Teaching
is both exhilarating and humbling. Case in point - I go absolutely
nuts when my students do all these amazing things on their cell phones.
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SMARTY BONES is now available for you to read. I hope you find it as funny as I did when I was writing it. Let me know what you think?
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So thrilled for this one. THE DARKLING has been reviewed right here: NYT REVIEW.
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You
still have time to submit a recipe to my cookbook. Everyone is going
to write a little bit about their recipe - and yes, I will include my
own tragic experience about the baked coconut explosion in my kitchen.
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The pre-conference price is good until June 30th. So if you want to reserve your spot at next year's conference, e-mail Sarah Bewley immediately!
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Check out this lovely peony from ZuZu Montoya's shade garden.
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Dear Friends and Readers,
This
month marked the beginning of a new decade for me. It doesn’t seem
possible, but I know it’s true. Teaching is both exhilarating and
humbling. For instance, I can talk to my students about how the IBM
Selectric typewriter was “cutting edge” when it came out with it’s
correction tape. They have never used ANY typewriter. They don’t know
what a platen is. Or why Courier was the publishing font for so many
years. And I won’t even get into the things they can do on their phones
that makes me a crazy person. So yes, time has marched by. But this has
been an incredibly wonderful Spring for me and my writing.
SMARTY BONES, which drops TUESDAY (that would be today, folks!) is also racking up some really positive press: CRIMINAL ELEMENT REVIEW. There is the sense that things are moving along in a super positive way.
I’m
in the process of editing the next R.B. Chesterton novel, THE SEEKER,
which is scheduled to release March 2014, and I am almost finished
writing the first draft of BOOTY BONES (working title—thank you, An’gel
Molpus for the title). It should release May 2014. It’s crazy that I’m
planning a year from now, but that’s how publishing works.
I
have an idea for another book, and I hope this summer to get some words
on the page to see if this is something I can work with. I’ve been
dreaming about this idea, but it’s so very different from anything I’ve
written before (and when has that ever stopped me from trying?) so I
will keep you posted on this. I have about a dozen stories that are
clamoring to be written. The voices in my head are getting louder—humm,
that makes me sound a bit crazy, doesn’t it? Oh, well, I don’t care. I
love telling stories.
I had
a lovely ride on Piper this weekend, and Cogar is doing terrific. We
have his weight and diet under control, and it has made a huge
difference. Of course he feels deprived, but for his health, I must keep
him from getting fat. I say that as I avoid ALL mirrors. (You know the
mirror will suck your soul out through your nasal passages if you stare
too long.)
I
want to update y’all on the cookbook. We have over 500 recipes, and we
are still accepting if anyone wants to turn in something really good.
Just send it to me: carolynhaines21@yahoo.com.
Please put your name, your hometown, if you are a writer, rescuer,
stand-up comedienne , etc., and want your website included put that in,
and tell a little about the recipe and how you came to have it or when
you make it or when the kitchen blew up because you made it (that’s
based on my own tragic experience with a baked coconut—yikes!). And if
you know which character would make this recipe, include that too.
Please do all of this for each recipe. It will help us out a lot.
Kathy
Bergold has taken on the herculean task of sorting the recipes, and
Mimi Bosarge is dealing with the cookbook printer and will type a lot of
recipes (we can all chip in once we get to that point), and there will
be caricatures for the section dividers. I have more than a dozen people
who have signed on as “character directors” and who will thread
narrative through the recipes in the “voice” of the character they are
assuming. This will be a unique and wonderful cookbook, and the proceeds
go to Good Fortune Farm Refuge to help bring the mobile spay and neuter clinic to Lucedale, Mississippi.
We will debut the cookbook at Daddy’s Girls Weekend 2014. And as a special treat, we will gather for breakfast at the Captain’s Table Restaurant
on the Mobile Bay Causeway, 9-11 a.m., Sunday, April 6, the last
morning of DG Weekend. We have reserved the Pilot’s Room for our
gathering. (In the survey we did, one big request was to hold something
off-site of the hotel. So I got busy and found out about the Pilot’s
Room at this wonderful, renowned restaurant. We can check out of the
hotel and then everyone will be free to leave from the restaurant, which
is very, very close to the Battle House. And yes they serve libations.)
The
cookbook directors who can attend will talk about making the cookbook
and this whole crazy process. I think this is going to be so much fun.
For some, this will be the first time to assume the role of a
“character” in print. There should be some fun tales to be told. And all
for the love of animals!
Remember
that the special conference rate for DG Weekend applies through June 30
this summer. Then the price will go up. So if you want to sign up with a
$25 non-refundable deposit, do so here: SPECIAL CONFERENCE RATE. The balance of $100 is due at the end of December. Now $125 is a price you won’t beat!
Also,
be aware that the rooms at the Battle House Hotel for DG Weekend are
very limited. If you want a room at the special rate of $139 a night,
you need to make a reservation now. Here is the link: SPECIAL RATE.
After the rooms are filled, we won’t be able to offer the conference
rate (this is hotel policy not DG Weekend). I think the rooms are
regularly $179 up to $210, so this is a good savings. Just be sure and
reserve your room now.
We
are planning a ghost tour on Thursday evening--a walking tour along the
downtown streets near the hotel. The history of Mobile is fascinating,
and DeWitt is going to scope out some spirits, along with Holly McClure,
our agent for the weekend. Holly is a wonderful agent with a
fascinating connection to healing, spirits, successful writers, film
deals, and fun! She represents all types of fiction, and she is also a
writer and an avid animal lover. More on Holly in the next newsletter!
And for those in the Houston area, please come by Murder by the Book
Saturday, May 25, at 4:30 p.m. I’ll be signing and DeWitt Lobrano will
be exploring the energy shifts. It will be a fun, rollicking gathering
because Dean James will be there too.
So
as you can see, I have a lot of things going on. But I still have time
for mischief, and I am planning some tricks and treats. All I can say
is, Alice Jackson, we have work to do! Call me! (Alice
wanted to put in a recipe for Ex Lax Brownies, but I wouldn’t let her!
She wanted to give them to Coleman. An’gel, protect your man.)
Until next month, adieu from Casa Carolyn!
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