Monthly Archive for September, 2010

The Land of Mordor and Back Again!

Published on September 30, 2010 in Authors, Book Groups and Books. 0 Comments

What comes to mind after recent travels and travails is the great journey of the Lord of the Rings story. The band of friends that made it to Mordor, the horrible, barren land of darkness, and home again. If memory serves me half correctly that was Bilbo’s title for that book he was always working on – There and Back Again. That’s the way I felt this morning after being trapped for days at the Atlanta airport on delays, first weather related, then mechanical, and then for no good reason – bizarre, only to find myself waking up this morning in none other than – Atlanta. Insert the smiley face icon here. Because the fact is other than a quick packing job, missing my husband and really needing some downtime at home – I am still delighted to wake up in Atlanta fueled by meeting readers last night at Yawn’s Books and about meeting them again tonight at Foxtale Bookshoppe. I thrive on story like no-body’s business and apparently so do many of the rest of you.

Last night with the lovely people from Canton, Ga at Yawns Books we discussed their reading selection, Saints In Limbo. And here is the thing – It was like I was able to visit Echo, Florida once again. To rock on that porch with Velma, to shake my head and tsk,tsk a little over that bad boy Rudy and what he was up to. To relive the magical moment of the book where Velma and Joe are able to visit if only for a minute and to discuss in detail the book from beginning to end with the same enthusiasm I felt when those stories were first conceived and finding their way to the pages.

Fresh from a SIBA trip (the Southeastern Independent Booksellers Alliance) I am also delighted that although one of the bookstore book club members didn’t think she would like the book because it seemed to be a of genre she didn’t read – because of one of the bookstore event promoters said – Oh, yes you will. Just buy it and read it. And tell me I’m not right! – So the lovely woman did just that. She also asks 90% of the questions last night and I wish I had taped it because it was so evident the characters meant as much to her as they do to me. (Kuddo’s to Indie’s here for knowing your writers AND your readers!)

Tonight will be a different event at the Foxtale Shoppe because it’s unique in it’s own special way. And we’ll be reading from and celebrating The Miracle of Mercy Land. I kicking up my heels on the inside just thinking about it because I’l get to revisit Bittersweet Creek and Bay City, Mercy and Doc and John Quincy – and that Aunt Ida. Charming people full of surprises I assure you!

If you are in the area today please join us. Otherwise my next public appearance is scheduled for two Panels at the Southern Festival of the Book which will soon be added to the EVENTS page. Please also visit my website if you get this by RSS feed you’ll miss exciting updates and changes and a very special Join the Adventure section for the Praying for Strangers book.

AND
for those who are just itching to read all about the recent travel troubles of twitter fame – I’m sitting on that for a time yet to come with perhaps more words than blogs permit.

Safe is to say – I escaped from Mordor like Joe Cocker with a little help from my friends. New Friends. Perfect Strangers. And we made it by rental car to Nashville and home again.

A place I hope to return to soonest!

Daytona, SIBA, and Bubba Gump

Published on September 28, 2010 in Authors, Books, Praying for Strangers and The Miracle of Mercy Land. 0 Comments

Currently I am taking a two minute breather in my room at the wonderful SIBA show in Daytona. It’s raining, the waves are crashing and I’m ready to walk to the nearest fish and chips place which would be Bubba Gumps so I’m told. Airports. I have things to say about airports. Not exactly the port but the people. It’s amazing really – the number of stories traveling through an airport on a given day, sitting right beside you in the airplane, or the reflection of that face rushing to Concourse C as you are going down the escalator to Concourse B sometime soon on the PrayingforStrangers.com blog

For now, you can find me here – with my tribe. People from states far and wide who love story so much they’ve done the crazy, insane thing like opened Independent Bookstores or written a novel and hit the road so that it would find people to embrace it. You can catch up on the events a little more minute by minute on the twitter feed but know that Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, Susan Greg Gilmore, Patty Callahan Henry, Marshall Chapman and a whole lot of other talented, tried, and true folks have converged to celebrate story.

It’s a good moment to be alive.

The Blues, The Stories, The Life!

