jdlwhitehead

Meeting the Moment

I’ve started wondering what exactly I need to be writing about.

I’ve got a novel idea that excited me for a while.

But the wackier this country is getting, the more I wonder if I need to be using my voice, small as it is, to do more than just fret about that.

I was schooled on the idea of journalists as objective observers of the actions of the body politic–good, bad, or indifferent. I tried to embody that in my writing, giving readers facts to let them make their own conclusions. This tack was pretty easy when I was doing features coverage: who, what, when, where, why, and how pretty much covered it.

Then I got into investigative reporting on mental health issues in my state–a topic very close to home given my diagnosis of bipolar disorder. I wrote and wrote and wrote–exposed, exposed, and exposed–and exactly nothing changed in practical terms. A few new laws got passed about training more people and setting up a new task force to replace the last task force, but that was all.

And I got burned out.

I could not see how someone involved in mental health matters could have read my work and not come away with a resolve to do what they could to change matters. But it seems they could.

I had been raising awareness for almost twenty years. I was tired of raising awareness. I wanted action. And it wasn’t forthcoming.

Now this country is on a collision course with history. I’m in the catbird seat to watch it–older, wiser, jaded, smart enough to able to see clearly through the smoke and mirrors, and seriously wondering where all my ideals went.

If we are no longer a free society, then what are we?

I’ve skated through life being comfortable with my political ideology as a moderate–suspicious of extremists of any flavor. I still feel that people can be trusted to make good decisions when given all the facts. But the very concept of what constitutes a fact is under attack from every conceivable direction these days.

What should we, as writers, do? It no longer seems to matter if we expose corruption as there’s no guarantee it will ever be prosecuted. No one seems to be interested in reading or hearing about government malfeasance unless the content already fits their own narrative.

I believe the answer is to write anyway. At least you can go to bed and sleep soundly, knowing you did your part.

I don’t know what this means for me yet. But I’m ready to find out.

Watch This Space!

Updates soon!

First Amendment

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

There is the law. Plain and simple.

I am an absolutist on the First Amendment. An American has the right to say, print, write, sculpt, compose, or create any kind of speech, and the Congress cannot make such expressions illegal. No matter what that American says or does. Americans have the right to freedom of speech.

What Americans do not have a right to is a platform, an audience, a market, attention, renumeration, or approval by society. No one should be required to view your art, read your book, or listen to a performance of your music. Americans have the freedom to choose what speech they will or will not consume. That’s why televisions come with an off button. That’s why books can be returned for their purchase price. That’s why people wear noise-cancelling earphones.

Somewhere in the discussion of free speech, the metric for speech being free is no longer that I have a right to say whatever I want, but that others have to be required to approve of what I want to say and support it with their words, their vote, and their tax dollars or my right to free speech is being repressed.

No. The First Amendment makes no such promises. People can and will hate you for your speech. People can and will be made uncomfortable by speech they don’t like. People can and will make you pay consequences for words they find offensive or beyond the pale.

That’s how a free society works. That’s how adults interact with each other. Demanding favorable attention for your free speech antics stops being cute around five years of age. Learn better. Be better. Do better.

Mississippi Book Festival 2025

I went again to this year’s book festival and had a wonderful time–I met MJ there and we walked around saying hello to everyone I knew. I also met several new people that I had not before, like the folks in charge of the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters, the University of Southern Mississippi Creative Writing program, the future Greenfield Residency program, and the Hancock County Library programs. Really neat organizations that I hope can continue on even as support for the arts is dwindling here.

I’m feeling at loose ends. My enthusiasm for my new manuscript suddenly disappeared last week. It was very disturbing. And I’m not quite able to figure out how to find it again. I may just have to do some for-my-eyes-only writing to figure out my why and what I actually want to do with the project. I may wait until I sell my current manuscript to start back on it in earnest since the energy is not there at this point. We will see.

But one of the sessions yesterday was very illuminating on what may have happened–the moderator, Steve Almond, said that you need to write what you’re obsessed about. When I first wrote the manuscript, I had an obsession–to explore the relationship between these two characters and see where it would go. But now I’m turning it into a very different book–about how the female lead overcomes when her life suddenly falls apart. I need to figure out why readers should care about this character. So I think that’s where I’m going to direct my efforts.

Happy writing, everybody!

First Nibble!

This morning, I got my first bite on my queries—a press sent me an email to submit my entire manuscript of Looking for Home. It’s a group in Oklahoma specializing in Southern literature. So mine may be right up their alley. Or not. We will have to see.

