...a jig is commencing

....am currently finishing up Sweet Creek Holler, another Ruth White creation. I was going to put a pause on reading JUST HER WORK for a while as I've been singularly obsessed ever since I found out she is coming to OUR festival. Well, then I found out that I will quite almost definitely be having dinner with her at Bistro at the Bijou (my favorite restaurant downtown)the evening before the Children's Festival of Reading! Oh my goodness gracious steak on a stick! So, I allowed myself to stay in the obsession...Oh, and I met Merillee Liddiard, too (also known as Tuesday Mourning)...(She's a local gal and very sweet and has a very cute little boy.) So yay for meeting talented folks this week and next! Speaking of talented folks, I leave you with this:




I really really fancy this shot of Gary's. It reminds me of Xander (and his violin love), Tennesee, and happy things all at once. Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend...

A continuation of previous themes.

Belle Prater's Boy is just about the epitome of perfect novels for the 10-14 age range. Although those at one end of that spectrum would love to be included in that group, those at the other would scowl at it. But that fact of childhood/early teens aside, Belle Prater's Boy is PERFECT. By the author I can't seem to stop talking about...Ruth White, the Fannie Flagg of the younger generations, the Robert Harling without the Sally Field and Julia Roberts reminders...this woman can write. Her words drip like butter and honey off a biscuit...her prose draws you in and smacks you upside the head. And then you cry, but in a good way. Love. Her....and can't wait to (hopefully!!) meet her, Mo Willems, Lowell Cunningham, and Merillee Liddiard at the...


The Children's Festival of Reading!

Yes, I'm excited. Yes, I'm nervous my agoraphobia will kick in. But no, I'm not freaking out. Just yet.

And a little side note, of course Francesca Lia Block's Guarding the Moon is blowing my mind right now. That's two parts of my life she's managed to put in a little purple box and wrap up with a ribbon that's so very me. This work, an autobiographical account of very early motherhood, is making all those floaty memories come back of Xander's very first minutes/hours/days/weeks/months here on Earth.