Writers and Readers Reach Out

If I knew a tricky way to get your attention and keep it, I’d be mighty tempted to employ it. Instead, I’m simply going to ask you to stop a minute, open your minds and your hearts, and consider doing something really special together this holiday season.


“I long to accomplish a great and noble task, but it is my chief duty to accomplish small tasks as if they were great and noble.”

For the last three years we’ve had a fall fund-raiser here at All Things Southern to benefit the less fortunate. (Last year the ATS porchers pooled their funds and dug a well in Africa in conjunction with the ministries of Life Today. “Our” well is giving and will continue to give life-sustaining water to a village of people for their entire lifetimes! The experience had an eternal impact on me. I’ve spent more than four decades on this planet taking water for granted, but one full year later I still can’t step in the shower without giving thanks for the blessing that flows at the touch of a button!)

“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.”

In preparation for our 2010 drive, I was seeking direction and researching all the excellent programs we could work with and the endless parade of needs around the world when I became captivated with the longing to shoot for something bigger than ever, to use my platform here at ATS to touch as many lives as possible. The longing grew even as my pragmatic side continued to remind the dreamer in me of the challenging economic times we’re all facing. The dreamer won out. The vision became “Readers and Writers Reach Out”!

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”

Here’s the idea: While I’m grateful to the ATS porchers who have helped me raise money in the past, I’m literally supercharged with the realization of the exponential power to do something huge that’s represented by all the writers I’ve met in my travels over the past few years. Each of these wordsmiths has a circle of readers that enjoy his or her work and interact with them via their websites and blogs, Facebook and Twitter, book clubs, newsletters, etc. This year, throughout the month of November, and coinciding with the season of Thanksgiving, I’m asking these writers and readers everywhere to embark with me on thirty days of thankfulness. We'll multiply our efforts for the less fortunate! The initial recipient of our 2010 drive will be World Vision but through them we’ll touch lives all across the globe. All proceeds will go to this reputable organization, well known for its integrity, efficiency, and transparency, to be used where the need is greatest. Just think, if only ten authors were to raise a thousand dollars in each of their circles, we would raise $10,000 dollars in one month’s time. Could we do it? What if that was just a start? What if we could do so much more? Let’s dream together, shall we?

I hope to snag some media attention (beyond my own radio show) to help our efforts. If anyone has contacts or is willing to help in that area, let me know.

“I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do something that I can do.”

I realize we shouldn’t need encouragement beyond the realization of how blessed we are, but on the other hand, a little incentive never hurt anyone and a bit of friendly competition is always fun. Towards that end, one of my radio sponsors, Jim Taylor Chevrolet and Ford out of Rayville and Ruston, LA has donated a brand new Ipad. The writer whose group raises the most money will be able to pull a donar's name at the end of the month and gift this reader with the Ipad along with our gratitude for participating.
Each author will collect donations from his or her readers and remit the final amount to me at the end of November. There are many ways to do this. You can put a donate button on your website, use a paypal link, etc. (Many of my readers like a physical address to mail a check or money order, too. Everyone isn't comfortable donating online.) We'll keep totals at the Facebook Author group. Your readers can make their checks out to World Vision.

So, come on, author buddies, we're almost a week into November but there is still penty of time to join me and get the word out to your people. It has been my experience that rather than being offended, your readers will welcome the opportunity to partner with you! Feel free to put our drive in your own words, or copy and paste this blog to your site. Then, a simple facebook status reminder here and there will keep it before their eyes. Just make sure to remind everyone that each donation made to Writer and Readers Reach Out is appreciated, regardless of size. I’ve no doubt the loaves and fishes will multiply when our hearts are in the right place! (I ask my readers to give just $10 each.)
“It is a terrible thing to see and have no vision.”

Should the quotes scattered throughout this blog sound familiar, there’s a good reason for it. They’re compliments of one of my favorite heroines, the late Helen Keller. It just felt right to invite Ms. Keller to share this journey with writers and readers. For it was the power of a word written in the palm of her hand that unlocked Ms. Keller’s heart and mind and subsequently impacted untold lives around the world!

Thirty days of thankfulness. It’s not a long time, but it’s a perfect time to join hands and do something grand, together.

“While they were saying among themselves it cannot be done, it was done.”

Should you have any questions or perhaps if you want further ideas of how to jumpstart your drive, please feel free to contact me at allthingssouthern.com or thru Facebook or Twitter. My social media links are on my website. I've also created a Facebook Authors Group recently, but please know that it is by no means intended to be exclusive. If you're a writer on Facebook, shoot me a note and I'll add you promptly. Many thanks to y'all. Let's do it up right, shall we?
Hugs,
Shellie

*****Update***** My friend at Newsstar (Gannett paper I write for here in Northeast LA) was putting the Writers and Readers Press Release out to her colleagues today but I'm having her hold off to get as many of your names in the hat as possible.  

The Pulpwood Queen's OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE for 11th Anniversary Girlfriend Weekend, January 13 - 16, 2011!

Contact: Kathy L. Patrick
kathy@beautyandthebook.com
903-665-7520
Cell 903-445-2353

Press Release for Immediate Release:

November 3, 2010
Jefferson, TX-

11th ANNIVERSARY GIRLFRIEND WEEKEND
AUTHOR EXTRAVAGANZA
BEAUTY AND THE BOOK
January 13 – 16, 2011
Jefferson, Texas

On January 18, 2000, I opened the first ever Hair Salon/Book Store in the country, Beauty and the Book! Did I have any idea of what I was creating, I think not. Oxford American Magazine covered that event and the feature that ran dubbed me “Hairdresser to the Authors” written by Texas author, Carol Dawson. Shortly thereafter, I started The Pulpwood Queens of East Texas Book Club. What began with six, really complete strangers, has now grown to nearly 400 chapters of women and yes, a few good men who have become my nearest and dearest friends for a lifetime. After appearances on Oprah Winfrey’s OXYGEN NETWORK, ABC’s Good Morning American, The Oprah Winfrey Show and more newspapers, magazines than you can shake a stick at; we are now the largest meeting and discussing book club in the WORLD!

In celebration of our 11th Anniversary, the theme this year is
“IT’S ALL ABOUT THE STORY!”
Because you see, it really is. It’s all about the story and our relationships sharing and telling the story.

So shall we begin at the beginning, our story,
BEAUTY AND THE BOOK!

Once upon a time there was a young girl who always had her nose stuck in a book. Libraries passed through her fingertips as she read and read and read mentored by her wonderful teachers and librarians. A shy child, she grew tall and brave with those words being as nourishing and comforting to her body as food, water, and shelter. That woman was Kathy L. Patrick who became a woman with a mission, a mission to get everybody on the same page that reading was not only important, but leads to an authentic and purposeful life. She had big dreams,
really big dreams!
What if you created a world where all your favorite authors and readers gathered to share their stories!
Her dream became true!

