FUN IN FRANKFORT, KENTUCKY

Wow, what a great weekend in Frankfort, Kentucky, home of Kentucky Book Fair!

Frankfort is a neat little place with a charming downtown -- and they're pretty smart in Frankfort, too: it wasn't only Book Fair weekend, it was also the 31st Annual Candlelight Tour, which meant music and carriage rides and hot chocolate and Rudolph!

Pat & Rudolph

We ate supper at Gibby's (spaghetti & meatball special), then browsed the shops. Our favorite was Wilma's Linens & Lace. (Pat and I are quilters, remember?) We were thrilled to meet Wilma herself, who refashions old quilts pieces into new things of beauty, like Christmas stockings and table runners. Here she is with a piece I completely fell in love with:

Friday was Children's Day at the Book Fair, and it was so much fun to meet kids and teachers. What a great field trip! The best part was meeting the teenage volunteers. Hi Emily & Harper & Madison & Rachel, and all you others too!

And here's me & Pat keeping the booth warm:

Friday afternoon we visited the again History Center (We enjoyed Civil War music and dancing there the night before) and the Capital City Museum. We loved how everything was in walking distance of Capital Plaza Hotel, where we stayed. We also drank ourselves a little gulp of heaven when we sampled Bourbon Ball Hot Chocolate at Rebecca Ruth Candy Shop.

Y'all: BEST HOT CHOCOLATE EVER. We loved it so much we went back later for another shot!

We also took a little trip up the mountain to Daniel Boone's gravesite, which overlooks the river. I mean, if you've got to be buried, I don't think there's a better spot:

For supper we enjoyed some pizza and salad at Buddy's, popped inside Poor Richard's Bookstore and some other shops, then settled in at the old theater to view THE FEUDS OF BLOODY BREATHITT: KENTUCKY'S UNTOLD STORY, as told by life-long Breathitt County resident Jerry Deaton.

What an interesting history -- and oh how we Alabamians can relate to the way our sometimes awful history can create images and stereotypes of we, the people, that are so very difficult to overcome. 

For the record: everyone we met was WONDERFUL. Southern hospitality and grace is alive and well in Frankfort, and everyone we met was wearing shoes and could speak perfectly good English. So much strength and creativity of kindness in this state! Thanks for making us feel so very welcome.

Most of all, thank you, READERS and organizers of Kentucky Book Fair. You put on an excellent show. I was so pleased to participate.

Finally, you gotta meet three lovely authors with whom I had the pleasure of sharing the day: Bethany Griffin, author of MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH (a re-imagining of Poe's story by the same name!), Julie Cross, author of TEMPEST (an international bestseller that has been optioned for film and doesn't that cover remind you of Becca Fitzpatrick's HUSH, HUSH?) and Katie L. McGarry, author of PUSHING THE LIMITS (recently nominated for GoodReads Choice award -- winners to be announced very soon!!!):

And MOST OF ALL: thank you, Pat, for being a really excellent friend. I enjoyed so much spending the time with you and appreciate your endless support and cheer and all around goodness. In my next life I hope to be more like you. xo

EINSTEIN'S DAUGHTER QUESTIONS HER FATHER'S THEORY

Happy Poetry Friday! Be sure to visit Ed (of March Madness fame!) for Roundup at Think Kid Think!

Me? I'm in Frankfort, Kentucky, getting ready for Children's Day at Kentucky Book Fair, but I wanted to share with you a super-cool poetic thing that happened a couple of weeks ago:

Librarian-extraordinaire Jennifer Butler Keeton of Florence-Lauderdale Public Library invited me to participate in a Poetry & Paint event.

Here's how it worked: attendees, for a fee, were provided with canvas and paints and some initial "inspiration" poems (penned by me!). Then, at the event, I read some poetry along with the talented Boxcar Voices  -- while the attendees created their masterpieces!

Here's a picture of a painting the lovely and enthusiastic Angela did for my poem "At Age Ninety My Grandfather No Longer Gardens" :

Someone was feeling saucy! Love it!! She also painted two others, one of which I told her I HAD to own, it is so freakin' gorgeous and in keeping with my own ideas about the poem. Will share when I have it in hand.

