Bookstores + Brownies = Best Things in Life
July 28th couldn’t have come fast enough. I twiddled my fingers and tapped my toes, checked my blog and my messages, repeatedly, in anticipation of meeting Melinda McGuire and Rhonda Dennis in person at Half Price Books. I haven’t read Josephine: Red Dirt and Whiskey
Melinda and Rhonda were both just the definition of southern friendliness. Brownies, chocolate chip cookies, and free packets of Cajun seasoning were available for the taking. In addition to signing and selling copies of their books they held an exciting raffle for a gift basket of all their combined titles and other goodies. The event was all smiles, pleasant conversation, and plenty of brightly colored checkered napkins!
Raffle Winner!
I find that the best things in life are browsing books, meeting people, and eating fabulous baked goods. It doesn’t really get much better than that! I think the kiddos would agree, as Ayla got to meet Melinda’s youngest who is the same age (but a head taller), and share sugar free cookies. The girls pal’d around in the kids sections here and there as well as discussed the merits of alternative health in the stacks behind the book signing table. Toddlers can be quite chatty around new friends.
It was a pleasure to have these two lovely ladies and their families at the store this weekend and I look forward to having them again. Maybe next time you can join us.
Even if you missed the signing, show your support for these southern authors by purchasing copies of their books here
I am a Child of Neptune
One of my goals for this year was to branch out in my reading. For a long time I have told people “I’ll read pretty much anything,” but in reality I remained a skeptical reader. A thought would pop in my head along the lines, “I wonder how much truth there is to…?” but did not bother to do the necessary research because my prior education was telling me “Don’t waste time, after all it is all crap.” Case and point: Astrology.
I believe 100% in Jesus Christ and that He, is my Lord and Savior. If one song could most consistently speak the words of my heart over and over again throughout my life it would be Rich Mullins’ Creed. But in addition to that, I believe that there are elements of truth in many things, after all God created this world, so naturally there would be signs of Him in things, right? Astrology as use for divination and as a religion is not what I’m interested in as I know where my faith lies. However, God created the Heavens and the Earth and the people in it, so I am naturally curious to research and see if there is any truth in the thing I raised to believe was crap. Could the stars and the planets and the birth of a person all line up together to have influence over our existence? Could God use this as a beautiful master piece of art and design to create a balanced puzzle? Who knows, but I aim to look into it. In doing so, I’m reading books I would have never read before.
Ruling Planets
I always felt like the description of a Pisces kind of matched me, and kind of didn’t. I speculated on whether it would make a difference if I had been born closer to my due date (a month later), and some of those attributes matched, and didn’t. I wanted to put together a research plan – how much of the things you see of yourself in those descriptions are the stars and how much of those things are rooted in how you were nurtured due to the time of the year you were born. Maybe a Pisces loves being in the water because a February baby is just the perfect age to introduce to the swimming pool come summer. Do these similarities change for babies born in Australia vs. the United States? I thought it could be an interesting project, even if it were never fruitful or came to any kind of conclusion. I wanted to approach these concepts with the calculating mind of a marketing researcher pinpointing the best demographic for a product. Is there anything more than coincidence to Astrology and why have people been fascinated with it for thousands of years?
In Ruling Planets, I got a taste for the parts of Astrology that made the ancients fall in love with the stars and the planets and their relationships at large. Instead of a Pisces, I discovered that I am a Child of Neptune and Jupiter, under Capricorn. I’ve never read anything, not even psychology survey results or personality test conclusions that sounded so like myself as the pages about the Children of Neptune/Jupiter and then the more specific pages regarding Capricorn under Neptune and Jupiter. Myers Briggs has nothing on Renstrom’s Ruling Planets.
So where does that put me now? I don’t want to be a mystical nut-job. And it doesn’t shake my faith in Jesus Christ in the slightest. I just find all this pretty interesting and the desire to read more and pin point my thoughts on all of this is more intense than ever. Get yourself a copy of the book, read it, and share your thoughts with me. I’d love to discuss.
Southern Creatives – News from the Road – Humble, TX
I’ll post pictures soon!
Book Signing Update – Humble, TX
- Have books; will travel!
It has taken me years, YEARS, to be able to discuss any kind of road trip without automatically quoting the lines from Willie Nelson’s song – “On the Road Again” – but, I’m exercising restraint. You should be proud of me.
Half Price Books, Humble, Texas, Book Signing
You know what I love about book signings? Everything.
I love them when people are lined up to get a book. I love them when they aren’t.
I just love being in a place that draws in readers, even if they aren’t “my” readers.
People who read as a hobby = awesome.
The book signing went well.
The staff of the bookstore were nice and helpful and courteous, and Andi Kay Klemm set up the whole thing, and she was fabulous!
The bookstore is a great store. I would have hung out…
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Weekly Low Down on Kids Books 7/25/12
Title: But Who Will Bell the Cats?