You now may begin to read this story of a book festival like no other.
What is this story about?
Why don’t you read it yourself and see!


January 13th, 2010
THURSDAY
INTRODUCTION OF CHARACTERS OF BEAUTY AND THE BOOK
AUTHOR DINNER THEATRE
7:00 p.m. Featuring all our calvacade of author stars: Author chefs preparing the dinner, authors waiting the tables, and author’s play with all roles portrayed by authors! It’s called Conversations at Buzz Cut Barbershop an original play by MICHAEL LISTER.
Author chefs preparing dinner are:
JANIS OWENS of The Cracker Kitchen
KATHY L. PATRICK of The Pulpwood Queens’ Tiara Wearing, Book Sharing Guide to Life
EVENT SOLD OUT!

January 14 – 15, 2011
FRIDAY AND SATURDAY
Jefferson Convention and Tourism Building
Austin Street
EVENT SOLD OUT!
The Pulpwood Queen Package includes all events on Friday and Saturday EXCEPT Pat Conroy/Bernie Schein Luncheon, it’s ticket to was to be purchased separately. Official 11th Anniversary T-shirt, and publisher give a ways will be included for those who purchased Pulpwood Queen Packages ONLY. 11th Anniversary T-shirts with original art by Children’s Author/Illustrator, MELISSA CONROY will be for sale at Pulpwood Queen Booth in VENDOR ROOM as long as supplies last!

All authors featured at their times will immediately go to AUTHOR AUTOGRAPH TABLES in VENDOR/BOOK STORE ROOM following their panel! You will need to pre-purchase books prior to having the books signed. As all authors are encouraged then to participate in all activities, feel free to ask for books to be signed throughout the weekend. But do note, some authors will not be able to stay. To ensure you get your books signed, go immediately to the AUTHOR AUTOGRAPH TABLES after they speak and have books already pre-purchased.
We will have a CONCESSION STAND in back of auditorium at convention center to purchase drinks and snacks run by the Junior and Senior High First United Methodist Youth Group with all the proceeds to go to the kids to help pay for their NEW Youth Building.

Barnes and Noble will provide the BOOK STORE for all the author books for the event unless self-published, in that case the author will provide the books themselves for sale. Also we will have a VENDOR ROOM, (open 8:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.), Friday and Saturday that will feature the best of the best SHOWCASED for our book loving attendees. For the first time ever we now are offering access to just VENDOR ROOM and BOOK STORE. Tickets are $5.00 per person and available at the outside entrance to VENDOR ROOM and BOOK STORE.

A SILENT AUCTION will be held with showcased items signed and donated by the authors around the perimeter of the VENDOR ROOM. All proceeds from the SILENT AUCTION will go to the Dolly Parton Imagination Library Literacy Project here in Marion County that is being spearheaded by the Jefferson Rotary Club which is a not for profit civic organization. The Pulpwood Queens of East Texas endorse this literacy project and are partnering with the Rotary Club to help
Both Friday and Saturday night events will be B.Y.O.B. but we will provide the setups.

FRIDAY MORNING
8:00 a.m. Registration and Ticket Sales

CHAPTER ONE
9:00 a.m. BEAUTY AND THE BOOK, THE STORY BEHIND THE STORY
KATHY L. PATRICK, founder of The Pulpwood Queens and Timber Guys Book Clubs, Author of The Pulpwood Queens’ Tiara Wearing, Book Sharing Guide to Life
ROBERT LELEUX, Author of memoirs of a beautiful boy
Columnist for The Texas Observer, Editor of LONNY Magazine are back to host yet again their version of BEAUTY AND THE BOOK, a television talk show!
Dubbed BOBKAT by their fans, Robert and Kathy will welcome you to their show!

CHAPTER TWO
9:15 a.m. – 9:45 a.m. CRAZY IN ALABAMA to GEORGIA BOTTOMS!
Keynote Author and Speaker, MARK CHILDRESS of Georgia Bottoms!

BREAK FOR AUTOGRAPHING AND VENDOR/BOOK STORE

CHAPTER THREE
10:00 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. EVERYONE HAS A STORY
Author Panel featuring:
MARCIA FINE of Stressed in Scottsdale
JENNY GARDINER of Slim to None
CAROLYN HAINES of Bone Appetit and Delta Blues
TODD JOHNSON of Sweet By and By
TONY SIMMONS of Dazed and Raving in the Undercurrents
HELEN SIMONSON of Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand


BREAK FOR AUTOGRAPHING AND VENDOR/BOOK STORE

CHAPTER FOUR
11:00 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. STORIES THAT YOU WILL FALL IN LOVE WITH THE CHARACTERS
Author Panel featuring:
JUDY CHRISTIE of Goodness Gracious Green
DEEANNE GIST of Maid to Match
DENISE HILDRETH JONES of Hurricane in Paradise
SAM MCLEOD of Big Appetite: My Southern Fried Search for the Meaning of Life
JANIS OWENS of The Cracker Kitchen
LISA WINGATE of Beyond Summer

BREAK FOR AUTOGRAPHING AND VENDOR/BOOK STORE

12:00 p.m. Noon LUNCH ON YOUR OWN (historic Jefferson, Texas has many fine eateries, many within walking distance)

FRIDAY AFTERNOON

CHAPTER FIVE
1:30 p.m. – 2:15 a.m. IT’S ALL OVER BUT THE SHOUTING to THE MOST THEY EVER HAD!
Keynote Speaker, Author, and Pulitzer Prize Winner RICK BRAGG of The Most They Ever Had!

BREAK FOR AUTOGRAPHING AND VENDOR/BOOK STORE

CHAPTER SIX
2:30 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. STORIES FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES
Author Panel featuring:
KATHI APPELT of Keeper
MELISSA CONROY of Poppy’s Pants
KIMBERLY WILLIS HOLT of The Water Seeker

BREAK FOR AUTOGRAPHING AND VENDOR/BOOK STORE

CHAPTER SEVEN
3:30 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. MANLY MAN STORIES THAT WOMEN WILL LOVE
Author Panel featuring:
AD HUDLER of Man of the House
MARK E. GREEN, MD of A Night with Saddam
ROBERT GREER of Spoon
CHARLES MARTIN of The Mountain Between Us
NEIL WHITE of The Sanctuary of Outcasts
DAVID MARION WILKINSON of Not Between Brothers

BREAK FOR AUTOGRAPHING AND VENDOR/BOOK STORE

4:30 p.m.
Closing Remarks by KATHY L. PATRICK and ROBERT LELEUX


FRIDAY EVENING

CHAPTER EIGHT
8:00 p.m. PULPWOOD QUEEN, TIMBER GUYS, AND AUTHOR TALENT SHOW!