And then there was this one, which surprised me in the best way possible:

What surprised me was that THIS was a poem of mine that would inspire art. But it did! For Stephanie, it did. And isn't that what it's all about?

Here's the poem:

Einstein's Daughter Questions Her Father's Theory

It's all about timing, he says,

She watches the circling second-hand

as it marks all the moments he's missed,

says, space-time is a lump of clay

whose geometry can be changed

by the gravity of stars and planets.

And I am neither clay nor star nor planet.

It was best for you, he says.

Her jaw tightens, fists clench.

I am not a spinning orb, she says.

Must you strap the fabric

of the universe to my back,

demand that I drag it behind me?

It must be proven, he says.

She shakes her head. It's as real

as a wobbling spiral of gas 

that disappears into a black hole.

It changes nothing, he says. And she

climbs back inside her super-

luminal tunnel, leaves him to his work.

- Irene Latham

For those of you who don't know, in addition to his two sons, Einstein had a daughter. Trouble was, she was born to he and Mileva before they got married. Oh, the scandal! So, the couple opted to give this daughter away. (This was not discovered until after Einstein's death, and there is still some mystery as to what exactly happened to her.) I wrote the poem in an effort to give this abandoned daughter a voice. It appears in my book THE COLOR OF LOST ROOMS.

Thanks so much for reading!

SPOTTED!

One of the most fun parts of a book release is, after months or years of living so privately with a story, seeing the book out in the wild! Here's some places I have spotted DON'T FEED THE BOY:

in the lunchroom at Underwood School

at the University of North Alabama lion exhibit (that's Leo in the background!)... and okay, this one *might* have been staged :)

at Barnes & Noble (Summit- Birmingham)

on display at Fairview Elementary School (amazing librarian Jenny Paynter made this backdrop and invited students to bring in stuffed animals. VERY cute!)

SO MUCH FUN to see Whit and Stella making their way into the lives of readers. Thank you thank you thank you!

HURRAY FOR SCHOOL VISITS!

illustration by Stephanie Graegin

In the (almost) three weeks since the release of DON'T FEED THE BOY, it has been my privilege to visit with students and teachers at six schools in Alabama and Tennessee, including Underwood School, Lauderdale County High School, Anderson School, Hibbett Middle School, Shoals Christian School and Fairview Elementary School.

Big thanks for all the enthusiasm and great questions and stacks of books for me to sign! I've said it before, and I'll say it again: connecting with readers is THE BEST PART of being an author. Thank you.

New to my presentation -- which includes all sorts of information about my life as an author and all my books -- is a re-enactment of one of my favorite scenes in BOY: Big Snake Day.

At the Birmingham Zoo, which served as the model for my fictional Meadowbrook Zoo, this event happens in June. It gives keepers an opportunity to involve guests in monitoring the health and growth of the animals -- and re-enacting the scenes give me an opportunity to involve a bunch of students at once as we learn some fun things about snakes.

It also gave me the opportunity to CREATE a big snake. Meet my new traveling companion:

And here he is all stretched out, with students:

He needs a name, doesn't he?? (In the book, there's Pete the reticulated python... hmmm.......)

Before we get to the BIG snake, we also measure a smaller snake, which I bring out in an Igloo cooler "hot box" (for carrying venomous snakes). The snake rests in an inside-out pillowcase.

Why inside-out? Because those pesky seams might damage fragile snake scales!

I also give some of the volunteers cards printed with snake jokes. The kids read the jokes, just like they do at the real Big Snake Day. (It's all about entertainment, folks!) Here's the one that gets the most laughs:

What do you do if you find a snake in the toilet?

x
x
x
x

Wait 'til it's finished.



It you'd like me to bring Big Snake Day to your favorite child's school, please contact me: irene at irenelatham dot com.

Look at all those sweet faces! THANK YOU, new friends!!