I sent three more queries around the first of the month–another press opens on September 15, and another one does on September 30. Then three more in October and four in November. The path just keeps rolling forward!

In other news, my last events went off without a hitch. Each one was fun and informative, and I tried to make the best case for the book I could in each interview. But the best marketing effort for the month was definitely me talking about networking helping my author journey on Jane Friedman’s site. Drove a lot of traffic to my blog and a lot of orders to my publisher. So that was amazing.

I’ve gone ahead and started my third book manuscript, with a working title of What Lies Ahead. I’m reworking yet another old manuscript from when I was writing back in the late 2000s. I’m moving very slowly writing the new first chapter that will hopefully set the tone for the entire rest of the book. I’m looking forward to feeling like I have a handle on the material. Because right now I don’t. 🙂

Oh well. We will see how it goes. Happy reading and writing everyone!

Dogmud Tavern

My husband and I were trying to figure out where to eat lunch today, and I was checking out Google to see if I could find somewhere that looked good that we maybe hadn’t been to. I found Dogmud Tavern–we had passed by it several times in driving in that area, so I scrolled down to the menu, and the name of one of the dishes caught my eye:

Sandwiches: Werewolf’s Bait.

Wait. . . WHAT?

Then I saw another sandwich: Rebeus Hagrid. Then this: Werechicken Pizza

Then the desserts: The Shredder–a TURTLE brownie.

I started reading the entree names to Bob. We had found, in little ol’ Ridgeland, MS, a restaurant where the dishes seemed to be inspired by literary fantasy worlds every nerd in the world knows. We HAD to visit if just to satisfy our curiosity.

So we drove over. We walked in the door and were greeted by a young lady into a reasonable facsimile of a medieval mead hall. Banners from various fandoms–Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, anime and manga–hung from the ceiling. The bar sported a giant skeleton pouring drinks above it. Display cases with Star Wars, Harry Potter, and other big LEGO builds stood along the walls.

I turned and looked at my husband; he was grinning, just looking around and taking it all in. I said, “I think we’ve just found our happy place.”

Seeing the actual menu was a revelation. There was a page of brunch items labeled “Second Breakfast”. A page of twenty different booze shots–which one you received was, of course, determined by a roll of a d20 dice, if that’s how you roll.

I asked the waitress, “Is this a chain restaurant?”

She smiled. “No, we’re local. We celebrated our fourth year in April.”

The food was delicious, but the feeling of community was even better. The whole time we were there, I felt the same sense of being seen and understood as I did when watching the movie “The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”, where all the characters turned out to be heroes of 19th century British literature. A literary fantasy restaurant? In Mississippi? That shouldn’t be possible.

Yet there she stands.

Winding Down

Well, yesterday was a great day at my local Barnes & Noble branch–I sold over half the books they ordered for me and met some really cool people by saying hi and good afternoon to everyone who walked within talking distance of my table. I also decided to create a list of everything I need to take to a book event from now on because I left half of it at home! But the bookstore seemed pleased; they let me sign what books were left over, and then they invited me back for the Christmas season to do another event! So that made me feel good.

This week I have three interviews–one with an MFA mate in the metro-DC area on Tuesday via Zoom, another with a different local TV station with local TV personality Walt Grayson, who has been in broadcasting longer than I’ve been alive, and a final one on Friday with an MFA mate and author Rod Davis from Texas who is releasing a Katrina novel in September this year.

And then I’m done for a while.

I’m not completely done with book events. Even though I’m not a panelist this year, I plan to attend the Mississippi Book Festival in September. I am going to work with our local library to start up a writers’ group for the last four months of the year and then gauge interest in continuing. And I already have three events in January 2026 scheduled and another set up at Mississippi State University, where I went to school, for April 2026. So the fun isn’t over quite yet.

But what a ride it has been. I’m hopping back on the query merry-go-round with my new completed manuscript and will see what happens from here. I’ve got another story cooking in my head, but I’m not going to actually start drafting until I get the current one sold, if ever. No use in getting ahead of myself.

New Post–BOOK BIRTHDAY EDITION!

Yes! A year ago today, on August 20, 2024, Hurricane Baby: Stories debuted to the world! My first book ever published, and my life has not been the same since that day.

I had been doing some media events beforehand and had a nice little stack of pre-orders. The actual day was a little anti-climactic–I went on with my Tuesday workday routine. I got some emails and some comments on social media congratulating me on the announcement. What really sticks out in my mind is my MFA thesis director, Ellen Ann, sent me a vase of flowers–daisies and other greenery. I think I’ll remember that forever.