CHAPTER 9
9:00 P.M. GOODBYE LITTLE ROCK AND ROLLER to THEY CAME TO NASHVILLE
Author, Actor, Singer, Songwriter, MARSHALL CHAPMAN will speak of her book They Came to Nashville and perform of her latest CD, Big Lonesome!
B.Y.O.B, Set ups and soft drinks provided.
EVENT SOLD OUT!


January 15, 2011
SATURDAY MORNING
8:00 a.m. Registration and Ticket Sales

CHAPTER TEN
9:00 a.m.
BOBKAT is back to host their BEAUTY AND THE BOOK author/talk show featuring KATHY L. PATRICK and ROBERT LELEUX.

CHAPTER ELEVEN
9:15 a.m. – 9:45 a.m. FRIED GREEN TOMATOES to I STILL DREAM ABOUT YOU!
Keynote Speaker and Special Author Guest, FANNIE FLAGG of I Still Dream About You!

BREAK FOR AUTOGRAPHING AND VENDOR/BOOK STORE

CHAPTER TWELVE
10:00 a.m. – 10:45 a.m. AWARD WINNING STORIES
Author Panel featuring:
CATHIE BECK of Cheap Cabernet
JAMIE FORD of Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet
RIVER JORDAN of The Miracle of Mercy Land: A Novel
NICOLE SEITZ of The Inheritance of Beauty
SUSAN PARKER of Walking in the Deep End: A Memoir
ALLEN WHITLEY of Where Southern Cross the Dog

BREAK FOR AUTOGRAPHING AND VENDOR/BOOK STORE

CHAPTER THIRTEEN
11:00 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. STORIES THAT ARE KILLER
Author Panel featuring:
KATHRYN CASEY of The Killing Storm (Sarah Armstrong Texas Rangers Series
KIT FRAZIER of Morgue File: A Cauley MacKinnon Novel
MARK E. GREEN, MD of My Night with Saddam
KATHLEEN KASKA of Murder at the Luther
MICHAEL LISTER of Thunder Beach and The Body and the Blood
M.L. MALCOLM of Silent Lies

BREAK FOR AUTOGRAPHING AND VENDOR/BOOK STORE

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Noon Luncheon
MY READING LIFE to IF HOLDEN CAULFIELD WERE IN MY CLASSROOM
PAT CONROY/BERNIE SCHEIN LUNCHEON
New York Times’s Bestseller, Publishers Weekly Bestseller, and Southern Independent Bestseller PAT CONROY of My Reading Life and his best friend and author, BERNIE SCHEIN of If Holden Caulfield Were in my Classroom: Inspiring Love, Creativity, and Intelligence in Middle School Kids!
Luncheon catered by STAGEDOOR DELI of Mt. Pleasant, Texas!
Pat Conroy’s latest book, a signed My Reading Life will be handed out as all depart the luncheon.
EVENT SOLD OUT!

CHAPTER FIFTEEN
1:30 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. THE PULPWOOD QUEEN PRESENTS STORIES I WISH TO SHARE BIG TIME
Author Panel Featuring:
SAM BRACKEN and ECHO GARRETT of My Orange Duffel Bag
MICHAEL MORRIS of King of Florabama
KAREN HARRINGTON of Janeology
JENNIE HELDERMAN of as the sycamore grows
SONNY BREWER of Don’t Quit Your Day Job: Acclaimed Authors and the Day Jobs They Quit

BREAK FOR AUTOGRAPHING AND VENDOR/BOOK STORE

CHAPTER SIXTEEN
2:30 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. STORIES TO SHARE WITH BOOK CLUBS
Author Panel featuring:
AMY BOURRET of Mothers and Other Liars
JEANINE CUMMINS of The Outside Boy
KARL LENKER of For Dear Life
KAREN ESSEX of Dracula in Love
CAROLYN TURGEON of Mermaid: A Twist on the Classic Tale
KAREN WHITE of On Folly’s Beach

3:30 p.m. Break, as we know it gets crazy towards the end to rush out and get ready for the ball. It’s almost your last chance to buy books if you want to get them signed before the closing panel and Awards Presentation! Don’t miss this opportunity to purchase the authors books while they are still at the convention center. Barnes and Noble Book Store will be open too after Awards Ceremony!

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

3:45 p.m. – 4:15 P.M. STORIES FIT FOR A QUEEN
Authors featured:
DIANA BLACK and MARY CUNNINGHAM of WOOF: Women Only Over Fifty
DAVID VALDES GREENWOOD of The Rhinestone Sisterhood: A Journey Through Small Town America, One Tiara At A Time
OLIVIA DeBELLE BYRD of Miss Hildreth Wore Brown: Anecdotes of a Southern Belle
CINDY RATZLAF and KATHY KINNEY of Queen of Your Own Life
SHELLIE RUSHING TOMLINSON of Suck in Your Stomach and Put Some Color On: What Southern Mamas Tell Their Southern Daughters That The Rest of Y’all Should Know Too


CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

4:45 p.m. – 5:15 p.m. AUTHORS AND BOOKLOVERS WHO ARE AWARD WINNERS FOR SHARING THEIR STORIES OR THE STORIES
Awards Presentation as follows:
MELISSA CONROY to present Pulpwood Queen Children’s Book of the Year
JAMIE FORD to present Pulpwood Queen Bonus Book of the Year
PAT CONROY to present Pulpwood Queen Book of the Year
KATHY L. PATRICK to present The KAT Award
Special Presentation: MARY GAY SHIPLEY to present THE DOUG MARLETTE AWARD presented to an individual for the Lifetime Achievement of Promoting Literacy.
Silent Auction winners announced!

CHAPTER NINETEEN

5:15 p.m. RED CARPET PREMIERE OF BEAUTY AND THE BOOK!

SATURDAY EVENING

CHAPTER TWENTY

8:00 p.m. IT’S ALL ABOUT THE STORY PARADE OF BOOK CHARACTERS!

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

8:30 p.m. AUTHOR ENABLERS to WRITE THAT BOOK ALREADY!
Authors/Musicians, KATHI KAMEN GOLDMARK and SAM BARRY of WRITE THAT BOOK ALREADY!


9:00 p.m. GREAT BIG BALL OF HAIR BALL featuring the band,
DESTINY DUKE AND THE HAZZARDS, back by popular demand.
In celebration of the 11TH Anniversary of Girlfriend Weekend the theme is
IT’S ALL ABOUT THE STORY!
Come dressed for the occasion in costume as your favorite book character or book characters for contests as follows:
BEST GIRL GROUP AS BOOK CHARACTERS
BEST BOOK THEMED DECORATED TABLE
MS GREAT BIG BALL OF HAIR BALL QUEEN, best overall book themed character and
TIMBER GUY OF THE YEAR, the man who is the sexiest reader, books will be provided for reading!
Special Guest and Author, SUSAN VREELAND of Clara and Mr. Tiffany will be featured at the Ball.
A royal feast of appetizers will be served and set ups provided for B.Y.O.B.!
EVENT SOLD OUT!