ELECTION DAY POEMS

For the last Poetry Friday before Election Day, I thought I would share some poems form Janet Wong's DECLARATION OF INTERDEPENDENCE.

One of the things I love about this book: Janet's disclosure in the Author's Note,"I am not into politics."

Neither am I! And yet here is the wonderful collection of poems about politics.

Janet graciously agreed to allow me to share two of the poems here:





SEED SPEECH
by Janet Wong

If you think
of words
as tiny seeds
that take root
and hold
this earth together

then you see
why it matters for us
to scatter even our smallest
thoughts out there,
to make our voices
heard --

There are no stupid questions.
And, yes:
there might be simple answers.

The birds are chirping:
more seeds,
more seeds!


OCCUPY THE TV
by Janet Wong

I can't wait for the election
to be over, to be done.

This president selection:
99% no fun.

The cable TV coverage
occupies too many channels

With nonstop blah-blah-blabbing
by some not-so-expert panels.

They should call these things "Duh-baits,"
the way those guys are baited

Into acting so ridiculous
they seem uneducated.

I think they must be smarter.
They simply must know more
than they're showing us - say what?
You and me in '24?


:)
Good stuff! And don't miss the Discussion Guide, which, in addition to many other great ideas, includes this prompt:

Get Out the Vote!

What would you say to convince someone that his vote counts? 

And guess what? That's exactly the question I asked non-political me when the editor at Scholastic's Storyworks asked me to write an Election Day poem. Here's what I came up with:

Thank you, Janet! Happy voting, all. And don't forget to visit Donna at Mainly Write for Poetry Friday Roundup!

GHOSTS OF HALLOWEEN PAST

This year no one at my house is dressing up or trick-or-treating. It will be quiet, which is how we all like it. And it's got me reminiscing about all those Halloweens when the boys were wee, and the night was sugar-crazy -- before costumes turned into rubber masks and makeup, or disappeared altogether.

We had critters:

Dinosaur Daniel

Isty Bitsy Spider Eric

Bumblebee Andrew

We had TV characters:

Andrew "Bob the Builder"

Daniel "Thomas the Tank Engine"

We had possible future careers:

Pirate Andrew

Firefighter Daniel

Policeman Andrew

Explorer "Davy Crockett" Eric

We also had some homegrown costumes that were by far the most fun:

Daniel & Andrew as skeletons (costumes made by Grandma Mary!)

Robot Daniel (costume made by me & Daniel)

But of all the costumes, it's the Lil Pumpkin costume that I remember most fondly, perhaps because it went through all three boys:

Andrew

Daniel (with Andrew)

Eric (with Andrew)

Wishing each and every one of you a happy Halloween!

MEET MY NEW ASSISTANT

This past weekend I traveled to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, for the Louisiana Book Festival.

I've traveled to a number of book festivals over the years, but none of them was quite like this one.

That's because I wasn't alone, or with one of my favorite kid-assistants... this time I was with my sweet husband!

Here he is changing a flat tire after lunch but before Mississippi.

Here's the table he got for us at Emeril's Delmonico Restaurant:

Here we are before feasting on barbeque shrimp with grit cakes and oyster bisque and trout.

Here's the beignets we got at Cafe du Monde after he walked with me for blocks and blocks.

Here's  picture of me he took without me even knowing it.

And here he is with the Best Banana Split Ever, just waiting to share it with me. (Can you tell we like to eat?)

As my grandmother would say, we had a BIG TIME! It was really wonderful. And more to come....

AN ELEPHANT-SIZED SURPRISE

I'm really difficult to surprise. It's one of the drawbacks of having a very active, imaginative brain -- or not a drawback at all, depending on the situation.

It DOES make it tough on a husband.

So, when that sweet husband o' mine miraculously pulls off a surprise, my thrill is indeed elephant-sized!

