frazier’s Cold Mountain.

The Bookseller Blogs

A Reading Life: History at street level…I, who had read through an extremely detailed description of what the human body goes through when afflicted with cholera, who can recite the definition of “nightsoil” without batting an eye, felt my stomach flip and turn at the image of a serving woman picking away at the crud caught in a lady’s hair comb….read more

Consuming Books: Minette Walters is the author of 14 suspense novels and the winner of the Crime Writers’ Association Gold Dagger Award, the Edgar Allan Poe Award, and the CWA John Creasey/New Blood Dagger Award, among others.  Her work has been translated into 26 languages.  Walters lives in Dorset, England. I recently went on a Walters binge,  reading The Sculptress, The Ice House, and The Scold’s Bridle.  She still is the Queen of the psychological thriller! Read more

Hooray for Books: The Hunger Games are a spectacle, something to watch every year, sure it’s not the most humane act, but as long as it doesn’t happen to them, it’s okay. That is until it does happen to them. When Katniss’ sister Prim’s name is pulled at the reaping, Katniss steps forward to take her place and becomes a part of the horrible excitement around the Capitol along with Peeta, a boy Katniss’ age, a boy to which Katniss owes a favor because he helped her and her family survive, even if she doesn’t think that he remembers. She, Peeta, and twenty-two other contestants (a boy and a girl from all 12 Districts) now have to fight and survive until just one remains…read more

Page 854: Under the literary influence: Speaking of St. Patrick's Day (see previous post) and a certain activity often associated with it, at least in this country, a writer named Brian McDonald recently posted a clever article in "Proof" a New York Times blog dealing with alcohol. Titled, "Under the Literary Influence" McDonald's piece is written in the style of an addiction confession, and talks about how he fell under the thrall of alcoholic writers when a friend of his handed him a Raymond Chandler novel. Soon he was guzzling not only Chandler but Hammett, Fitzgerald, Hemingway and Bukowski. Eventually he spiraled out of control, not only reading books by these writers but books about them as well….read more

Wordhoarder: Colm Tóibín’s new novel, Brooklyn, is a deceptively simple story of one young woman packed off to Brooklyn in the 1950s. Eilis Lacey is a younger daughter with no firm prospects for either work or marriage in a small town in Ireland during the early 1950s. Her spinster sister and widowed mother arrange a new life in Brooklyn for her through a visiting Irish priest. When she arrives in the strange land, Eilis finds a job, a room at a boarding house, and church duties all waiting for her, but she feels bereft of the generations-old social network that surrounded her at home. Much to her surprise, she makes a place for herself in Brooklyn, and even strikes up a relationship with a well-intentioned Italian man.  However, despite the material success, she can’t fully commit to her new life in Brooklyn because her heart is still in Ireland…read more

Recommended by Southern Indie Booksellers

The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon by David Grann
(Doubleday, $27.50, 9780385513531 / 0385513534)
"Reading more like a script for Indiana Jones than a work of nonfiction, this book vividly brings to life the British explorer Percy Fawcett and the Amazon he loved and explored. Grann seamlessly brings together elements of history, anthropology, and biography into a superb narrative." --Ann Carlson, Harborwalk Books, Georgetown, SC

The Manual of Detection: A Novel by Jedediah Berry
(Penguin Press, $25.95, 9781594202117 / 1594202117)
"This story of a clerk becoming an unlikely detective is the perfect novel noir, like some wonderful, early black-and-white film from France or Germany. The mystery twists and turns, and the universe grows into a beautiful web of fantasy. The Manual of Detection is the most fun circus ride I've been on in years." --Justin Fetterman, The Alabama Booksmith, Birmingham, AL

The Missing: A Novel by Tim Gautreaux
(Knopf, $25.95, 9780307270153 / 0307270157)
"Returning to New Orleans after WWI, Sam Simoneaux wants nothing more than a normal life. But when a child disappears during his shift at work, his life takes an unexpected turn as he sets off on a quest to find her. I have been waiting for a new Tim Gautreaux novel, and he does not disappoint with The Missing." --Teresa Huggins, Blue Elephant Book Shop, Decatur, GA

Lady Banks’ Commonplace Book

Letter from Emily Wharton Sinkler
August 27, 1844

When we were about a quarter of a mile from the carriage a regular mountain storm came up and we were forced to get in again with the addition of addition of Eliza and then such a scene. All four curtained in and the carriage would bump first one side and then the other and the horses would rear and slip and Miss Hannah shrieked and Miss Sally shuddered. Miss Hannah would insist on peeping through the curtains. I told her not to. She would call out, that horse fell then, and now my side of the carriage is touching the ground. I could not help laughing but I was very glad to get home safe with only soreness from the jolt.

--from An Antebellum Household: Portrait of Emily Wharton Sinkler, by Anne Sinkler Whaley LeClerq University of South Carolina Press, 1996

Lady Banks’ Bookshelf

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