Tag: book tour

Goals

Day after tomorrow, I’m going to speak to the first of three Rotary Clubs that have invited me to present a talk involving my journey with Hurricane Baby: Stories. If you aren’t familiar with Rotary Clubs, they tend to be members of the business community that have come together to do service projects for their town, county, etc. These particular clubs meet once a week. I’m doing one on May 5, another on May 21, and another on June 11.

I’ve decided to give my talk on the process I used to set and achieve my goals for Hurricane Baby. I’m going to open with a question: I’m not asking for a show of hands–but have any of you ever had a dream/vision/goal for your life that was ridiculous? Something where you wanted to do it but talked yourself out of it–because it was ridiculous, frivolous, or impossible?

Then I’m going to go through my goal-setting process.

SET A VISION! Decide what you want to do. You can have several visions over the course of your life. As you achieve one, find another.

STUDY UP! Learn everything you can about what it will take to achieve your vision.

SET MINI-GOALS! Break down the process into parts–and while doing those parts, only focus on those parts.

SET A PLAN! What are you going to do to meet those goals?

PLAN TO SUCCEED! Know what to do as you go.

PLAN TO FAIL! What will you do if you don’t succeed?

EXECUTE! Carry out the plan you’ve set to accomplish the first mini-goal, then the next, then the next.

FOCUS! on your plan and your goal every day. Always be working!

HAVE GRACE! Handle frustrations. If the plan isn’t working, change the plan to one that does work.

WHEN YOU SUCCEED, CELEBRATE! Celebrate each mini-goal as you complete it and then celebrate when the total dream comes true!

Then I’m going to read the first few pages of Hurricane Baby, then do Q&A if there’s any time left. I’ll have my books there to buy and sign if anybody wants one.

Pray for me doing this. I am not quite a bundle of nerves about it, but I can use all the encouragement I can get. Thanks!

Some Surprises!

Earlier this week, I spent a few days in Starkville, Mississippi, home to Mississippi State University.

Home.

I grew up in Fentress, Mississippi, thirty minutes away from Starkville, down Mississippi Highway 12. I graduated with my B. A. and M. A. from there in the early ’90s.

Never did I ever dream that one day, a book I wrote would be required reading in a class offered by that university. Never did I ever think a book of mine would greet visitors to the English Department by being in a display next to the likes of Brad Watson, God rest his soul. (see photo–credit to Daughter #3 for that picture).

I did a lot of dreaming when I was a student there–but I never went that far in my mind.

I read my work to an audience while I was there that was so appreciative and seemed so interested in what I had to say about writing and the writing life. It was all I could do not to pinch myself standing in front of them.

(You can see the video of the event if you go to the Hurricane Baby: Stories page and click on “Press”)

And I sold and signed some books at that event as well. So lovely to be able to do that.

Then this weekend, I went to a small town new to me–Picayune, Mississippi. They had a street fair downtown; one of the booth organizers had reached out on social media for Mississippi authors, and I volunteered to go. Spent this afternoon talking to folks and selling my dark little story collection. I didn’t really know what to expect as far as sales there–I’d never done an outdoor venue like that before.

And I sold half the books I took–about as many books than I’d actually sold at the university event.

Readers are everywhere, y’all. Make hay while the sun shines.

Lots to Celebrate with Lots of Links!

So today represents the first fiction I’ve placed since I published Hurricane Baby–this work is a storyline I first created in 2009 as part of a novel about a week of loss in the small community of Rock Star, Mississippi. Much later on, I took one of those stories told in the book and turned it into a short story of the day Glenn Crawford buried his wife, Gina, who died of breast cancer at 33, leaving him with two young children. That story, “This Side of Heaven“, published today in Salvation South, a magazine committed to telling the multiplicity of stories that feature the mind and sensibility of the modern southeastern United States. Thanks so much to Chuck Reese for taking this story and putting it out to the world.

Also this weekend, my alma mater, Mississippi State University in Starkville, Mississippi, put out a news release about my upcoming appearance there. You can see the whole story here: From the Eye of the Storm: New accounts of Katrina shared at MSU Price Caldwell Lecture | Mississippi State University.

But this is my favorite paragraph: “I admire the way Whitehead brings her characters to life so vividly and makes us care about them. This collection is a literary page turner that my students and I have enjoyed reading and discussing,” said Becky Hagenston, MSU English professor and director of the department’s creative writing emphasis. Hearing this about the student reaction makes me really look forward to the classroom Q&A I’m scheduled for.