Published on September 28, 2010 in Clearstory Radio Blog. 0 Comments

CLEARSTORY SHOW 09-03-10

(CLICK THE LINK ABOVE TO LISTEN TO SHOW AT YOUR LEISURE)

FRIDAY MORNINGS AT 9:00AM

These voices express the blues in a deep and truthful way. They touched my heart.”—B. B. King

This week we feature Give My Poor Heart Ease, Voices of the Mississippi Blues. A little visit from William Ferris as he talks about collecting true stories of the blues in fine oral tradition from across the delta. Then we’ll tune in and listen to some of those voice talk to us and tell their own stories.

We’ll rip some of Raymond Atkins words right off the page and read them live about him kinda getting locked into the Ballet with a beer and nowhere else to go.

And it’s a love letter to story in other ways. We’ll feature special spotights on the latest great books in print, share the National Book Women’s Associations recent author picks and new releases, discover the perfect hideaway to finish you new novel (whether your reading one or writing it) and play some of your favorite tunes to set the mood.

Oh, it’s a smorgesboard of book news, voices, and stories you don’t want to miss!

And the great getaway for the week – Montreal, Canada. The streets are full of flowers, the city surrounded by water, the are people friendly and you can get creative and do it on even a writers budget. $-$$. You can ride a bike around the city, visit quaint little shops, grab a great cup of coffee and a roll and watch the people walking by. But first you have to get there. The plane ride from NY is a short hop and your in another country and feeling like you’ve crossed all the way to Europe. If there’s no time or $$$$ to make it to Paris, If you’re a little nervous about traveling as far as Brazil on your own, pack a bag, grab your journal, head to a city just over the big border north and experience a weekend of the other and Get out of our Culture Zone!

Celebrating 50th Anniversary of To Kill A Mockingbird

Published on September 22, 2010 in Clearstory Radio Blog. 0 Comments

This week I’ll be traveling to the Southeastern Independent Booksellers Alliance book show in Daytona Beach, Florida to share with these great heros of the written word stories about the new novel, The Miracle of Mercy Land, and the forthcoming narrative non-fiction, Praying for Strangers.

In recognition of the ongoing nation-wide celebrations taking place for the 50th Anniversary of one of my favorite novels – To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee – I’ve pulled our show featuring Kerry Madden, author the new autobiorgraphy with Harper Lee, out of the vault for your pleasure. It’s a great show and I hope you can tune in and enjoy!

ON THE AIR, ON LINE, AND ON DEMAND (After the Show airs Live)

LISTEN LIVE HERE on Friday Mornings at 9:00am CST

LISTEN AT YOUR LEISURE HERE 9/10/10 Clearstory Show AUDIO

Join us today as Kerry Madden pulls up a chair and talks about writing, storytelling – and story catching! She’s one of the most beloved writers on the circuit anywhere and if you ever meet Kerry you’ll understand why. It was her writing skills, listening ear, and passion for southern stories that singled her out as the perfect author to capture stories surrounding one of the South’s finest – Harper Lee. As part of biography series, Kerry Madden wrote Up Close Harper Lee which has subsequently received great reviews and the honor of numerous one book read selections. Kerry first captured the attention of young adult readers with her novel Offsides, (William Morrow) selected by the New York Public Library as one of the Ten Recommended Books of 1997 for Mature Teens. Her second book, Writing Smarts: A Girl’s Guide to Writing Great Poetry, Stories, School Reports, and More!, (American Girl Library) helps kids craft their own stories and poetry. The first book in her Maggie Valley series, Gentle’s Holler (Viking Juvenile Books), was published in 2005. Set in the town of Maggie Valley, North Carolina, in the Smoky Mountains, these are books about the laughter, love, music, and hardships of a family with ten children in the 1960s. Louisiana’s Song (2007) and Jessie’s Mountain (2008) were published in rapid succession due to reader demand. In 2009, Viking published Up Close: Harper Lee, a biography of the To Kill a Mockingbird author written for teens. Other works include her newest short story, “Seeds of Destruction,”which was a finalist for the Raymond Carver Short Story Prize, published by Carver Magazine in May of 2004. Her play, “Chattanooga Flamenco,” was a finalist at Ensemble Studio Theatre in 2002 and 2003. An essayist, she is a frequent contributor to the Los Angeles Times and online publications. One of Kerry Madden’s favorite books on writing is If You Want To Write by Brenda Ueland. Highly recommend from an award-winning author, creative writing instructor, Professor and someone who knows writing. Highly recommended. For those traveling to Nashville for the Southern Festival of the Book in October, Kerry will be presenting on Sunday so be certain to look for her on the schedule and meet her in person. Don’t miss a great show featuring festivals, writing conferences, great new reads, writer and reader getaway’s and special musical interludes. Celebrating the Power of Story. Join Us!

