Skip to main content

Phillis Wheatley Poetry Fest

I will take this extra hour of Daylight Savings Time’s end to tell you about this week’s Phillis Wheatley Poetry Fest in Jackson. Jackson State University sponsored the fest. The attendees met both in the downtown Convention Center and on the JSU campus. It was fabulous. Concurrent sessions began each day. A large gathering in the theater...

Continue reading

Creativity Inside a Supportive Group

Today in writing group, I wrote about how practicing law haunts me. Why the hell do I dream about it every week, every ten days, every two weeks. Never more than a month goes by without a “practicing law” dream. Inside the writing, buried as deep as the pea beneath the hundred stacked mattresses, was the question: what gives you your...

Continue reading

September Stories, or Happy New Year!

Today, driving down St. Charles, our oldest grandson said, “That sign says ‘Happy New Year.'” A conversation ensued about whether the sign was still up or already up. I thought, September has always been the New Year to me. When I see the calendar in my brain, it’s shaped like an Allen wrench. It goes straight across the...

Continue reading

How Long Has It Been?

Oh, my goodness! It’s been forever since I’ve spoken with y’all. Okay, about a month but when was the last time I went a month without blogging? The long hiatus means I’ve got a lot to talk about. First—because I’m sitting in front of the window watching the weather arrive from Arkansas—we have re-established a presence...

Continue reading

Writing Can Bring Us Together

This morning, preparing my space, I spread out my index cards, fanning them onto the folding table. To mix it up, I alternated cards written in red Sharpie with cards written in green or blue or black. On each card, I had written the start of a sentence: I always smile at… Or, If you tickle me… My best friend is… I’ve always...

Continue reading

Where Do We Go Now?

Where do we go now? The Guns and Roses refrain keeps traveling through my brain. I’m in flux. We’re re-establishing a presence in Memphis, renting an apartment downtown until we can hopefully find a condo. I’m so place oriented, y’all. This splitting back into three parts—New Orleans, the Mississippi Gulf Coast, and Memphis—has...

Continue reading

Black History Month Recs: ALL

Here it is! What you’ve all been waiting for! All 28 recs for Black History Month on Black authors whose work I love! Seriously, that’s what it is. February 1 I’ll start with American fiction writer Charles Himes. He’s best known for his Harlem detective series with Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson. But I’d like to...

Continue reading

Black History Month Recs: Last

The end of February has arrived. Thus has my last installment on Black History Month recs. Go here for the earlier recs on Black Authors whose work I love. And now for the last! February 23 Mississippi author Linda Jackson’s Middle Grade novel Midnight Without a Moon is a delight. I fell in love with the protagonist from the get-go. The descriptive...

Continue reading

Black History Month Authors: Part 4

Or maybe this is part 3. I’m getting lost. Whatever, here’s the latest (and penultimate) installment during Black History Month with recommendations on Black authors whose work I love. You can read earlier recs here. February 16 I came to Octavia Butler so late in life it’s embarrassing. My only excuse is that I haven’t been much...

Continue reading