I also got word about what sounds like a cool event in Picayune, Mississippi, the Picayune Semi-Annual Spring Street Festival: Events. I am partnering with Tracy Ledford and other authors to man a bookish tent at the event where I can sell and sign books from 1-3 p.m. on Sunday, April 12. Picayune is about as far southwest you can go and still be in Mississippi. I’m really looking forward to visiting and seeing what all they have going on in their creative communities.

Whew. That’s a lot going on. I really never thought I’d still be promoting my book six months after the one-year anniversary of its publication. But it’s a lovely surprise to be doing so.

More Encouragement

Late last week I got an email from Chuck Reece at Salvation South–he opened with, “No one should have to wait eleven months to hear from a submission.”

I didn’t even remember sending him anything. After some checking, I realized the submission had been sent in April 2025, probably just after they ran a story from my very good friend Ellen Ann Fentress about Dusti Bonge’s second-act reinvention in mid-century Mississippi.

Even though it took eleven months, I was gratified by the fourth sentence where he wrote they liked my story “This Side of Heaven” and wanted to publish it with some trimming being done.

I’m cool with that.

So the first step in that process is a video conference with Chuck, probably this Thursday. (He had to catch his breath from being at the week-long AWP Conference and Bookfair in Baltimore. I could understand that.)

Otherwise, this month I go to William Carey University in Hattiesburg for the Mississippi Philogical Association meeting on March 20-21 where I’m going to read from Looking For Home at a creative writing panel late Friday afternoon. Then on April 6, I head up to Mississippi State University for the Caldwell Reading Series event that I have been looking forward to ever since I got the word that Hurricane Baby had been accepted for publication.

And that’s the last book event I’m scheduled to appear at for 2026. I plan to go to other events, like Possumtown Book Fest in August and Mississippi Book Festival in September. I have a couple of submissions out for other events but not any real expectations to be accepted.

I am doing some thinking about what comes next. I’m still sending out Looking for Home to small presses; the last one on my list is Four Way Books, which opens for submissions on November 1. I’m still thinking I won’t go back into a book project until I have a contract for Looking for Home. But I may change my mind again, too. That’ll be fine, too. Maybe I’ll write more short stories. Maybe I’ll get back into poetry. I also saw a call-for-papers for creative nonfiction, research, or academic work about revisiting childhood favorite books. I’m slowly drafting an abstract for a paper for that project.

Thinking counts as writing. Don’t forget that. Happy March, y’all.

Regrouping

So what’s ahead for me?

I didn’t schedule much for the first quarter of 2026 since I thought I’d be working on publicity for Looking for Home.

So I do have a few events upcoming for Hurricane Baby but not nearly as many as I did for the end of this past year.

Next event is HOMEGROWN: A Storied Exchange on the Gulf Park campus of University of Southern Mississippi the last weekend of January. My part of the now four-day event is on Saturday, January 31, when I am on a panel of three Madville authors and our publisher talking about Madville, small press publishing, and our particular work ad publishing journeys. I will be in and out of events all day and hope to see a lot of friends and colleagues as I’m there.

February is open so far; I hope to ramp back up doing any new writing and querying during that time. I still have my chapbook on submission and will be looking at other possibilities for submitting Looking for Home some new places I haven’t tried yet.

March brings a good event around–the Mississippi Philogical Association is meeting in Hattiesburg at William Carey University. I read Hurricane Baby in public for the first time at the 2024 MPA meeting; I still plan to read from Looking for Home even though I’m not launching it that month like I originally hoped. Lots of familiar faces will be there as well.

Then in April is an event I have been hoping to have ever since I got word that Hurricane Baby was going to be published–the Price Caldwell Reading Series is bringing me to Mississippi State University to talk to students about the book in a graduate workshop that morning then do a public reading from the book that night. Dr Caldwell was my favorite professor at MSU when I was a student there, and reading in his memory is going to be quite the honor.

So I am moving along. Playing the long game. And though I’m probably in the fourth quarter of my writing life, the clock just started, and I have a fresh set of downs to work with! Looking ahead to what’s in store for me. Happy writing for you all!

The 100 Men Hall in Bay St. Louis, Mississippi

I went and spoke at this venue this past Saturday–they have a writer-in-residence, Ellen Morris Prewitt, and a writers’ group that meets once a month there for three hours. So I talked about my publishing journey to Hurricane Baby, then we wrote for a while. After we did some reading of our writing, then I talked about setting a vision for writing, setting goals, making plans to meet those goals, and about how those words all mean slightly different processes that give us a roadmap for accomplishing what we want. Then we wrote more about that and wound up the session with sharing what we felt comfortable with about all of that.

