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Unforced Error
Well, I went to the library event yesterday. Everything went well until I got up to do my reading–I had picked what I thought was one of the shorter stories in my collection to read aloud. I introduced myself by name and said I was going to read a bit of my work and got started. I was NOT finished with the piece when the organizer asked me to stop so we could move on to the next artist. I had lost track of time or misunderstood my time limit or something. I was so embarrassed, and I just wanted to sink into the ground.
But I kept my composure and got through the rest of the event. And afterwards people were so nice–several people told me they enjoyed my reading, and many people picked up my bookmarks, so I hope that adds up to some pre-orders as well. We had a lot of interesting people there–a Chrisitan romance author, two poets, an author that had published her family stories, a devotional writer, another author that gives her books away to create awareness of domestic violence–a big assortment. But I think everyone enjoyed the presentations and talking to us, the authors.
Note to self–start timing your readings so you know exactly which story you can read at each event. Last time the piece I picked was too long and I had to read too fast. This time, some signals just got crossed, I think. I hope I get better with this with practice. . .
I did come home and do some writing after that so that made the day better. So that was good. I seem to have gotten my groove back in terms of writing every day. I just don’t feel like I’m accomplishing very much. But so far I have around 40,000 total words, so that’s almost halfway! We will see how things go next week!
Happy reading, everyone!
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EVENTS
Author sale and signing for Hurricane Baby: Stories at Picayune Semi-Annual Spring Street Festival, Booth 100, on April 12, 2026, 1 p.m.-3 p.m., Picayune, MS.
Reading and Q&A for Hurricane Baby: Stories, Price Caldwell Reading Series, April 7, 2026, 5:30 p.m. Griffis Forum Room, Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS
HOMEGROWN: A STORIED EXCHANGE, Panel titled “Madville Publishing”, January 31, 2026, 12:50 p.m. University of Southern Mississippi-Gulf Park Campus, Long Beach, MS
The Writing Room at 100 Men Hall, on January 10, 2026 at 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Bay St. Louis, MS
Book Signing for Hurricane Baby: Stories at Dixon Books on December 13, 2025 at 3 p.m. Natchez, MS
Book Signing for Hurricane Baby: Stories at Barnes & Noble on December 6, 2025 at noon-3 p.m. Flowood, MS
Appearance with Walt Grayson on WJTV on August 27, 2025 at 3:30 p.m.
Book Signing for Hurricane Baby: Stories at Barnes & Noble on August 23, 2025 at noon- 3 p.m. Flowood, MS
Appearance with Studio 3 on WLBT on August 18, 2025 at 3 p.m.
Panel Appearance/Book Signing for Hurricane Baby: Stories at Possumtown Book Festival on August 16, 2025. Panel at noon; Signing at 12:45 p.m. in Columbus, MS
Book Signing for Hurricane Baby: Stories at Book Mart and Cafe, August 15, 2025 at 2 p.m. in Starkville, MS
Book Signing for Hurricane Baby: Stories at Impression Books, August 9, 2025 at noon in Flowood, MS
CANCELLED: Book Signing for Hurricane Baby: Stories, Coffee Prose in Highland Village, June 21, 2025 at 1 p.m. Jackson, MS
Book Talk at Mississippi Writers’ Guild–Coastal Chapter, Gulfport Arts Center, June 18, 2025 at 5:30 – 8:30 p.m. Gulfport, MS
Book Signing for Hurricane Baby: Stories, Dog Ear Books, May 31, 2025 at 2 p.m., Brookhaven, MS
Book Talk/Signing/Q&A for Hurricane Baby: Stories, joined by Emme Rocher, Chelsea Library, May 17, 2025, at 1 p.m.-3 p.m., Chelsea, AL
Mississippi Writers’ Guild-Central Mississippi Chapter meeting, Book Talk/Q&A, at Ridgeland City Library, May 10, 2025, at 2 p.m.-3 p.m., Ridgeland, MS.