Author: Cynthia Von Buhler
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
In 2009, I distinctly remember coming across an ad for this book (maybe from my days of stalking shelfari for hours on end). I sat clicking though the website (click book cover and it will take you there) thinking it was so cool and eerie. Finally, this year – this month actually – I had the pleasure of reading But Who Will Bell the Cats? to my kiddo. It is so wonderful.
Based on an Aesop’s Fable, But Who Will Bell the Cats? follows the adventures of a mouse and bat as they try to get bells around the necks of the royal princess’s eight cats. If they could hear the cats approaching, there would be more freedoms and amenities available to them around the palace, they would no longer be confined to the cellar in fear.
The story is a lovely twist on a classic dilemma with beautiful and riveting images not limited by your typical 2D art. Von Buhler has made real sets for paper dolls and photographed them, making the art fascinating, unique, and a little bit intense:
In addition to having written this story, I was also the painter, sculptor, interior decorator, mason, gardener, and plumber of the sets. The rooms were built by hand from wood. The stone walls were formed from plaster. The floors are handmade from inlaid wood, mother-of-pearl, and plaster. The characters were painted in oils on gessoed paper, then cut out and placed in the sets. I photographed the scenes with a Nikon D300.
– Cynthia Von Buhler
(Browse through each part of the castle/book and how it was made: http://butwhowillbellthecats.blogspot.com/2008/06/portraits.html)
We love it, and it is a great story to read right before nap time (due to the length on each page, you really need a settled kiddo to hold their attention if they are under two). For older kids, the website offers all sorts of activities and games to tie into the book, including printable paper dolls, like the ones used to make the book! Visit: http://butwhowillbellthecats.com/lookinside.html
Title: The Wishing Star
Author: M. Christina Butler
Illustrator: Frank Endersby
Publisher: Little Tiger Press
Today at the story time at Half Price Books in Humble, a little girl picked this title out for me to read. We all enjoyed it so much, her mother bought it before leaving the store.
Endersby’s art work is so lovely and eye-catching. Reminiscent of the Rainbow Fish
Together, they created magic.
City of Fallen Angels and Lilith Lore
Lilith in Atrology, click to read more
*Spoilers*
I sat down with City of Fallen Angels over a week ago, but just finished it this morning. The first half was hard for me to get into, having the melodrama equivalent of The Twilight Saga’s New Moon
I have many interests, and though I tend to purchase books sporadically, when reading through my TBR’s I’d like to think that I do it with a little finesse, with purpose. Years ago, I did a brief research day on Lilith, spawned from a conversation I had with someone completely convinced that Adam from Genesis had two wives. I was startled that someone would think this and wanted to get to the root of it all, and spent my astonishment reading through websites, encyclopedias, and other reference material. I have days like this, spent on a particular topic, often. Mostly I end up purchasing things to read later. Who would have thought that Cassandra Clare’s Mortal Instruments
So I plucked The Book of Lilith
The most confusing thing about Lilith (that Koltuv sorts out for the reader well) is all the contradictions embodied in her. She is supposed to be the first wife of Adam, equal to him being brought up from the dust like him, rather than a submissive form pulled from his bones. Yet, she is also a she-demon, according to many as powerful as God, equal but opposite. Some say she is God’s concubine, some say she is Lucifer’s current wife, but still Adam’s ex. She is often linked or married to the King of the Demons known as Samael. Sometimes Samael is thought to be equal to Lucifer, and sometimes he is thought to be Lucifer’s version of Adam, his own creation. All the mythology overlaps making Lilith a strange, cloudy line between humanity and Satan, but always the opposite of Truth, Goodness, and Steadfastness in every way. These characters are full of secrets and lies, evil, and are ever changing according to the story tellers grasp and manipulation. One would expect nothing less from those who are supposed to counter balance God.
Lilith in History, click to view a concise but informative website
The most consistent version of Lilith is that she is a succubus for men, and “for women she is the dark shadow of the Self that is married to the devil” (Koltuv). Like Cassandra Clare’s character in City of Fallen Angels, she is a baby killer and is known as the goddess of dead children, Clare uses this concept as a cult inadvertently kill their offspring via demon blood while trying to please her.
So tied to feminism and the uterus, people also believe that she is ever linked to women in the form of the curse of our menstrual cycle. Tethered to our raging hormones, sexuality, and PMS. This line of thinking eventually made possible the transition of Lilith of evil she-demon to a goddess and Feminist icon/idol. It is amazing that this mythical creature has managed to be so many things (even a screeching night owl and a Leviathan)! Some of the discrepancies can be attributed to the idea of there being two Liliths: a Grandmother Lilith (married to Samael) and a Maiden Lilith (married to a dark prince of demons, Ashmodai).