I felt very good after the event. I had wondered if I would feel rusty after spending less time doing events after this past August. But I did my regular talks and read from the book for the first time in a while without any trouble. So that was a confidence-booster. And the organizers and writers were so kind and attentive and responsive. I appreciated that.

My next event is back on the Coast–I’m on a panel for Homegrown, the Mississippi Gulf Coast’s literary festival. I will be reading from Hurricane Baby and doing Q&A as far as I know right now. That’s on January 31 at the University of Southern Mississippi-Gulf Park campus. I’m looking forward to the energy of seeing so many folks I know for that event. I’m hanging in there. Hope you are, too. Happy writing!

Yesterday

You never know what’s going to happen at a signing.

Right as I got set up to sell and sign, a gentleman came up to me with that look on his face–the “do I know you from somewhere?” look. I said, “I recognize you from somewhere, too, but I’m not sure where.”

No matter–he picked up a book and said “I’ll buy it!”–no questions about it, no me giving a sales pitch, nothing. Then as I was inscribing it for a gift, he picked up another one as well for another gift. And I inscribed it and signed as well.

Then another lady bought two at a time as well–and just like I that I’d sold four within the first forty minutes. I was on a roll– that continued on throughout the afternoon.

The girl who told me she was in sixth grade during Hurricane Katrina and had been obsessed with the event ever since. She walked away with a copy.

The older man who became emotional when telling me about working on the Gulf Coast among hurricane victims. I did not begrudge him walking away without buying–he had been through enough.

The chubby little girl and boy who kept coming up to ask if they could have more complimentary candy out of my bowl. I smiled as I said yes.

The last one I sold was to a lady who’s mother was buying it for her for a Christmas present–that made ten sales on the day. I only had one left out of the books I had brought. I had sold all the books the store had bought so that felt good as well!

I thanked everyone for a good event and left out, ready to prepare for the next signing at Dixon Books in Natchez, MS on Saturday, December 13 with fellow Madville novelist RJ Lee. Hope to see you there!

Busy, Busy

Last night I answered questions from the design team for Looking for Home about my book, key scenes, setting, suggested cover images, and characters to inform the design of the book. That was fun! Hopefully some designs come in later in the week and I can pick from them.

The designer said she liked to try to pull the theme out of the book and into the cover to attract the reader. I have no idea how that might work–I know what I’ve always envisioned for the cover, but I don’t have a graphics design degree, so I truly have no idea what may be coming. But I look forward to finding out!

In other news, I have another two events this coming month for Hurricane Baby: Stories! I go back to Barnes and Noble Booksellers in Flowood, MS on Saturday, December 6 from noon to three p.m., signing and selling books for Christmas. Then the next weekend on Saturday, December 13, from three to five p.m. I sign and sell books alongside Natchez native RJ Lee at Dixon Books in Natchez, MS for their Christmas sales. So we will see how those events go.

Things seem to be moving fast this holiday season–before you know it, it’ll be Christmas, then New Year’s. If you want to buy a book by an indie author, debut author, and Mississippi author all in one, click on “Hurricane Baby: Stories” in the left-hand menu, then look for the order buttons to the right on the book page. I think you’ll be glad you did!

Three Little Wins

I had a series of small votes of confidence the past two weeks, and I want to share them to show that sometimes it only takes a bit of encouragement to keep going.

I have been invited to speak at Mississippi State University on April 7, 2026, the school I got my BA and MA from. This invite was very exciting, but so was the information that came with it–I’m also going to meet with a creative writing class for a Q&A with graduate students. And they’re going to have read Hurricane Baby as part of the curriculum for the class.

My book will be a textbook for a writing class. I’ll be REQUIRED READING, y’all!

Second–my publisher put out a photo advertising the press’ books. It was labeled “Best of the Best” and captioned “Best Sellers”. And Hurricane Baby was in the shot! (I have no way of knowing if I’m really a best seller–but it looks good in my Facebook feed!)

Number three–I got an email congratulating me on my new book, and the writer said he looked forward to getting a copy and reading it so he could nominate it for the Mississippi Arts and Letters Fiction Award. I was stunned. I barely know this person–and he has this kind of belief in my work? AMAZING.

Like I said, small encouragements. And maybe I’m reading too much into them. But they helped me break through my imposter syndrome and actually write on my new work-in-progress. And that’s a big something for me.

Happy writing, y’all!

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.