Which is why I'm telling you about this perfect, precious Alex Woo pendant Paul gave me as a celebratory gift upon the release of DON'T FEED THE BOY (which, you can tell right from the cover, features an elephant):

The chain is all sparkly, and the elephant is just the right size for me and I absolutely love what it means:

(from the website)

"When an elephant makes its way into your dream, it’s a message meaning that you are able to conquer any of life’s obstacles. As a symbol of pure happiness, elephants also signify the strength needed to overcome any of life's obstacles. Said to carry everlasting luck in their trunk, one facing up means you will maintain good luck forever. So, grab the world by its tusks and ride yourself into great fortune."

Love love LOVE love LOVE!

Look for it around my neck this week at school visits and a poetry reading in Florence, AL, as well as this coming weekend in New Orleans and at Louisiana Book Festival in Baton Rouge, LA! 

Also, pictures from recent events coming very soon! Thank you, friends, for sharing this exciting time with me. xo

ZOO POEM

Happy Poetry Friday, and welcome to Roundup! To celebrate Tuesday's release of my new novel DON'T FEED THE BOY, which is set at a zoo, I invited 2012 Kidlit Progressive Poem participants to help create a group zoo poem!

The instructions were simple: choose a favorite zoo animal and write a rhyming couplet about that animal.

All I did was collect the couplets and do the slightest bit of arranging and editing.... for instance, I chose Linda Baie's couplet to start the poem because she's the only one who included the word "zoo" and that places our poem. I added some punctuation. I changed a couple of couplets from past tense to present, as the vast majority of couplets were written in present tense and that should be consistent throughout a poem. 

For the ending couplet, I chose Mary Lee's, because she brought us back to "one," which gives the poems something of a narrative arc. I selected the title that I am sure can be improved upon... and that's it! Enjoy these lovely couplets with all their originality and fun. 

And THANK YOU, friends, for playing. (I hope I didn't miss anyone... I changed email after I made the request, so if I did happen to miss yours, please post in comments and I will add it!) Y'all inspire me!

Animal Encounter

Arriving at the giraffes, I stretch my neck high at the zoo.

Meeting face to face as friends, however, proves difficult to do.     Linda Baie

Seals slip into their watery home

sail like an arrow, smooth as stone.     Caroline Starr Rose

The anteater announces, “I am one

who’ll eat an army just for fun."          Penny Klostermann

Watch your pockets! The goats

eat not just food, but coats!                Jeannine Atkins

On llama duty? Do not sit!

(These camel-cousins love to spit.)     Miranda Paul

Koala sleeps the day away,

but at night he likes to play.               Anastasia Suen

Ring-tailed lemur climbs a tree;
tail for balance, not trapeze.              Pat Weaver

He cannot fly, but he sure can run;

watching Emu is a lot of fun!                 Linda Kulp

Smooth and graceful, polar bear

glides then floats, nose in the air.         Sheri Doyle

Few creatures have the knack

of climbing mountains like the Yak.   Doraine Bennett


In Golden Marmoset City,
vine highways are always busy.          Tabatha Yeatts

Tamarins all wear

an abundance of hair.                     Dian Mayr

Elephant waves good-bye with her trunk.
Will she forget me? Oh no, I thunk.                Marjorie at Paper Tigers

Capybara goes to tea,
Wears a tiara designed by me.       Jone MacCulloch

Up periscope in a green, green sea--

giraffe turns his head to nibble leaves.             Kate Coombs

This python wrapped around my hand
will one day  s - t - r - e  -t - c - h  the length I stand.         Robyn Hood Black

Peacock spreads his tail.  Surprise!

A feather-ocean....full of eyes.                 Amy Ludwig VanDerwater

The rhino is my talisman.
We're brave; we're each a herd of one.      Mary Lee Hahn

- Poetry Friday Friends

Please leave your link with Mr. Linky! Thank you.

DON'T FEED THE BOY Blog Tour!

Let's Talk!
 (pic taken at Birmingham Zoo)

DON'T FEED THE BOY releases October 16, which is (holy madness!), next week. And you know what that means: blog tour time!