I find it all rather fascinating. Throughout history people have linked Lilith to hundreds of stories, and though I don’t belive any of them as fact (I personally plop her right in there with Zeus, Athena, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer), I find the use of her in fiction pretty riveting.
A Southern Saturday at Half Price Books
Make plans for Saturday, July 28th!
Southern summer sun beating down on you?
Need an escape?
Take a trip to northeast Texas and the land of pine trees and red dirt roads in Josephine: Red Dirt and Whiskey. Set in the Great Depression, travel with Josephine on her late night adventures as she tries to find the elusive and forbidden Ethan.
Want to travel a little further?
Try post-Civil War Kentucky and meet Nelson McGinnis and Cora Ross as they get to know each other and come to terms with their attraction that will change their lives forever in Nelson and Cora – The Beginning. The McGinnis family are Confederate supporters and the Ross family are loyal Unionists. Each family hides dark secrets that will come to light as you get to know Nelson and Cora.
Prefer a little more modern travel?
The Green Bayou series set in south Louisiana may be just the ticket for your literary vacation.
Come on in to Half Price Books at Humble on July 28, from 1-3 PM, for a Southern Saturday. Escape the heat and dive into a Southern Fiction novel.
Come meet Melinda McGuire, author of Josephine: Red Dirt and Whiskey and Nelson and Cora – The Beginning, along with Rhonda Dennis author of the Green Bayou Series.
Enter to win a book bundle, signed posters, bookmarks, coffee mugs and more.
There may even be cookies!
– Melinda MCGuire
For Women Only – A Review
Title: For Women Only
Author: London Tracy
Publisher: New Hope Books
Genre: Self-Help, Health, Homeopathic
Length: 85 pages
I have to admit when I first saw the cover, a bit of dread came over me. A self-help title on depression. Give me memoirs about manic depressive women and I’m riveted, self-help, not so much. But it was 80-some-odd pages, no biggie, easy cheesy. I was tempted to procrastinate, the author didn’t expect me to post a review immediately after all, just within 3 weeks as per my Review Policy. I am SO GLAD I didn’t put this book off!
For Women Only: A Novel Approach to Depression in Women is short, sweet, wonderfully concise and to the point. London Tracy tells you what you need to know and who to talk to to get more information. Having had bouts of depression and fatigue myself, I appreciated that Tracy wrote this book specifically for the person suffering from the problems being addressed. While suffering from depression, one isn’t very likely to commit themselves to a lengthy and overly wordy explanation of how to deal with their issues. They want an answer. They want that answer now. A listless person can only handle reading chapters a page and a half long in an 85 page book. Tracy’s work is perfect.
Even if you don’t think you suffer from depression, this report is worth 30-45 minutes of your time. It is very informative and may prepare you for issues you might not otherwise know might be coming up in your future. I called my sister twice to share factoids and lists with her that I came across while reading, just little things that every woman should be made aware.
This is a quick women’s health guide for ladies from their 20’s on through menopause. When I open a Kung Fu studio (hopefully, one day, in my perfect dream world) there will be a member’s library, where resources and reference material both on health and martial arts will be available for students to browse. I plan to keep this book in that library. It could help someone in a major way one day.
My Life in Literature Meme
A fun little exercise, taken from Becky’s Book Reviews, as well as A Room of Ones Own.
Using only books you have read this year (2012), answer these questions. Try not to repeat a book title.
Describe yourself: Treasure
How do you feel: Human Happiness
Describe where you currently live: The House of Mirth
If you could go anywhere, where would you go: The Planets
Your favorite form of transportation: The Mystery of the Blue Train
Your best friend is: Voice of Conscience
You and your friends are: Of Mice and Men
What is the best advice you have to give: How to Buy a Love of Reading
What’s the weather like:City of Ashes
You fear: The Map of Time
Thought for the day: Just Breathe
How I would like to die:Roast Mortem
My soul’s present condition: Dragonfly in Amber
This is the same photographer that brought you the Half Price Books Humble Wedding Raffle in June! https://anakalianwhims.wordpress.com/2012/06/04/got-wedding-plans-shop-half-price-books-humble/
I’m happy to have photographer, Kaci Woodrome, as a guest on Southern Creatives this week.
Kaci is the owner of Sweet Southern Style Photography
Kaci’s philosophy is “Delightful photography, simple philosophy: Life is sweet!”
My name is Kaci and I’m the woman behind the lens of Sweet Southern Style Photography. I’m thoroughly obliged to be a guest of Melinda’s on the blog {like how I snuck in that really southern word?} and plan to delve into my southern roots to explore how my family inspires my creativity.
My family’s history in the south extends farther back than I’m really even aware, but what I can tell you is that both my maternal and paternal grandmothers are still alive and well at 92 and 95 respectively. That, in and of itself, lends itself to creativity in my book because of the gajillion stories I’ve heard from them that nearly span a…
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Anakalian Whims 