Salvation and Summer’s End

Published on September 14, 2010 in Clearstory Radio Blog. 0 Comments

LISTEN LIVE HERE FRIDAY MORNINGS AT 9am

LISTEN HERE AT YOUR LEISURE ON DEMAND Clearstory Radio Show 9/17/2010

or TUNE in to 107.1 FM in the Nashville area

(Gilmore) does take the news from the underground life of the modern American South and tell it straight to our face. ~Alan Cheuse, NPR’s All Things Considered

We’ll be gently stepping our way into one of the last few days of Summer this Friday morning.

That’s right, football has officially kicked off, the temperatures are dropping, and even the coyotes have begun to sing in the Outback of Nashville. But before summer gets away there’s just a few things we need to give a nod to and one of those is a special welcome to Susan Gregg Gilmore and her most recent novel. She’s visiting with Clearstory to tell us the story behind her novels and where she finds her inspiration. Gilmore, a Nashvillian who has lived in far away places such as LA and now makes her home in Chattanooga, TN. She recently read and signed her latest at Nashville’s Davis Kidd to a standing room only crowd of delighted story catchers.

Susan Gregg Gilmore‘s most recent work is The Improper Life of Bezellia Grove. A fictional novel set in Nashville in the 1960′s which is gathering much praise and attention including becoming a recently named 2010 SIBA Summer OKRA Pick. (The Southeastern Independent Booksellers Alliance Award of excellence for new southern novels.)

Susan Gregg Gilmore’s second novel is brimming with charm. Bezellia’s voice is as unusual as her name, and her life story will capture your imagination. ~BookPage

Her first novel, Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen, is rooted in summer vacations spent with her paternal grandmother and grandfather, a revival-bred preacher, who after church on Sundays, always took his granddaughters to the Dairy Queen.

Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen was called a “stand-out coming of age novel” by NPR’s Alan Cheuse and was a Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) 2009 Book Award Nomi

nee.

Okay, long summers, good reads, and maybe one more ice cream cone to celebrate the story

of the season that encourages us to take a little time to rock – and to listen.

Also we’ll be WALKING A BLOG, sharing a Great Read, offering news on latest reviews and releases, Sharing Travel News on getaways for writing (or just reading), Book festivals, writing contests and programs and as always great musical interludes so stay tuned!

On AIR, ON LINE, and ON DEMAND (after the show)

Snap Shots of the Soul

Published on September 13, 2010 in Praying for Strangers Blog. 0 Comments

I snapped this photo on the streets of NYC. It’s very raw and real. It’s also very unexpected because I was actually trying to snap a shot of the adorable man getting a shoe-shine right behind him without his knowledge or him posing in any way. No mugging for the camera. Instead I caught a man on the streets, his eyes cast upward, having a discussion with what I imagine was God. It reminded me of one of my favorite quotes from River Rising, an incredible work of fiction from the award-winning author Athol Dickson. In the novel the main character looks up and says a simple prayer – “Look down here, Lord.” And I think that is just one of the finest prayers I’ve ever heard. It’s perfection personified in my book. When I was looking back through my photo album this shot captured my attention again. It looks like a simple man having a word if you will with the Divine. A quick raw snapshot that captured a truth.

Then I started thinking about snapshots of the soul and what they might look like. The photos I have for publicity have been ‘softly touched up’ as one photographer called it. Those dark circles under this writers eyes have been erased along with a few more lines for good measure. The photos make me look better than I do, no doubt about it. Although we all have good days and bad days – photoshop keeps us perpetually bright eyed and youthful. But I don’t confused by all the smoke and mirrors. It’s all for fun and putting your best face forward so to speak when you have the chance but it was also my birthday yesterday. I turned fifty-two delightful years old and that’s the wonderful truth. So I was viewing the photos of this man in mid-conversation and thinking about things like truth and raw images. Then I began thinking about what the images of the soul caught off-guard would look like. Raw material, something truthful and completely revealing. I think for most of us it would be a mixed bag. All our good, all our bad, all rolled into one. It occurred to me that photo shopping an image of our faces is a pretty easy trick this day and age but of our souls? Not so easy. There is no quick air-brush trick to wipe out those angry words, no pencil to fill in for the deeds we’ve left undone, no coloring system to fill in the good words we left unsaid. But what occured to me is that some of my best moments that any camera could have taken would have been the ones where I stopped and took time to pray for a stranger. Those little tiny moments. I think they have indeed been a type of washing. The days where I’ve kept my eyes open to those around me, the ones where I’ve been more sensitive to the human race – those are the days I’d hope to be caught by a Divine lens. “Look down here, Lord,” indeed. Brushstroke the cloudiness of my soul. Erase the dark spots, the jagged edges, so that I can clearly see those around me with a loving eye and an open heart.

