A Southern Missive

Book Signing and Program News:

Tomorrow (Monday) morning at 8:00 a.m., I’ll be interviewed at The Cross, KBMQ/KLIC  in Monroe, Louisiana.  The subject will be writing and discussion of my children’s book, Jim Limber Davis: A Black Orphan in the Confederate White House.

Tuesday and Wednesday, April 1-2, I’ll be at the junior high in Hallsville, TX, presenting my Jim Limber and Civil War Program.

In addition, I’ve been asked to perform for the children at the Swamp Celts Festival in Baton Rouge, April 12.  I’ll also have a booth to sign my books at.   You  can learn more about this fantastic Celtic festival here, http://www.swampcelts.com/ 

Excitement is building for my Scottish Alphabet book which we hope to have in print by August-September.  I hope to begin preselling and making presentations for the book soon. If you would like to preorder a signed and discounted copy, drop me a note and we’ll discuss it. rickeyp@bayou.com

A Wonderful Civil War Song: On Rosemary Poole-Carter’s website, I found a beautiful arrangement of a song, “Somebody’s Darling.” If you like Civil War music, be sure and check it out. (Wava Everton, vocals; Lesley Modisette, guitar) Rosemary is the talented author of Women of Magdalene. http://www.poole-carter.info/images/Wava%20Everton%20-%20Somebodys%20Darling.mp3

Every now and then I take an inventory on the tools that are helpful to me in my writing. Of course, the most important tool is self-discipline, for as John Dufresne says, “The first rule of writing is to sit your butt down and write.” However, I’ve also found these tools most helpful:

1. My Dictionaries.  I use two: Miriam-Webster 10th Collegiate Edition and the American Heritage 4th Edition.

2. My Thesaurus: The Synonym Finder.  There’s not a thesaurus like it.

3. Magazines:  I read these for ideas, inspiration, and writing trends. Currently I subscribe to Poets & Writers, Writer’s Chronicle (this keeps me informed on college trends and the academic side of creative writing) Cowboys & Indians (as it seems more and more of my work is going west, and besides, I just like it) and Oxford American (for the Southerner in me).

4. Fiction and Novel Writer’s Market by Writer’s Digest. Don’t know where or to whom to send your work? This is invaluable! I should get a new one each year, but I usually get two years out of an edition. Mine is already dated and needs to be replaced.

5. The Internet. Now, one can obtain instant answers, spelling, information, or directions immediately.  Lots of junk, true, but good stuff too.

5.  My iBook. My whole life is in my laptop. I would not surrender it during a robbery. It is more portable than a typewriter and I can usually find Wi-Fi free, though that is becoming more difficult.  As soon as I’m financially able (yuk, yuk!), I plan on using the AT&T service that enables you to have wireless anywhere you can get a signal for a cell phone.

 One of the programs I do in schools is creative writing. In those sessions, I teach students how to create their own children’s book.  Teachers with whom I’ve discussed this program are excited about it.  If you’re a writer, you might find a door into being published through a good children’s book. Now, writing a good children’s book is harder than it may sound, but it is worth the effort. Here are five reasons why you (as a writer) might want to write a children’s book.

1. As a  writer, you need to know about the genre. Everything you learn about writing and publishing can be of use to you in your marketing and in your conversation.

2. There is a huge market for children’s books. Parents who read WANT their children to read.

3. If you want to reach two or more generations at one time with important information, then a children’s book is the way to do it. This is why I chose to write Jim Limber Davis: A Black Orphan in the Confederate White House in children’s book form. I knew I would reach teachers, parents, grandparents, and children with this touching story that’s been left out of the history books.

4. Children’s books are valuable to teachers as performance readings and story time material.

5.  Children’s books inspire students to become writers and artists.

Say it ain’t so! Civil War Quotations: “The Rebel Army is now the legitimate property of the Army of the Potomac.” — Union general Joseph Hooker said this shortly before he was defeated by the Confederate Army at Chancellorsville, VA.

Another favorite ironic quote: ” They couldn’t hit an elephant at this distance.”

http://www.civilwarinteractive.com/forums/view_topic.php?id=294&forum_id=1:

Certainly billed as one of the most ironic and famous last words of a man at the battle of Spotsylvania.  The highest ranking Union general to be killed in the war,  “Uncle John Sedgewick, was shot through the left eye by a Confederate sharpshooter (using a Whitworth).