FINALLY FALL

Today is a great day. Why, you ask? Because finally FINALLY it is not raining, and when I went out to collect the morning paper, I actually shivered. Love it!

I had all sorts of wonderful adventures over the weekend, starting with a visit to the Carter House in Franklin, Tennessee, with wonderful writing compatriots Pat Weaver, Sheila Renfro and Jana Hutcheson. I found out there are lots of Civil War stories that still need to be told, and when I spied the above trail of mushrooms, I just couldn't resist pretending to be a mouse or frog or cricket and getting way down low for the shot.

Aside from exchanging books (my to-be-read pile is positively towering now) and talking about writing and life in general, Pat gave me this family heirloom:



I know! Amazing, right? Pat thinks her husband's mother quilted it sometime during WWII, out of genuine sack-cloth. So yes, it may not be a Gee's Bend quilt, but this work of LOVE is totally traveling with me as I go to schools for LEAVING GEE'S BEND.

We had fun and learned a lot at MidSouth SCBWI conference in Nashville. I came away inspired to write FAST, thanks to Caroline Cooney. If an opportunity arises for you to hear Caroline speak, don't miss it! Really a goldmine of information.

And to all those who, like Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich a.k.a Bemi, author of Eighth Grade Superzero (which I can't wait to read!), get to work with editor Cheryl Klein of Arthur A. Levine Books, wow, you lucky dogs, you! It was great to see friends and make new ones. I was especially happy to finally meet Kristin O'Donnell Tubb, author of Autumn Winifred Oliver Does Things Different. I'd love to get her to Alabama for a historical fiction workshop.

I skipped out early (and missed P.f. Chang's with friends -wah!) so I could hang out with my little brother and his sweet family, who live just a hop away from Nashville -- so very good to see 'em!

And now I'm contemplating a POV change from first person present to third person past. Stay tuned...