Tag: Hurricane Baby

Louisiana Book Festival 2024

So us Madvillians went down to Baton Rouge, Louisiana this weekend for this event. It’s much like the Mississippi one, with panels, booksellers, food trucks, etc. We stayed at the hotel designated for the festival because we didn’t know what the parking situation would be, so we rode a shuttle service they had set up.

On the shuttle, we met a very pleasant man named Victor Dixen who spoke English with a French accent. He was dressed out in 17th century clothing with a tricorn hat and was also an author doing a panel–he said he writes vampire novels set in French history. He asked Bob to take some pictures of him on the steps of the capitol building, and we decided after we went and got me registered, we’d go to his panel since it was in the same room as mine.

It was a horror/dark fantasy panel, with Victor, another author that finished two incomplete novels left by George Romero, and two ladies, one who wrote a novel from the point-of-view of the Dark Lady of Shakespeare’s sonnets, and another that constructed a bestiary of magical creatures. We couldn’t have picked a better one as far as Bob was concerned. He thoroughly enjoyed it. I also saw Ellen Ann Fentress, my thesis director, and introduced her to Bob.

Our panel was me plus three other authors published by Madville: Steve Yates, who I work with at my job; RJ Lee, an author from Oxford, and added in was Rod Davis from San Antonio. We had a very few people at our panel, but we plugged along and had a cool conversation about craft, etc. Very rewarding. And all the people who attended bought all four of our books, and Rod decided to buy books from us, the three Mississippi writers, which I thought was kind of him. We also signed a t-shirt for a lady collecting signatures as a gift for her daughter. So that was a warm, fuzzy feeling, too.

Next up is Starkville, Mississippi at the Book Mart and Cafe’s holiday open house event, the place where earlier, they didn’t receive my books in time. So I am looking forward to that next Sunday with a slate of other authors. And I hope to collaborate with this bookseller to have library events in Starkville and Louisville next year. So I’ve got a lot cooking for the new year already!

Check in next week and see how Starkville goes!

After the Debut

Hurricane Baby: Stories has been out for about two months now. So I thought I’d post a few things I’ve noticed going on in my head and my life since the debut, actually after I signed the deal in the first place.

A book deal will not fix you.

If you are looking for something to ease the doubt about your abilities, fill the God-shaped hole in your soul, or validate that you have a role to play in God’s plan for the universe, a book deal is not that thing.

Signing a book contract does feel really good for a while. But it will not quiet the voices in your head that say you’re a poser, a dilettante, a pretender. Someone you know will get a better deal. You may not be able to dive into another work right away. Someone you know will sell more than you do. And all of those things will combine to make you feel like an imposter again and you won’t understand why that is.

If selling the book to a publisher is hard, selling a book to the reading public is way harder.

You can schedule a signing, and it seems like everyone you know will message you telling why they can’t make it. The books may not arrive in time. You may not get invited to all the cool kids’ books conferences, and if you do, you may sell one book at that event. You may go weeks with no sales. And all the grinding, strategizing, networking, and peppy social media posts you do may do nothing to move the needle on sales at all. Selling books is hard, and no one told us or trained us in doing any of it.

Releasing your work out in the world is terrifying.

A few weeks after I got the news about selling the book, I was seized by terror. Surely something bad was about to happen to take the joy this achievement brought into my life. The first time I read aloud from the book at a conference, my voice shook so bad I didn’t know if I could finish.

When I found out it was open for pre-orders. I was giddy for two weeks, then realized–people I know are going to read this book. People I don’t know will read it. What if I get a bad review? What if someone comes up to me someday and says how much they hated it?

Don’t let your mind think about all that. It doesn’t take you anywhere nice.

And remember, other people will not care as much as you do. Surround yourself with writing friends who get it, but large swaths of people you know and consider friends will not remember to pre-order your book, or call you on release day, or leave a review on Amazon. All those people who have been living rent-free in your head all this time that you were going to prove something to? Pfft. They don’t care.

And that’s all right.

Why?