Hurricane Baby: Stories Book Talk/Q&A, Pontotoc County Library, January 9, 2025, 12:00-1:00 p.m. Pontotoc, MS
CANCELLED: Hurricane Baby: Stories Book Signing, Barnes & Noble Bookstore, December 14, 2024 from 12 noon-3 p.m., Flowood, MS
Hurricane Baby: Stories Reading/Signing, Author Shoppe, November 23, 2024 from 2 p.m.-3:30 p.m. Hattiesburg, MS
Holiday Open House, Book Mart and Cafe, November 10 from 11 a.m.-3 p.m., Starkville, MS
Louisiana Book Festival, Panel on November 2, 2024 at 11:15 a.m. in the Capitol Building in Baton Rouge, LA
Mississippi Book Festival, “Mad for Madville” on September 14 at 9 a.m. at the Capitol Building in Jackson, MS
CANCELLED: Hurricane Baby Signing at The Book Mart and Cafe, September 6 at 2 p.m. at Starkville, MS
Hurricane Baby Reading/Q&A at Ackerman Library on September 5 at 6 p,m, in Ackerman, MS
Hurricane Baby Book Signing and Conversation with Steven Yates at noon at Lemuria Bookstore, in Banner Hall, Jackson, MS, on August 24, 2024.
Television appearance of Julie Liddell Whitehead on Studio 3 on WLBT on August 23, 2024, at 3 p.m.
Radio appearance by Julie Liddell Whitehead on Mississippi Arts Hour, hosted by Kristen Brandt, broadcast on August 18, 2024 on 91.3 FM or your local public radio station.
Reading from Hurricane Baby: Stories. Brandon City Library, April 20, 2024 from 10 a.m.-noon featuring a total of ten authors and other artists, Brandon, MS.
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WomenWrite 2024
So I went to the Mississippi Christian Living writer retreat, named the above this year. It was held at the Bill Waller Crafts Center on the Mississippi Natchez Trace in the Ridgeland area. The building is the home of the Mississippi Craftsman’s Guild and has a lovely shop with finely crafted items, several meeting areas, a large display area for Guild events, etc. Just a great place to have this event.
I got a lot out of the conference this year in that it was very focused on getting your work up to professional standards and giving resources for that as well as giving guidance to getting your work noticed in the larger literary community. The keynote speaker gave a lot of information on story structure, character development, plot development, etc. I enjoyed thinking about how to apply what she was saying to my current work-in-progress as well as seeing how closely what I had done in Hurricane Baby lined up with what she said.
A lot of the marketing tips I took special attention to, also–trying to mine for ideas of places I could go and get my book out in front of people once it’s released. One woman mentioned organizing virtual book clubs using Google Meets, and I am giving that some serious thought. I think I will get in touch with her over email for more information on how to do that.
I handed out a lot of my sell-sheet and my new bookmarks I made to hand out at events as well. So hopefully I was able to scare up some pre-orders this weekend myself.
And we did some writing as well–I wrote a scene for my work-in-progress; it may stay, or it may go. But it was a freeing thing to write in a fresh bright space without feeling what happens when I work from home–like there’s this chore or that shore to catch up. That sort of thing. So it was really nice.
For locals to the metro Jackson, Mississippi area, I’ll be reading from Hurricane Baby at the Brandon Library Arts Brunch on April 20, 2024. The event runs from 10 a.m.-noon, and registration is at this link: https://cmrls.evanced.info/signup/EventDetails?EventId=20155&backTo=Calendar&startDate=2024/04/14
Winding up that this event was very interesting–I happened across a Facebook page for my city that had an announcement for the event, calling for authors to sign up. I called immediately and left my name and number for the organizer, Amy Lee. She called me back and sounded very happy to have me involved in the event! I believe there’s about ten authors being featured, so it will be nice to see who all is involved!
It’s all getting more and more like it’s actually happening with each milestone I pass. Thanks for reading and sharing these highlights with me!
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Moving Along
I finished a good twelve-page chunk of my work-in-progress done this week! Now I need to map what happens in the next few sections so I’ll have more to work from.
I go to a local writing retreat next weekend and hopefully learn a little about marketing my work. I will be armed with my bookmarks for Hurricane Baby to pass around if anyone is interested. I’m looking forward to hearing from the other speakers as well.
Otherwise I have had a rough week, and I don’t really want to get into it.
Next week I’ll have a little more to talk about that’s good. Watch this space!
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News From My Publisher
My book has been live with a pre-order button on Amazon less than a week. On Friday, my publisher sent me this screenshot of my Amazon sales rankings, out of all the books published to the site.
To say I was gobsmacked would be an understatement. I don’t know how the algorithms on Amazon work. But my publisher indicated that these numbers mean the books are getting A LOT of attention from somewhere. Pre-orders aren’t tracked by Amazon until the book is released. And the rankings change hourly. But for a debut author with a small press to be able to be discovered enough to generate these numbers? Bizarre.
I am hoping, hoping, hoping to get back into my work-in-progress tomorrow. I have a lot of angst to work out, and I think this new book is the place to do it. Thanks, as always, for reading!