January 16, 2011
SUNDAY MORNING

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

11:00 a.m. TELL ME THE OLD, OLD STORY
Worship Services at the First United Methodist Church
DR. MARK E. GREEN will be our Special Guest Speaker on his book, A Night with Saddam as Mark was assigned to be with Saddam Hussein on the night he was captured.
Wear your Sunday crown, that’s your favorite hat!

Noon lunch on your own in Jefferson!

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. 50TH ANNIVERSARY OF TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD FILM FESTIVAL
Featuring: Author, Kerry Madden of Harper Lee UpClose
Author and Independent Film and Television Writer/Producer, MARY MCDONAGH MURPHY of the book, Scott, Atticus, and Boo: A Celebration of Fifty Years of To Kill a Mockingbird and premiering her film Hey, Boo: Harper Lee & To Kill a Mockingbird.
In a documentary and accompanying book, Mary McDonagh Murphy explores the novel’s power, influence and popularity. With reflections from Anna Quindlen, Tom Brokaw, James McBride, James Patterson, Wally Lamb, Oprah Winfrey and more, the documentary and the book chronicle the many ways the novel has shaped lives and careers.
Documentary Film Maker SANDY H. JAFFE of On Mockingbird, Our Mockingbird
Two high schools in Birmingham, Alabama – one black, one white – collaborate on a life-changing production of the play, To Kill A Mockingbird. How many lives have been changed by this story?
Details on all films, authors, and program T.B.A. soon!
$25 for Pulpwood Queen Book Club members, $75 for non-members for the film festival. Tickets are limited so please purchase your tickets while supply lasts.

I am here to tell you we make memories to last a lifetime at our Girlfriend Weekend in historic Jefferson, Texas. Jefferson, Texas was the beginning of our story and will continue to the end of our story.
We could write a book on all the adventures and shared stories from our weekends together! My hope and dream is that all of you too will become lifetime readers and writers. Only you can tell and share your story, so let us begin to write, as well as read. And remember, a story not written is a library lost to all your family and friends.
It’s like our official motto, “where tiaras are mandatory and reading good books is the RULE!” Won’t you join us on as our royal story continues to unfold. Life can be a book loving journey because folks, life is not only about the destination, it’s about the ride! And oh what a ride! Thank you for joining me on our weekend IT’S ALL ABOUT THE STORY! I do believe I will be able to report, a very happy ending!

THE END




For more information on any of the above information, please email kathy@beautyandthebook.com or call Beauty and the Book at 903-665-7520. We accept all major credit cards. Pulpwood Queen Packets and Tickets can be picked up at Registration booth when you arrive!

All information above could be subject to change due to circumstances beyond our control. For the latest updated version of the program, please email kathy@beautyandthebook.com to send you latest revised program or go to www.pulpwoodqueen.com where updates are reported daily.

No refunds will be able to be given on tickets or packages purchased but we will be more than happy to roll over to the next year the tickets and packages you may have purchased if for any reason you have to cancel. Please contact us immediately if you have to cancel on any events as we do have a waiting list of those wishing to attend.

Who is my Best Friend...You Are!

By Renea Winchester

The sky was clear and promised perfection. Pumpkins, with their deep orange glow, welcomed me as I pulled into Billy's farm. I'd convinced myself that my visit was "just another day at Billy's." Instead of what it really was, the launch of In The Garden With Billy: Lessons About Life, Love & Tomatoes.

Moments before I arrived, Tommye Cashin had called. She couldn't attend the event, but wanted to let me know she "was thinking of me." As we said goodbye I wiped away tears. I've met Tommye twice. She doesn't know intimate details about my life, yet her gesture of friendship is exactly what In The Garden With Billy is about. Tommye didn't have to call me, she chose to call. She chose to reach out to me when I needed a friend.

That is the story inside the cover of In The Garden With Billy.



It takes a village of friends to support a writer. While the act of writing is solitary, the birthing and subsequent launch leaves the author calling in favors and relying on every friend she's ever had. Mike Moeller, of The Camera's Eye Photography, was a lifeline I used during the launch. Time is precious for this busy man whose services are much sought-after. When he agreed to spend the entire day at the farm, I realized how blessed I am to call him friend. He packed up the family, then made the six hour trip to Atlanta to serve as the official photographer.

As an aside, please visit the FB link for a sampling of the photos taken at the event.

My mother had mentioned she would try to attend the launch. She's having chemotherapy again, and without giving away the contents of the book, I was hopeful she'd come. I reasoned if I called and the machine picked up that meant she was well enroute to Billy's.

She answered.

We spoke for a moment; afterward, I dried my eyes, reapplied my makeup, and stepped into the kitchen where Billy's family gathered with mine. Billy said a prayer. He prayed for those who were traveling and for those too sick to make the trip. He also prayed that people would understand the message of the book.

In The Garden With Billy isn't a "How-To Garden" book, it's a celebration of hope and friendship that challenges you to reach out to those who are lonely.

The event began and something magical happened. A line formed. My husband, who'd been lounging at the book table, quickly fell behind as people stood in line to buy my book. Billy and I were amazed. Life-long friends stood in line with just-made-friends and waited for me to sign their book! Then came a moment I shall never forget. I looked up and saw my Dad walking across the yard. I couldn't contain my tears. He came! He had driven over four hours from North Carolina to attend the event. I stood weeping without embarrassment and collapsed into his arms. Billy stood, also weeping, as I introduced two men who in a blink became best friends.

"This is my Daddy," I explained to those waiting. "He traveled four hours to be here with me." I dabbed my eyes. "Mom's sick and couldn't make it." My voice wavered. "You'll understand why I'm so emotional after you read the book." 

Renea Winchester, Billy Albertson and My Dad



As I watched people wipe away tears, I realized how similar we are.

Who is my best friend? The readers who shared that intimate moment with me. Readers who believe in this book and have shared the message with others. You, who are reading this right now, are my new best friends. I am humbled beyond words that you have invited me into your life and that you would buy In The Garden With Billy. I am blessed to call you friend.

Renea Winchester is an award-winning writer. Terry Kay author of The Book of Marie and The Valley of Light, calls In The Garden With Billy "a warm, delightful and thoughtful story chronicling her friendship with the extraordinary Billy Albertson—the kind of friendship celebrating the best that life, in all its trickery, can offer. Simply put, it is a book of gladness in a world of fret, a writer's gift to people who need the tenderness."