Book Groups and Virtual Visits

Published on September 11, 2010 in Book Groups. 0 Comments

Impossible to Put Down! 5.0 out of 5 stars
BookWoman/BookMan TV REVIEWS From TALK of the TOWN Television Show
“What if you found a book that is a tell all about the place you live? What would you do? Mercy Land works for a publisher who finds such a book. River Jordan, the author of The Messenger of Magnolia Street, has written another book that is impossible to put down. We loved it and recommend that your bookclub put The Miracle of Mercy Land at the top of your list!” Sara Lee and Larry Wood – Reviewers

I love to visit with book clubs, reading groups and story lovers everywhere. If time, distance, and scheduling permits I enjoy meeting in person. How can I resist an evening filled with food, laughter and discussing one of my previous novels or just published works.I look forward to chatting with your group by a Virtual Visit through Skype, Mac Chat, or other means. And as old-fashioned as it might seem – I can also visit by calls though speaker phone. Simply contact me at river@riverjordan.us and write Book CLUB Visit in the subject line with a short note regarding your location and meeting times. We’ll work something out! Also, for those who really enjoy the Reading Guide Questions you’ll find those posted on the website for the three most recent novels. I’d love to see a snapshot of your group so please send one along that I can share on my blog. Thank you for loving story and embracing so many author’s words as you celebrate the pleasure of a good book!

Story Catching and Getting Up Close with Harper Lee

Published on September 9, 2010 in Clearstory Radio Blog. 0 Comments

ON THE AIR, ON LINE, AND ON DEMAND (After the Show airs Live)

LISTEN LIVE HERE on Friday Mornings at 9:00am CST

LISTEN AT YOUR LEISURE HERE 9/10/10 Clearstory Show AUDIO

TUNE IN at 107.1 fm Nashville area

It was her writing skills, listening ear, and passion for southern stories that singled her out as the perfect author to capture stories surrounding one of the South’s finest – Harper Lee. As part of biography series, Kerry Madden wrote Up Close Harper Lee which has subsequently received great reviews and the honor of numerous one book read selections.

Kerry first captured the attention of young adult readers with her novel Offsides, (William Morrow) selected by the New York Public Library as one of the Ten

Recommended Books of 1997 for Mature Teens.

Her second book, Writing Smarts: A Girl’s Guide to

Writing Great Poetry, Stories, School Reports, and More!, (American Girl Library) helps kids craft their

own stories and poetry.

The first book in her Maggie Valley series, Gentle’s Holler (Viking Juvenile Books), was published in 2005. Set in the town of Maggie Valley, North Carolina, in the Smoky Mountains, these are books about the laughter, love, music, and hardships of a family with ten children in the 1960s. Louisiana’s Song (2007) and Jessie’s Mountain (2008) were published in rapid succession due to reader demand.

In 2009, Viking published Up Close: Harper Lee, a biography of the To Kill a Mockingbird author written for teens.

Other works include her newest short story, “Seeds of Destruction,”which was a finalist for the Raymond Carver Short Story Prize, published by Carver Magazine in May of 2004. Her play, “Chattanooga Flamenco,” was a finalist at Ensemble Studio Theatre in 2002 and 2003. An essayist, she is a frequent contributor to the Los Angeles Times and online publications.

One of Kerry Madden’s favorite books on writing is If You Want To Write by Brenda Ueland. Highly recommend from an award-winning author, creative writing instructor, Professor and someone who knows writing. Highly recommended.

For those traveling to Nashville for the Southern Festival of the Book in October, Kerry will be presenting on Sunday so be certain to look for her on the schedule and meet her in person.

Don’t miss a great show featuring festivals, writing conferences, great new reads, writer and reader getaway’s and special musical interludes.

Celebrating the Power of Story. Join Us!