Because to me, letting people inside my head and my heart is a payoff in a league all its own. Watching someone I don’t know come up to me asking that I sign their book, where maybe they read an article or just heard the book mentioned in passing or picked it up because it had a cool cover, is a thrill right up there with the feeling I had when I held each of my daughters when they were first born. I made this. I did it. No other feeling quite like it.

Lull

So now I am already looking ahead to see where I can schedule events in the new year. I have one library event scheduled in early January and applications in to be in several large book events (HOMEGROWN, the Oxford Conference for the Book, and the Southern Literary Festival).

Other places I’ll be contacting are libraries in my county, some civics groups, and possibly some business groups. I’m trying to think outside the box a bit. The only thing that makes me hesitate in contacting these groups is that I don’t know if there will be an expectation for me to bring books to sell. I’ve avoided that because I do not have the requisite tax paperwork filled out to be able to do that. But I won’t know unless I ask! So we will see how that works out.

Otherwise, the writing is going really well. I am maybe 40-50 pages away from finishing this draft of Looking For Home, then I’ll work through another draft after the new year. I’m trying to decide when to let readers see it. I am thinking that since I already know some areas where I’m going add more material, I need to wait until I finish them. That’s probably what I’m going to do.

I was asked in a podcast the other day (here) how being a debut author felt right now. I said that it was like my regular life, but shinier. There’s a deep satisfaction in having set my mind to do this and then doing it, against all odds, in my circumstances as an older author selling a collection of stories (usually a hard sell in the book world), as an author no one had ever heard of. But I did it by the grace of God. And that’s something special.

Mississippi Library Association 2024, Natchez, MS

Hello! This week’s book event took me to Natchez MS for the Mississippi Library Association meeting. We arrived Wednesday afternoon because when we made the reservations, we weren’t sure when the panel was. Turns out it was at 3 p.m. the next afternoon. I went with my hype girl MJ, and we had the best time exploring all the shops Thursday morning. Then after lunch, we made our was to the convention center and did a little networking around with the librarians and vendors at the event.

Our panel was called “Diverse Southern Voices in Southern Literature”, and we all three certainly had diverse perspectives and approaches to our work, so it wasn’t a misnomer. We each talked about our books and asked ech other questions, then opened it to the floor. We had a decent crowd–maybe 10-15 people in the room. The signing part fell through, so that was sad. But no matter–onward we must go!

Fridy me and MJ just toured a couple of houses and ate some fabulous meals. MJ loves all things books and literature so she made the best travel companion for this. We drove back yesterday morning.

All in all, I think the event was worth going to, and I handed out my bookmarks for Hurricane Baby out all over town. And I actually added about a thousand words to the work-in-progress as well. A great trip all around!

Work-In-Progress

So I’ve had a break from everything this week. It was odd to realize that the book’s only been available for a month. Now it’s time to continue shifting to the future with my work.

I’ think I’ve only missed one day of writing this week, and I believe I’ve added a thousand words to the document. I finally found the right voice for the female main character, and I can see the shift in the work. The words are coming a lot easier now as I type. I hope to finish off another section in the next few days, then start the next scene I want to work on.

Yesterday I did something risky and read the first novella again just to see how it held up. I think it does. I already know where I want to fill out some areas, and I’m sure once I read the whole work together when I finish the second novella, I’ll find even more work to do and revise and add. But I feel a lot more confident approaching it now, more like I felt when I first started working on it

My next book tour stop is in Natchez for the Mississippi Librarians Association on October 10. There will be books for sale at that event so that should be a good opportunity to move some product. Hurricane Baby seems to be moving at a steady pace, selling some every week it’s been out. That’s all I can ask for.

So I suppose that’s all the updates I have today. Happy reading to everyone!

This Year’s Mississippi Book Festival

Before I started writing today about the Mississippi Book Festival, I went back and reread my experience with the event last year. I didn’t know it when I wrote then, but I was only a month away from getting the offer to publish Hurricane Baby from Madville Press. I read it and I can feel the longing and hope in the words that someday I would attend as an official panelist and get a peek behind the curtain of what being a published writer might look like.