Here's the schedule:

Monday, October 8: "How to Help Kids Find Their Passions" at Media Darlings

Tuesday, October 9: "Behind the Book: Research for DON'T FEED THE BOY" at Sharpread

Wednesday, October 10: "My Life in Zoos" at I Read Banned Books and Interview at Check it Out

Thursday, October 11: "Education: NOT One Size Fits All" at Bermuda Onion

Friday, October 12: Interview at The OWL for YA and poem about a poem "Window" at Check it Out

Monday, October 15: Review at Mother Daughter Book Club

Tuesday, October 16: Interview at Mother Daughter Book Club
 and Review & "The Summer a Library Saved my Life" at GreenBean TeenQueen

Wednesday, October 17: Review & Interview at There's a Book and Former Debut post at Roots in Myth

Thursday, October 18: post about the Unexpected Gifts of Friendship at The Children's Book Review and a post about illustrator Stephanie Graegin at Smack Dab in the Middle

Friday, October 19: an interview at The Book Monsters and a very special Poetry Friday Roundup post right here, at LIVE YOUR POEM!

So, that's where I'll be the next two weeks! Big thanks to Barb & Sarah for setting up most of these, and even bigger thanks to all you wonderful bloggers for having me! xo

A WAR NONET

Ever heard of a nonet?

Me neither.

At least not until my Writers' Digest magazine arrived. In the "Poetic Asides" column by Robert Lee Brewer, he offered a description (9-line poem in which the first line has 9 syllables and the last line has 1 syllable and all the lines in between have one less syllable than the line before). AND Mr. Brewer offered a challenge.

Well. I do like a challenge.

Plus, I've been reading (listening to) this really good book called THE YELLOW BIRDS by Kevin Powers. It's set during the war in Iraq. I've probably listened to the opening paragraphs of this book ten times. The way he writes about war? Heartbreaking and beautiful.

So here's my nonet, completely inspired by THE YELLOW BIRDS. And if you read or listen to it yourself, you might just recognize a phrase or two!

Al Tafar, Iraq, 2004

By winter the war feasted on fear:

It chewed through dusty, low-slung hills,

gobbled apricot orchards,

rubbed its ribs against scrub.

Eyes, red and searing,

it was patient,

not picky;

wanted

more.

If you try one, send it to me. I'd love to read it! And don't forget the lovely Laura Purdie Salas has Roundup!

At the Scarecrow Show

Our local elementary school, Inverness Elementary, where all three of my sons attended, hosts a Scarecrow Show every year. (Not what they call it, but doesn't that sound good?! It's a fundraiser for the school.)

Here's some of the my favorites of this year's crop:

Alien Scarecrow

Johnny Appleseed

A Scarecrow Divided (so clever! If you live here you know that football allegiance is serious business... if you marry out of your team, you often fly a flag or sport a bumper sticker that claims your "divided" status. All in good fun!)

Ma & Pa Scarecrow

Scarecrow, Jr.

Now if that doesn't put you in the fall spirit, I don't know what does!

WHAT TO SAY ABOUT TERRY KAY?

Doraine & me

What a lovely time we had in Columbus this past weekend! Big thanks to my hostess Doraine and all the fine folks associated with Chattahoochie Valley Writers' Conference.

On Friday night I opened the poetry reading, and the amazing Ayodele Heath closed. (These conference organizers were kind enough not to ask me to follow Ayo... wow!) Find out for yourself in the video below where Ayo performs his piece "Etymology of Ain't":



And then, Saturday morning, Georgia author Terry Kay gave the keynote address. Terry said so many things that resonated with me. Here's a few that are sticking with me:

me & Terry Kay

1. Art is something on the outside that you take in. (as opposed to the idea that art is inside us waiting to come out)

2. If you are experience writer's block, add a character and see what happens!

3. A variation of "I Am Third" -- at Camp Cosby, they teach God is first, others are second, I am third. Terry says, Character is first, Reader is second and Writer is third.

4.  Don't tell me how you feel; tell me what makes you feel. (allow reader to experience the feelings)

Terry also said mine was the first poetry workshop he'd ever attended. Afterward, he asked me, "Do you really like writing fiction?" I didn't get a chance to find out why he was asking... but the answer is yes, yes I do!

Thanks to everyone who made this wonderful event possible.