In The Garden With Billy: Lessons About Life, Love & Tomatoes is available at Barnes and Noble, Amazon, Independent Books Stores, and through Little Creek Books. Renea is also available for book club meetings and group events. Visit her at www.reneawinchester.com


ISBN 978-0-9843192-5-1
$ 14.95

A Red Camaro and Lee Smith

By Michael Morris                                                              

One of my fellow bloggers reminded me that this month we are to highlight writers who have made a difference in our lives. There are too many for me to list and new ones are constantly being added. But one stands out because I heard her on the radio when I was trying to be someone I was not.

When I was fresh out of college and working for a Senator from Florida, I would drive around Tallahassee in my candy apple red Camaro, trying to wash away my rural accent by repeating words the same way Bob Edwards did on NPR. It was during such a morning while listening to NPR and mimicking Mr. Edwards that I was captivated by a voice that twenty years later I can only describe as ‘honey dipped.’

Leaning over the steering wheel, I was so drawn to the voice coming through the car speakers that I missed my exit. The voice belonged to a writer named Lee Smith and the timing seemed divinely appointed.

She read from a story about a Memphis weatherman who had reinvented himself and had bleached away his rural heritage. Upon visiting his dying mother in a hospital ICU, the weatherman was forced to come to terms with the choices he made. After the reading, I nodded as Bob Edwards commented on how honest and soulfully bare the scene felt.

The author went on to share her concern that children of the south, and particularly children of Appalachia, were given a disservice by the advent of satellite television. She explained that children were being taught that something was wrong with the way they sounded – with their accent – and that they were being taught to believe that they had to speak like Tom Brokaw. Basically, by losing their accents, they were losing a part of their heritage.

That afternoon I went directly to the bookstore and purchased Me And My Baby View The Eclipse, the short story collection from which Lee Smith had read from on NPR. While reading the stories my world began to unfold around me. The stories about common everyday people who work at Wal-Mart and Fabric World nourished the idea that I had stories to tell as well. As such, I began to realize that through telling my stories I could capture my own unique culture of North Florida.

Lee Smith not only opened up my mind to the joy of writing but she gave me pride in being a small town southerner. And I finally decided just to listen to Bob Edwards and enjoy the sound of his voice without copying him -- it made for a less stressful drive to work each morning.

Many years later when a job transfer brought me to Lee Smith’s home state of North Carolina, I became a groupie. Yes, I became one of those crazy people at book signings who lingers at the back of the line. You know the kind – the type that allows others to step ahead of him so that he can have uninterrupted time to corner the author.

After completing my first novel, A Place Called Wiregrass, I stood in the back of one of those lines and mustered the courage to ask the writer I idolized to take a look at my own work. Being the warm and generous person that she is, Lee Smith agreed to read the manuscript. I didn’t realize that protocol typically calls for the manuscript to be accepted by a publisher before the writer seeks an author quote but Lee never let on otherwise. Her kindness shines as brightly as her talent.

I’ll never forget the evening I received a letter from her about my manuscript. It was on a Saturday, during the fourth of July holiday weekend. I tucked the letter in the back of my pants, darted into the bathroom and locked the door, thinking that if she politely told me to move on with other endeavors I could flush the letter down the toilet and my family would never know the difference. My heart raced as I read her words – encouraging words – words that would become the first blurb I’d ever receive.

In that moment, my writing life and reading life had come full circle. The road to publication would take another year but the support I received from that talented woman who first spoke to me through my Camaro speakers gave me the fuel I needed to keep going. God bless Lee Smith.


Michael Morris is a finalist for the Southern Book Critics Circle Award and the author of two novels, A Place Called Wiregrass, Slow Way Home, and a novella based on the song Live Like You Were Dying.
http://www.michaelmorrisbooks.com/

Election Day ruminatin'

Today, we vote with our heads and our hearts. Tomorrow, we vote with our wallets. Today, we’re Americans, tomorrow, consumers. Today, we stand for all kinds of historic, patriotic, civic-minded, even warm-fuzzy ideals. Tomorrow, we get back to the business that today has spent months distracted us from doing.


So tomorrow, I’ll buy another book, from an independent bookseller. I’ll throw myself earnestly into work at the business my wife and I started 16 years ago, a small concert venue that’s not owned by any major conglomeration -- just the bailed-out banks to whom we owe mortgages, notes and all kinds of other monies. And I’ll get back to the business of writing, which I’ve been easing back into because I’ve learned that writing To Get Published is about as entertaining as all the negative political attack ads that have assaulted us these last several weeks (months?). Writing for the sake of writing is amusing enough -- some say they Have To Write. I used to be that way. Writing for the sake of Publishing is . . .

You see, I’m sort of on the other side of publishing, in a way. My wife pretty much runs our concert hall these days. She says that’s because I suck as a manager. She’s right, of course. I am, after all, an Artist. But I also have one of the sexiest jobs in town -- I’m the Talent Buyer, the promoter, the guy who gets to book the bands. I’ve been fortunate enough, blessed aplenty and been given the opportunity to book in our room such jaw-dropping talent as Joan Baez, John Mayer (twice - before anybody knew who he was), Sugarland (they still owe us money), Zac Brown Band (a bunch of times, before he hit it huge), and dozens more. We even had The Roots play our room. The amazing thing about that show was that somebody with an enormous amount of money paid for them to perform at his birthday party. Then I watched them play in front of some 200,000 people (or was it 6 billion?) for the Jon Stewart / Stephen Colbert “Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear.” That’s one gratifying experience.

It must be sort of what an agent or publisher must feel long after they’ve taken up a manuscript (I love that jargon!) and watch their Artist skyrocket up the bestseller charts. That doesn’t happen often obviously, but when it does, it’s a great day. And it’s a bit bittersweet, too, because here we are, still selling Pabst Blue Ribbon to wobbly customers, while some of our freshly minted stars appear on the cover of People magazine or Rolling Stone.

The bottom line, after all, still remains the bottom line. It’s Art versus Commerce. Always has been, always will be.

After 16 years in business, we now receive around 4,000 queries to play our venue. That’s from emails, music-agents’ and band calls, snail-mailed press kits, even walk-ins from bands down the street who’ve never once been into our room as live-music fans. We have around 300 slots to fill each year, including the headliner and opening-band slots. We try to pick the bands that will put the most bodies in the building. We have booze to sell, and that pays the bills.

At the end of the day, though, the odds don’t work so well for those up-and-comers, the new and developing bands who just want a shot at rocking a stage that has played host to some pretty famous people: Maynard Ferguson, Bela Fleck, John Hartford, David Sanborn, Pat Metheny and many more.