And yesterday I found out.

I was proud to be selected as a member of the panel “Mad About Madville” with the other two Mississippi writers Madville Publishing had released books from this summer, Steve Yates and R. J. Lee. Our moderator was Darden North, a local MD who writes medical thrillers along his professional career. Our panel was mid-afternoon and had about fifteen attending–the big draw of the Festival across the street was LEVAR BURTON and JESMYN WARD in conversation; that was some tough competition. But we all three got to discuss our books for an hour and that was just the best feeling ever.

We had the opportunity to sign books that people bought at the event, and I had one young lady come up and ask me to sign her copy of my book. But it was special in that I didn’t know her; she didn’t know me; she had just somehow heard about the book or picked it up out of curiosity and wanted to read it. That was so touching to me and made my day.

It was strange being on the other side. I got to visit author-only hospitality areas; I got to meet several authors I knew only by reputation. I felt every once in a while the felling that you know, being part of this is AMAZING.

The rest of the month is slow for me as far as events are concerned. I hope to catch up at work and on my work-in-progress with some fresh inspiration from the Festival. Happy reading to all!

Calming Down

Well, the rush of launch activities is slowing down a bit. I’ve had most of my media appearances I had scheduled go off without a hitch. I have one more article coming out that I know about on September 4 from a local online news source called Magnolia Tribune. Then I have all those scheduled appearances from now to January–I may have more come up in the next few months to be scheduled at a later date.

I’ve made it pretty good. I didn’t say anything I wish I could take back, everyone I’ve dealt with has been so nice and professional, and I didn’t trip-wire into being overly excited or get full of myself, which I consider a good outcome. And I sold some books! That’s the best part! 🙂

I think now it’s time to try my hand back at the work-in-progress. It’s going to be difficult still, because with all these craft questions I’ve been asked in interviews, I’m hyperaware of how my choices I make resonate with readers. I need to shut all of that off and just write one word after another. That sounds easy enough, doesn’t it?

So far I’d rate my author experience as A+! Happy writing to you all!

FIRST Book Signing

(Pic overhead courtesy of Bob Whitehead)

Whew. Yesterday turned out to be a thrilling day. We had a lot more people than I was expecting based on my emails, texts, and Messenger posts. I joked that I guess you find out how many friends you have when they all text you that they’re not coming.

But we wound up having a good crowd, almost sold all the store’s books, and the store asked me to sign the ones they hadn’t sold, so now they can’t return them to the company that published them.

It was a cap-off to a good week; a book review ran Sunday in the closest thing Mississippi has to a statewide paper; I had a quick LIVE TV interview on a local feel-good news show as well. Next week I have other article running in two fairly large newsletters that I hope will turn well out as well, then a talk on a statewide talk-news-station on Thursday.

Then we take out a week for my daughter’s wedding, and I kick off traveling again the next week.

Y’ALL.

I am now a PUBLISHED AUTHOR. Looking at that sentence, it just barely computes. I DID IT. I set out to do it, and I did it!

My moderator for my book talk and I have known each other professionally almost 25 years now. He said in his introducing of me, that when he first started dealing with me in my freelance career when he was a publicist (I had not heard this story) that whenever I called for information or whatever, that in his office, I was called “the bulldog freelancer” because if you didn’t do what I asked right off, I’d be calling you for it right back for it if I didn’t get it.

I’m going to hold on to that. In my work-in-progress, at my job, selling this book–I’m a bulldog who doesn’t quit.

TWO DAYS!!

Hurricane Baby: Stories releases into the reading public two days from now. It seems so bizarre that right on this date a year ago, I just gave up on the book emotionally. I had two more publishers I was considering sending it to once their reading periods opened up, and then I was going to sit back until the rest of the rejections rolled in. And I was going to never create writing for publishing again. I would stick to my job at the press I worked for and just file thar dream of publishing a book in a drawer in my mind and lock it shut. Delete all my writing of my computer files, the whole works. But I was going to wait until I got my 71st rejection to do that. Giving it time for the process to wind down.