Birthdays and New Babies

Published on September 8, 2010 in Authors, Books, Life, Story and The Miracle of Mercy Land. 0 Comments

Today is a very special day in my world. It’s the birthday of my youngest son and although he looks very much like a man – his mother still sees him like this. Which is the reason that mother’s can worry always. But today is not about worry it’s about celebration! Happy Birthday to that wonderful young man who can make me laugh at myself and the world no matter what is going on! I am so glad you are on the planet and in my world.

Today also happens to be the kick off for the new novel, the Miracle of Mercy Land arrives in stores. (When I asked my son if he’d like for me to move the book signing to another day so that he could spend the evening with his mother for his birthday he told me it was just quite alright and for me to go ahead and make book signing plans. More proof he’s not a spunky three year old anymore.)

Praise for The Miracle of Mercy Land

We’ll have the kick-off tonight at Davis Kidd in Nashville at 7pm. If you are in the area please come join us for a short reading, some fun storytelling and plenty of time for conversating.

*Please note that it’s also the happy Birthday of author Susan Gregg Gilmore who has a brand new baby out. I’ll be presenting with Susan at the Southern Festival of the Book on Saturday so please stop by and see us there!

Mercy is a great character full of moxie and a “backbone of worthy” as her Aunt Ida tells her. I hope you have the chance to meet her and get to know her. It’s a story full of mystery, love, friendship, and yes – just a touch of the mystical running along those Alabama shores.

Wishing you all good things.

I hope to see you this evening!

River

Book Panic and Darkening Skies

Published on September 3, 2010 in Books, Life and Story. 1 Comment Tags: Authors.

I was working on Clearstory Radio today, reviewing books to promote, and making a list for myself in the process. My list looked like this : Must reads, new reads, old reads, reads I haven’t gotten to, reads that are by my bed, under the chair, around my desk, reads I’m behind on, read I should have already read years ago like all the classics – and suddenly I couldn’t breathe. I was experiencing the strangest case of anxiety attack I would think a person could have – Too many Stories, too little Time.

Now this is the stone cold truth -I looked forward to Y2K and as all my friends and family know, I was stockpiling books not beans. I thought the entire event was just going to be a great time out while I caught up on my reading. Not being able to work, or drive, or talk on the phone – great. I’m reading. Nevermind all the time that might have been needed for little berry gathering for simple survival.

But today there was no Y2K, no impending golden years of retirement that might afford me more reading time, just deadlines, travels and a lot of books that’s let’s be honest – I all ready want to read more books than I could tackle in the next 100 years. Panic. Attack.

So how do I deal with this? I hit the pause button, read two chapters of The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon and then left to attend the National Book Women’s Association meeting where book masters Sara Lee and Larry Woods, Owners of Bookma n/Bookwoman and Talk of the Town Book Reviewers were recommending more books to read from authors attending the Southern Festival of the Book.

Sidenote and shameless personal plug by association: Sara Lee Woods number 1 pick was the latest from Susan Gregg Gilmore’s The Improper Life of Bezellia Grove. I’ll be presenting with Ms. Gilmore at the upcoming October Southern Festival of the Book

But there were more – the suggestion of a new graphic novel (did I get that right?) where the woman begins following a strange book mobile that contains every book she has ever read. Yes, I want to read that. Yes, I want to attend the author’s session at the Southern Festival. So add one more to my list.

I came out of the meeting with three new lists of books to read, one about Mark Twain, one about Martin Luther King and no less than six new works of fiction. Forget the fact that I’m still trying to back up and read many great works of non-fiction from recent years, say oh, the last ten or twenty. Works from all the great authors I’ve met at the Pulpwood Queen’s event (see Beauty and the Book and the panels that will feature Kathy Patrick at the Southern Festival of the book!)

Then I got in the jeep and started the trek out of the city and up the hill towards the woods. The sun was gone, just a few pieces of red still streaking the horizon as the sky was growing darker by the minute. All NPR talk had gone dark as well and classical music filled the jeep as I crossed a bridge, glanced out the window and watched the first star growing brighter all the way home. I took a deep breath, focused on that star which just might be Venus glowing in the early evening, thought about north stars, and finding our true north and about time.

It’s a glorious place this planet sometimes. Full of stars and words. I think I’ll take my time, feel no rush about it, and embrace those stories that call to me, the ones that I discover, without apology. Perhaps a few stories will slip through my fingers but the one I’m holding at the moment will shine as brightly as that star that I follow all the way home.