Too many young (perhaps even talented) bands make the same mistakes. “To: Talent Buyer.” “To Whom It May Concern.” “Yo, buddy!” “Dude:” “Dear __________” Those have all come across the transom, even though our Website, just like those of literary agents and publishers, gives a pretty good idea about how to go about seeking a slot on our stage. Of course, you get the fun ones, too: Midget wrestling! Imperial Circus of China! All-male revue! Local bands will even call:

“How big’s your room?” band guy says without introducing himself or even engaging in pleasantries.

“Who’s this?” our office assistant will ask, because our office assistants have become adept at slam-dunking these phone calls for me.

“We’re from E_____, and we can pack out your room.”

Long pause. “We hold five hundred people.”

“That’s a little small,” band guy says.

Long pause. “Have you ever been here before?”

“No, but …”

“How long has your band been playing?”

“Since last August.”

“How many visitors do you have on your Myspace page?”

“A few hundred, but we know they’d all blow your room UP.”

“What does your band sound like?” our long-suffering but enormously patient office assistant asks, just seconds away from hanging up on the band guy.

“Sound like? Like nothin’ you’ve ever heard. We rawwwwwk!”

“Okay, it might be a good idea for you to come in, maybe take a look around the place, visit our Website, see who we book and how we book the room, then you can send us an email.”

“Kiss my ass.”

Since getting published last year by a major national/international publishing house, I’ve thrown out a few queries. (I sold my book without an agent, and still don’t have one.) I don’t address them to “Dear ________” or “To Whom It May Concern.” I visit the Websites to see what kind of books the agent represents or has recently sold. Depending on whether it’s quirky, literary fiction or a testosterone-y international political thriller, I’ll even get a little sexist. My queries are, I have to believe, rock-solid enough to have gotten the initial response in the first place. And while I’m no John Franzen or Frederick Forsyth, I have to suppose that I have just enough talent to have gotten published in the first place. (Though I do have to admit that I sorely disappointed my publisher.)

In any case, the responses to my material are far less amusing than the ones our beloved office assistant shows to so many of these young musicians. The responses come back as brief, jargon-laced emails: “I couldn’t connect with the manuscript.” Whatever that means. “I’m not suited to represent this work.” Ditto. Or no response at all.

Which is primarily what I do with the vast majority of the bands that query me; I hit the Delete button.

I find no more gratification in telling an agent to go shit in his hat or a young Artist to jump on the Clue Train than I do in getting a rejection from a literary agent.

After all, I just got a contract for a nonfiction book about my concert hall. It’s the story of a painfully naïve recovering journalist whose dream is to become a Writer, but who instead opens a concert hall with his wife and brother and earns a nervous breakdown in the process.

Anymore, frankly, It’s just so much easier to go out and buy a book and wallow in the mysterious genius of Artists who are Real Artists . . . or get the latest CD from one of the killer new bands I’ve booked (bands that nobody’s heard of -- yet -- and bands that many people likely will avoid in droves -- though, six months later, those same people will ask if we’d ever had that same band play our room).

Today, I’ll vote for the sake of my sanity and, hopefully, the sanity of a country that affords me the right and the opportunity to put on great music.

Tomorrow, I’ll get back to the insanity of trying to squeeze Art into Commerce.

John Jeter is author of THE PLUNDER ROOM (St. Martin's Press/Thomas Dunne Books) and co-owner of The Handlebar, a concert hall in Greenville, South Carolina.

The Pulpwood Queen Adds 50th Anniversary "To Kill a Mockingbird" Film Festival to her Girlfriend Weekend!

Dear Readers!

Anybody who really knows me knows that "To Kill a Mockingbird is my favorite book of all time!

So it with great pleasure and honor that I am pleased to announce our first ever FILM FESTIVAL to be held Sunday, January 16, 2011 as the Grand Finale of our 11th Anniversary Girlfriend Weekend Author Extravaganza! Yes, add to your calendar our 50th Anniversary of "To Kill a Mockingbird' Film Festival, 2:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. at the Jefferson Tourism and Convention Center. As I type this NEW announcement, I catch my breath, as to do this event is the greatest thing I have ever done bar none. I have tears in my eyes of the joy I have in bringing this event to you! Books take you, indeed, magical places! I never dreamed in a million years I would be bringing this all to you! You all are in for an experience of a lifetime this Girlfriend Weekend! My hope and dream is that everybody will know that this event marks the event of my lifetime!

Featuring:

Author, Kerry Madden of Upclose: Harper Lee



Up Close: Harper Lee

When her reply came, it was short and succinct. She did not believe in biographies for those still living. She wrote, “I may be old but I’m still breathing." She closed the note wishing me the best whether I pursued the project or not. It was disappointing but certainly not unexpected. She hasn’t granted an interview to discuss her work since 1964 and even turned down Oprah. I thanked her and decided to continue with the book anyway. Harper Lee’s was a story I longed to write. For more on her story go to http://www.kerrymadden.com/



Author and Independent Film and Television Writer/Producer,Mary Murphy of "Scout, Atticus, and Boo"!



Reading To Kill a Mockingbird is something millions of us have in common. In a documentary and accompanying book, Mary McDonagh Murphy explores the novel’s power, influence and popularity. With reflections from Anna Quindlen, Tom Brokaw, James McBride, James Patterson, Wally Lamb, Oprah Winfrey and more, the documentary and the book chronicle the many ways the novel has shaped lives and careers. Harper Lee has not given an interview since 1964, but Murphy’s reporting, research and rare interviews with the author’s sister and friends add new details and photos to the remarkable story of an astonishing phenomenon. Read the Book: Scout, Atticus & Boo: A Celebration of Fifty Years of To Kill a Mockingbird or see the documentary film Hey, Boo: Harper Lee & To Kill a Mockingbird. For more on Mary Murphy go to http://www.marymurphy.net/



The First United Methodist Church High School and Junior High Youth Groups will be running a concession stand with all proceeds going to their NEW youth building and The First United Methodist Church will be hosting a Chili Supper at the convention center with their proceeds to go to their mission and outreach programs, specifically their Food Bank Program!



Last, (see at bottom of letter), I would like to post a feature that was written by author, Mark Childress, photo above), that was written originally for Southern Living Magazine and being reprinted with his permission. This is story that I reread as often as I reread "To Kill a Mockingbird, a feature I hold dear to heart. Mark will be also attending our book festival to promote his latest book, "Georgia Bottoms". He grew up in Monroeville, Alabama and is also featured in the documentary "Hey Boo!". It is with great pleasure that I share his story and announce this big event!



Tickets for Pulpwood Queen and Timber Guy Book Club members are $25.00. Non-members, $75. Email kathy@beautyandthebook.com for tickets or call 903-665-7520 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 903-665-7520 end_of_the_skype_highlighting.