Then three weeks after thinking all of that over, Madville Publishers offered me a publishing contract–and now here we are.

I’m going to take the opportunity to thank some people for their help in making this come true:

Lori, the first person I showed any of it to, who saw the story’s promise before I even did

Chris, one of my editors who suggested that they could be more to the story than I had

Karen, Mary Jane, Jesse, and Candy, the first people who read the whole book after I finished it.

Beth and John, who swapped manuscripts with me.

Billy Watkins for giving me his agent’s email address

Jim Dickerson, who asked, “Do you have any more stories like this?”

Dawn Buck and the whole crew at New Stage Theatre who gave me a chance to see the work in action as a play in 2010

Kendall Dunkelberg, for founding the MFA program at Mississippi University for Women

Mary Miller’s fiction workshop, who were the first ones to see it the first story another ten years later and gave great feedback on it.

Rob, Renee, Shannon, Debbie, Keslsey–all who read the first version of the short-story collection and gave great honest feedback throughout this entire process

Cheryl and Laurie, who I met and jelled with at A Smokelong Summer 2022 workshop and who so graciously accepted my offered exchange of manuscripts for critiquing purposes

Christopher, for giving me the scholarship to attend a Smokelong Summer.

Steve, for reading that first book contract and giving me advice on the finer points.

Lauren, for opening so many doors for me to get the word out about my work

Katie, for giving me space in her magazine to tell the faith story behind the whole endeavor

Kim, my publisher who has answered all my pesky questions often sent to her late at night.

Mike, for recommending to Kim for it to be published

Courtney-Ann, who got me on the radar for TV coverage.

Tracy for taking my book for review,

RJ Lee who did such a wonderful first review

May, Ellen Ann, CT, Steve, for their blurbs on the cover

Jacqui for a stunning cover

John and the crew at Lemuria bookstore, Murph at the Author Shoppe, and Carolyn at Book Mart for taking a chance on stocking the book

Mic, who answered my panicked Facebook message two days ago on how to get my unboxing video back after I deleted it, and who solved the problem.

Rebecca, for taking me sight unseen into her live radio show to talk about the book on the exact day nineteen years after Hurricane Katrina made landfall

Jim at the Louisiana Book festival and Ellen at the Mississippi Book Festival for honoring me with a space as a panelist

CT for a possible future event

Robert Kneuhle in arranging stops on a book tour for our Madville Trio throughout Mississippi.

And Bob who hears me prattle on about book stuff and loves me enough to listen.

OK. Wow. Here We Come!

So time starts speeding up for me very soon. This past Friday, I was interviewed in a statewide radio show on public radio that airs on August 18 at 5 p.m. on Mississippi Public Broadcasting and logged onto the website, http://msartshour.mpbonline.org/episodes later on for those who are not in Mississippi.

On August 14, I’m supposed to have an article published on the “First Person Singular” vertical on Substack, edited by Sari Botton. You’ll read about a sudden illness that felled me two weeks after getting the publication news about Hurricane Baby and how I coped with that.

Then on August 23, I have a live TV interview with Studio 3 at WLBT News at 3 p.m.to talk about Hurricane Baby with their host.

Then comes the big day of my signing at Lemuria Bookstore at noon on August 24, with signing at 12 and then moving to Lemuria’s event space at 12:30 p.m. for my conversation with Steve Yates, a longtime writer colleague, about Hurricane Baby. I did the same interview style talk with him when his book The Lakes of Southern Hollow was published, so here’s returning the favor at my signing.

And to wind up the month is another radio interview with Rebecca Turner on her show Good Things on the actual 19th anniversary of Katrina’s landfall in Mississippi. That show will be at two p.m. and will be later released on her website (https://www.supertalk.fm/shows/goodthings/) for those of you who might get the interview on the air.

That’s all for August except for the occasional stab at my work-in-progress/ There’s a new article I’ll put up on press and I’ll updated the schedule page to get all things Hurricane Baby in one place.