But then I had my first-ever book signing at Lemuria Bookstore in Jackson, MS. A moment I had been dreaming of for literal years was unfolding right in front of my eyes. I felt like I was floating a foot off the floor all day long.

Then the Mississippi Book Festival 2024. An event I had dreamed of being a part of ever since it first began in 2014–and I made it on to a panel! I mingled with the other authors; I walked around meeting friends old and new. I had a new appreciation of the volunteers and of the visitors, who love books and bookish people enough to keep this event going for over a decade.

And my tour plan kept unfolding–at least one event a month for the entire year. Many social media postings, many, many emails to publications for publicity, many, many, many phone calls to event organizers for other appearances. I traveled mostly throughout Mississippi, with one trip to Louisiana and another trip to Alabama thrown in there.

Two events I’m particularly proud of: in September, I went to the little county library where I had checked out so many books, read so many magazines, and worked at so many Saturdays and read my book aloud to a group of family, friends, and teachers who had known me just about my whole life. And later in March, I went back to my high school alma mater, not to read or sign my book, but to tell the senior and junior classes that I had been just like them–exactly where they were, in this same exact school. And I had decided what I wanted to do with my life and that I didn’t let anything, not disability, not bipolar disorder, not anything, stop me from achieving it.

So many people came together to make this year so special. If I start naming names, I’m going to forget someone. Just thanks to all the booksellers, festival organizers and volunteers, reading series organizers, teachers, professors, journalists, editors, blurbers, librarians who put my book on their shelves, and readers who have made this year so special!

I have a few events still on the schedule in the coming weeks. But I’m querying a new book now, and that will likely take up a great deal of time in the coming months. Soon my time with Hurricane Baby will draw to a close. But this year will be in my memory for quite some time to come. Happy Birthday!

Possumtown Book Fest Weekend

So this weekend was full of book fun! I went to Starkville Book Mart and Cafe for a signing on Friday–they brought out a punchbowl for visitors and me and Bob and employees to partake of–after I signed my first book at the event, I went and got a cup of punch, and the pattern was set. Now it was a drinking game; for every book sold, I got a cup of punch. Good thing it wasn’t spiked! We sold half the books we had on hand–she had some and I brought some and let her keep them and sell them herself. So I took away a nice check at the end of the day.

Then Saturday, I went to the 2nd Annual Possumtown Book Fest in Columbus, MS just a few miles down the highway from Starkville. That was a LOT of fun! Met some people, like my online writing buddy Shannon, the organizer and bookstore owner Emily Liner, the novelist Snowden Wright, my panel mates Benjamin and Nadia, and various other authors I knew only by reputation. I saw a lot of folks I already knew–MFA alumni, Bookstagramers, MUW professors, MSU professors, Mississippi Art Commision people, etc.

I had fun on my panel. I talked about why I wrote Hurricane Baby: Stories, how I felt being a Mississippi writer, what being a Mississippian was all about, etc. I carried on a good bit, as we Mississippians tend to do. And I got quoted in the local Columbus paper this morning! So that was a neat extra and hopefully may send people to the bookstore to get a copy of my book on Monday or this weekend. That would be nice.

This week I have a TV appearance and my last scheduled book signing. Things are winding down for Hurricane Baby. After this week, I have another TV appearance and two podcast interviews. Then I have a few events scheduled for 2026 already. In three days, the book will have its first birthday. Quite the milestone and a punctuation mark to a wild year!

Rolling Along

This week is going to be wild!

On Thursday, I’ll have an article coming out on Jane Friedman’s website on networking as a debut author! It was amazing how that opportunity came together; I just cold-emailed her the idea of doing an article on my author journey and threw in everything but the kitchen sink into the pitch. She emailed back that if I picked ONE of those ideas, it would probably make a good article. So I pulled out that strand, and she said to give it a shot! That runs August 14 at https://janefriedman.com/

On Friday I go back to my college town bookstore and do a signing there–I hope it goes well as well. Give us an opportunity to see some old stomping grounds, me and Bob. The owner wants me to talk the local newspaper to do an article on the twenty-year Katrina anniversary this month so Monday I’m going to see what I can do about that.

And I’ve also started receiving all the materials for the Possumtown Book Fest this Saturday in Columbus, Mississippi–schedules, directions, information, contacts, etc. It looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun! I’ll see a lot of people I’m familiar with from school and some I know only by reputation. Hopefully meet a few people, too. This is only the second year they’ve offered it, and I’m really proud to be involved. I would have attended last year except it happened on the day of my first signing!

Such an amazing week! And there’s more where that came from the NEXT week as well. Hope to see some of you around!