Tiara Wearing, Beauty and the Book sharing,

Kathy L. Patrick

Founder of the Pulpwood Queens and Timber Guys Book Clubs

Beauty and the Book

608 North Polk Street

Jefferson, Texas 75657

903-665-7520 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting 903-665-7520 end_of_the_skype_highlighting

kathy@beautyandthebook.com

http://www.beautyandthebook.com/

http://www.pulpwoodqueen.com/

http://www.southernauthors.blogspot.com/



Looking for Harper Lee





With a sad smile I close the cover of “To Kill A Mockingbird,” a book I hold close to my heart. Every year or so I read it again, to see if it’s as good as I remember, and to remind myself why I wanted to become a writer. This is the book that did it for me, the first grown-up book I ever read, the one that has stayed with me longest.

I’ll never forget where I was that first time: on Miss Wanda Biggs’ front porch in Monroeville, Alabama, my hometown, a few doors down from the house where Nelle Harper Lee grew up. It was my particular luck to enter the world of Jean Louise Finch (better known as Scout), her brother Jem, father Atticus, the peculiar boy Dill from next door, and all the good and bad people of Maycomb, Alabama, while I reclined in a porch swing on the street where it all happened.

My family had moved away from Monroeville by that time, but we came back in the summers to visit Miss Wanda and Mister Fred and their dog Whizzy. The Biggses lived in a big old rambly house with rooms on both sides of a long dogtrot hallway, and a deep, shady porch on the front.

Over supper, I heard the grownups talking about Nelle Harper Lee, who was by far the biggest celebrity Monroeville had ever produced. Her book spent eighty weeks on bestseller lists, won the Pulitzer Prize, and went on to become a first-rate Hollywood movie, which led to the biggest event in the history of Monroeville: the day Gregory Peck came to town.

Everyone thought Miss Nelle’s success was wonderful, but some in town were already pondering her well-known tendency toward reclusiveness. Nothing provokes the sociable Southerner like someone who wants to be left alone, and from the time of her enormous success Harper Lee had shown absolutely no interest in acting like a celebrity. "These southern people are southern people," she said in 1961, "and if they know you are working at home, they think nothing of walking in for coffee."

I asked Miss Wanda if she had a copy of the book I could read. She led me gravely to the glass-fronted case in the hall and handed over her copy of J.B. Lippincott’s first 1960 edition, inscribed in an open, ladylike hand: “To Wanda, love, Nelle.”

Tucked in the front cover was a black-and-white snapshot of Miss Wanda cheek-to-cheek with Gregory Peck at the LaSalle Hotel on Monroeville’s courthouse square. She asked me to take special care with the book, as it would be worth a lot of money someday.

I stretched out on the swing, my bare feet on the chain, rocking sideways, and read the opening sentence: “When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow.”

Some hours later, I stumbled out of the swing, the closing lines ringing in my head: “He turned out the light and went into Jem’s room. He would be there all night, and he would be there when Jem waked up in the morning.”

In those hours, I was transformed. Books had always been magical objects to me, but distant from my own experience. Authors were invisible wizards who swept me off to far places to work their magic on me. “To Kill A Mockingbird” was fiction, but it was real. It came from this place where I sat. It was written by a lady my parents actually knew, a lady who had signed her name in this book I held in my hands. It told a story about a childhood lived on this very street, in these houses, in these side-yards, in the schoolyard back yonder.

And not just a story -- the most wonderful story I’d ever read. Certainly it seemed so to me at the time, and I’m not sure that I’ve changed my mind. The book moved me as no book had ever done. It made me want to learn how to make that kind of magic, to tell that kind of truth.

Thirty-seven years after its publication, the book moves me still. Many Americans consider it their favorite novel -- a certified classic, seventeen million copies in print, translated into forty languages, assigned reading in nearly every high school in our land. What no one could have predicted was that “To Kill A Mockingbird” would become for the South of the 1960s what “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” was to the North, a hundred years earlier: a novel to change the minds and arouse the consciences of a whole country. I believe that Harper Lee’s charming story was in fact a work of subversive literature, a popular book that did more to change white Southern attitudes about issues of race than any other work of art in this century.



HOW DID the author work this miracle? She begins gracefully, easily, with that ominous glancing reference to Jem’s broken arm, a quick geneaology of the Finch family and a tour of Maycomb, “a tired old town when I first knew it.” Then we’re out in the yard with Scout and Jem and Dill, telling spooky stories about the house where Boo Radley lives.

Scout is the perfect narrator, a funny little girl with a tart sense of injustice, as sublimely pure and smart-mouthed an innocent as any since Huckleberry Finn. Boo Radley is the boogeyman up the street, the recluse who never leaves his creepy shabby house, the man who wants only to be left alone.

Atticus Finch, widower attorney, treats his children with “courteous detachment.” He is raising them with the help of Calpurnia, “our cook,” actually the mother figure in the household, a source of wisdom and strength. Scout gives us a lovely, affectionate picture of growing up in the vanished world of smalltown Alabama in the 1930s, where everyone seems loving and lovable, eccentric but good-hearted, poor but happy. Life feels almost painfully sweet.

Only after the author has meticulously built this fond portrait does she proceed to undermine it, revealing the rottenness at the core of all that polite gentility. Atticus takes a case that he knows will mean trouble. A black man called Tom Robinson is accused of raping and beating a white girl, Mayella Ewell. Normally this would be an open-and-shut case, but Tom is a “good Negro,” and Mayella comes, literally, from trash -- the Ewells live in a shack beside the town dump.

The white people of Maycomb are roused from their summertime torpor to side against Atticus, simply because he dares to defend a black man against the charges of a white girl. The facts of the case do not matter. Trapped in the elaborate system of oppression they have helped to construct, the people of Maycomb have no choice: they must side with white against black, or risk destroying the illusion that supports their way of life.

The trial of Tom Robinson strikes Maycomb like a bolt of lightning, revealing layers of hidden bigotry along with glimmers of occasional humanity. In the bravura courtroom scene at the heart of the novel, Atticus proves Tom’s innocence beyond doubt. In the end, though, the jury must find him guilty, because the need to preserve the whites-only system is stronger than any notion of justice.

Jem says he’s “got it all figured out. There’s four kinds of folks in the world. There’s the ordinary kind like us and the neighbors, there’s the kind like the Cunninghams out in the woods, the kind like the Ewells down at the dump, and the Negroes.”

Scout contradicts him: “Naw, Jem, I think there’s just one kind of folks. Folks.”

Then Jem asks the unanswerable question: “If there’s just one kind of folks, why can’t they get along with each other? If they’re all alike, why do they go out of their way to despise each other? Scout, I think...I’m beginning to understand why Boo Radley’s stayed shut up in the house all this time...it’s because he (ital) wants (end ital) to stay inside.”