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SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT!
I found out this week that Hurricane Baby: Stories has been nominated for a Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters 2024 Fiction Award! I had heard of this award but didn’t know much about it; you can look up more information about it here.
CELEBRATING my first-ever Pushcart Prize nomination for a story from Hurricane Baby: Stories titled, “Neighbors Helping Neighbors” Thanks to Madville Publishing for this recognition!
HEY! Hurricane Baby: Stories made a list! Thank you to the Southern Review of Books! Check it out!
Advance copies of Hurricane Baby: Stories are in! Aren’t they pretty!?
Go to the Hurricane Baby: Stories page and order online from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Madville, Bookshop, Wal-Mart, Target, Goodreads, and StoryGraph!
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Good Evening!
I didn’t post yesterday because we were traveling by car most of the day.
Just got the notification that Hurricane Baby is up for pre-order on Barnes & Noble! You can click on the Hurricane Baby: Stories page on the left-hand side of the blog and then click on the preorder button provided, or you can go to this link (paperback is the only format available there right now):
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/hurricane-baby-julie-liddell-whitehead/1145144169?ean=9781956440959
Pre-orders are really important to get buzz going early for the book, so feel free to take advantage of these connections! Thank you for reading!
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Housekeeping Details
Just heard from my publisher–my full book cover is final, and I have a QR code I can slap on all my marketing materials so people can order just by pointing their phones at it! I just ordered VistaPrint bookmarks that I plan to hand out at events.
I have one event coming up–Hurricane Baby the play is having a staged reading coming up. I’ve got everything ready to go to it all lined up–hotel room, ride, etc. I’m looking forward to that. More details will be available closer to time. But I’m looking forward to it.
My new writing has been on hold lately. We have had a lot going on in my family and in my work life, and I’ve honestly been too exhausted to concentrate on my work-in-progress. I hope to be able to change that soon.
And my publisher has said pre-orders are already coming in. So that made me feel good!
Whew. Will ride already. Wish me well with further info and events to come soon! See code below to order Hurricane Baby: Stories for delivery August 2024!
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Terror
So I wrote last week about being really excited that Hurricane Baby had opened for pre-orders.
This week I’m writing about the terror.
I started having really high levels of anxiety about the idea of my book in the hands of readers and thinking about “What if they don’t like it? What will people think about me as a person after reading this?”
And I just kept letting my mind spin out of control with those thoughts.
What finally broke the spiral was an email from Lisa Cooper Ellison, an author I admire very much. She wrote about her recent micro nonfiction that had been published in the Tiny Love Stories feature in the New York Times and how she simultaneously felt a surge of pride and a wave of fear. Fear of not handling all the attention in a good way, fear of not being able to leverage the opportunities the publication might give her, etc.
It felt so validating that someone else felt the same kind of feelings I was feeling when something so wonderful had happened in her writing career. I wrote her an email letting her know that she had helped me come to grips with my anxiety.
So now the fear has worn itself out after bedeviling me for several days. I feel much better knowing that those feelings are common to other writers also and can be overcome.
So I am back to normal now (as close as I’ll ever get to that) and am ready to continue this journey. Onward!
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FOR SALE!
Good afternoon! This past Friday night, I got the note from Madville Publishing that my book, Hurricane Baby: Stories, is now LIVE FOR PRE-ORDERS!
Go to the left-hand menu and click on the book’s title to see the brand-new webpage for my book, and you will see a button to click to pre-order my book through Madville Publishing’s site with delivery scheduled for August 20, 2024. As the book goes live in other places like Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bookshop.org, I will add those buttons for you to click on as well. If you want to support your local bookshop as well, you can go and request that they order/stock it.
This page will be updated as I do events, readings, signings, and appearances. If you would like me to come do a reading or speak at your event, school, library, or festival, use the contact form to let me know, and I will see what I can work out!
This past weekend, I went to the annual meeting of the Mississippi Philological Association, which was held by the Mississippi School of Math and Science on the campus of Mississippi University for Women, where I studied for my MFA. I read the first story in the collection, “Still Waters”, and was terrified the whole time. I’ve never read anything as intense as that story out loud in public before this, and it showed. My mouth was so dry I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to finish it. It was well-received by the largely academic crowd, which made me feel good.
But this event, where I know people are going to be spending their hard-earned money on a book I wrote, is momentous. My life is not going to be the same again after this year. But I think that’s good. Keep growing, keep writing, keep learning. That’s my takeaway. Onward and upward!
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Julie Liddell Whitehead 