A few weeks later, Tom Robinson is shot to death trying to escape from prison.

Atticus is the rod the townspeople have set up to attract the lightning. He defended the man he was appointed to defend, and for this crime his children are assaulted on their way home from a Halloween pageant.

Boo Radley comes out of his house to save the children’s lives, but not before Jem has his arm “badly broken at the elbow.”

That’s the story, simple enough on its surface. No one in the story is completely good, and no one wholly evil -- except perhaps Bob Ewell, father of Mayella, who winds up under an oak tree with “a kitchen knife stuck up under his ribs.” The sheriff pronounces justice served: “There’s a black boy dead for no reason, and the man responsible for it’s dead. Let the dead bury the dead this time, Mr. Finch.”

Although “To Kill A Mockingbird” was a huge and immediate hit, the author’s combination of darkness and light was too strong for some critics of the time. As Harding Lemay wrote in the New York Herald Tribune: “The two themes Miss Lee interweaves throughout the novel emerge as enemies of each other. The charm and wistful humor of the childhood recollections do not foreshadow the deeper, harsher note which pervades the later pages of the book.... The two worlds remain solitary in spite of Miss Lee's grace of writing and honorable decency of intent."

Of course with hindsight we see that it is precisely the contrast of these “solitary” worlds, the polite fiction of a happily segregated society posed against the “deeper, harsher” truth of racial oppression, that gives the novel its immense power. Subversives do their work from within the society they are trying to topple. The world Harper Lee wrote about was distant enough in time, in the 1960s, to make her revelations acceptable to a wide Southern audience. Writing from a position of sympathy with the white society, she exposed the great lie beneath its surface. Her indictment was all the more devastating because it came from within.



HARPER LEE will celebrate her seventy-first birthday on April 28, 1997. People are sometimes surprised to learn that she is alive and well, still dividing her time between Monroeville and an apartment on the upper East Side of New York City, still invisible to the public. From the outside, her life seems to have been rather peaceful.

The youngest of three children born to A.C. and Francis Lee, she grew up in Depression Monroeville and followed her attorney father’s footsteps as far as law school at the University of Alabama, though she never practiced law. (Her sister Alice practiced with Mr. A.C. Lee until his death, and then on her own.) Nelle Lee spent the 1950s in New York, working for Eastern Airlines and honing a collection of short stories. At the suggestion of a literary agent she expanded one of these stories into “To Kill A Mockingbird.”

Monroeville has always taken it for granted that events in the novel are based on the author’s life. Miss Wanda pointed out for me the house where the real-life Boo Radley lived, and the stump of the tree where he hid his little trinkets for Scout and Jem -- as if they were real children, not fictional characters. Certainly the character of Dill was based on the young Truman Capote, who spent childhood summers in Monroeville and remained fast friends with Nelle Lee until his death.

After the astounding success of “To Kill A Mockingbird,” Harper Lee retreated into a public silence that has endured all these years. She is one of America’s great literary recluses, refusing all interviews, resisting all honors, declining all approaches, as invisible to her fans as Boo Radley was to the people of Maycomb. Aside from the novel, and a couple of essays on love and Christmas she wrote for women’s magazines in the early 1960s, Harper Lee has never published another word. Like Boo, she seems to want only to be left alone.

Perhaps Scout was speaking for the author when she says “I could stand anything but a bunch of people looking at me.”

Nelle Lee spent years helping Capote research the Kansas murders that became his nonfiction novel “In Cold Blood,” which he dedicated to her. As far as I know, she has placed herself in the public eye only once in all the years since, in 19xx when she accepted an honorary degree from the University of Alabama. From all accounts she was generous and good-humored that day, spoke brief thanks from the podium, and went back to her privacy.

I wish I’d been there. Since that day in Miss Wanda’s swing, I have cherished an unrealistic ambition to meet Harper Lee, to thank her for writing that marvelous book. For a while, when I was a reporter for newspapers (and this magazine), I joined the crowd of people trying to break through her wall of silence. I learned that a friend of a friend was in touch with her, and wrote what I thought was a very nice letter, asking if she’d grant me a few minutes on the phone, or submit to an interview in writing. Weeks later my letter came back with “Hell No” printed in green ink across the top.

Hope does continue to spring, however. Some years later I wrote a novel of my own, and mailed a copy to Miss Alice Lee, Nelle’s older sister. Miss Alice had done some legal work for my father when we lived in Monroeville. Shamelessly I traded on that connection. I tried to explain in my letter just how much “To Kill A Mockingbird” meant to me, how it had inspired me to write my own book.

One day a white envelope landed in my mailbox, addressed in the same clear, feminine hand I remembered from the autographed copy at Miss Wanda’s house. A four-page handwritten letter from Nelle Harper Lee, kind words about my own work. I’ll never receive a letter that gives me more pleasure. It was better than meeting her, I think -- I didn’t have a chance to say anything foolish. Her voice, clear and warm and familiar, rose up like a lovely perfume from the pages in my hand.

That was when I gave up trying to meet Harper Lee. I decided to leave her alone. She had given me a gift greater than she would ever know, and if she wanted to be left alone, that was her right. I think ... I’m beginning to understand why she stayed locked up inside her life all these years. She wrote a book that was better than anybody else’s book, and never saw the need to publish another. I think she (ital) wanted (end ital) to stay inside.

The Places I'll Go

I have long said that one of the books that influenced me most as a child was Harriet The Spy. In Harriet, I found a kindred spirit-- another little girl who was compelled to write down what she observed all around her. Like Harriet, I carried a notebook with me everywhere I went, frantically scribbling what I saw. Of course, I learned from Harriet and never ever wrote down bad stuff that could come back to haunt me.

But if you asked me what my favorite book as a child was, it was not Harriet The Spy. It was a book I rarely hear mentioned when people cite their favorites, which I think is a shame. I was introduced to it by my fifth grade teacher, who read aloud to us faithfully and further cemented my love of great stories. When she read Mandy by Julie Andrews Edwards, I was swept into the story of a little orphan girl who discovered an abandoned cottage in the woods and made it hers. I loved the idea of finding a home and making it mine. While I remember feeling sorry for Mandy being an orphan, mostly I just remember envying her for having a place of her own. To a ten year old, the idea of that much autonomy and freedom was very appealing.

But it it just ten year olds? I think that we all long for a place of our own. Whether to a country far away, a mailbox on the coast, a world where time travel is possible, or a land where it's always winter and never Christmas, we all want to escape from the ordinary. One of my favorite things about writing fiction is that I have the power to create those worlds, their citizens, and the characteristics that make them unique. I am not held to the limits of my own reality. My inner ten year old giggles, and keeps typing.

Mandy made me aware that there are many places still to go. The best writers will always take me there.