Puppet Show*

Rat: Know where I can get something to eat?

Raccoon: Go see the Boggs family in Walkerton. They put out, like, six bowls of cat food on their deck every night. And bowls of cream for breakfast. It’s awesome.

Rat: Okay, let me wash my face.

Raccoon: Don’t worry, it’s come as you are.

*Performed in the children’s section at Twice Told Tales, a great bookstore in Gloucester, Virginia

Birthday

Today is my birthday. This morning I walked to the river and on the way found my birthday clover:

I found eight more on my walk, which I will most likely give away at some upcoming readings; I like to tuck them into the books that I sign. If you can’t make it to a reading but would like me to mail you a clover, the offer still stands!

It rained so much yesterday–two inches–that everything is suddenly very green again.

 

And the river was raging! I sat down and read for a while, and the noise sounded like I was at the ocean:

Speaking of reading, if you read Mattaponi Queen and are so inclined, I would be very grateful if you would post an Amazon review. Of course I want everyone to support their local bookstores, but Amazon is a place where people research books before they buy, so I think it’s helpful to have reader reviews posted there. Think of it as a birthday wish!

Friday Links

I wrote about books and stories I love in the classroom (and on my bedside table) in The Book Lady’s Blog today. My picks include Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel, In the Shadow of Man by Jane Goodall, I Remember by Joe Brainard, and the stories of The Monti and The Moth.

This weekend is Can-a-Rama 2010. It’s really hot, so maybe I’ll make some freezer jam?

My friends at Roulette Vintage are hosting an old-fashioned cakewalk and contest this Sunday! I’m excited to go to a cakewalk, and lord knows I love a contest, but turning on the oven is not very appealing. I think I might try Martha Stewart’s no-bake cheesecake from the August issue (not very Southern, but still a cake! And no baking!). My mom commented today that someone should donate Martha Stewart Living to mental institutions because “it’s so orderly.”  We particularly love her calendar.

Doug Solter very helpfully put together advice, culled from a popular Twitter discussion this week, on how to impress booksellers.

Graywolf’s July newsletter offers a good deal on J. Robert Lennon books, Per Petterson tour dates, plus a preview of two new books in the Art of series.

You should read this piece from The Institute for Southern Studies, “The Real Story of Racism at the USDA.”

Really Old Cat

How old would you say this cat is?

If you guessed 22 you’d be right. Walkerton resident Mischief has surpassed the human legal drinking age through a regimen of Deli Cat, minimal exercise, and drinking two full bowls of water every day.

I think she looks really good, for 22:

And she gets sweeter every day, which is not something you can say about all the rest of the Boggs cats.

More Links

Here’s a lovely review of Mattaponi Queen in The Book Lady’s Book Blog. I had the pleasure of meeting Rebecca (the Book Lady) in Richmond, a trip I will write about as soon as I fetch my camera back from Walkerton. 

You can download Elizabeth Alexander’s beautiful Amistad sequence on At Length. I vividly remember listening to her read “Praise Song for the Day,” standing way at the back of the Washington Monument–what a great day that was!

Largehearted Boy List, Skloot Reading

Hello! My Internet connection is randomly cutting in and out and of course I have no idea how to fix it, so here are some quick  links for a Monday:

I’m very flattered that Mattaponi Queen made the Largehearted Boy Summer Reading list. Click here for my Largehearted Boy Book Notes.

Rebecca Skloot will sign and discuss The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks at the Library of Virginia on August 25, from 6:00-7:00 PM. If you live near Richmond, this is a great opportunity to hear a fascinating story and meet a terrific author! I recently passed The Immortal Life on to my mother and recommended it to another friend, and they both loved it.

Friday Links

Here’s a great new website documenting writers’ houses and celebrating the literary pilgrimage. The site allows you to explore by state, city, writer, or internationally. I like the limited-edition prints they’re offering of writers’ houses, too (Poe, Gorey, O’Connor, and Dickinson).

The Virginian-Pilot ran a very kind and thoughtful review of Mattaponi Queen.

And here’s another nice review, this time from Deal Safrit, owner of Salisbury’s Literary Bookpost, in the Salisbury Post. I’ll be at the Literary Bookpost tonight at 6:30! With preserves, of course.

New York & Brooklyn

Most people have a stress food, right? Mine is Cheetos, washed down with purple Gatorade, which I used to buy just about every day at this store, on Ralph Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn:

I taught at this school, just close enough to the market that I could dash there at lunch, for two years–first writing as a “specials” teacher, then first grade as a classroom teacher:

I had wonderful, brilliant students, but they and I were stressed out a lot of the time. We needed better test scores, more books, more math and science materials, more (and more nutritious) food, better pest control. We needed a safer neighborhood. Sometimes we needed more involved parents–though I can remember, during the first writing celebration of first grade, when everyone sat in a circle to read her “golden line,” a room full of proud parents and grandparents.

A friend of mine (who happens to be a very good writer), teaches in a high school on the third floor of this school, and during my visit to New York this June I attended end-of-year presentations by her literature students. They were all so poised, confident, and thoughtful–and clearly so supported by their teachers–that I really hope some of my former students will have a chance to attend this school. The experience also made me more excited to teach high schoolers next year. Maybe our students will become blog pals. Maybe her students could come down to North Carolina and we could take them kayaking. Maybe we could come up to New York and go to museums with them. We’ll see.

Though Mattaponi Queen is set mostly in King William and King & Queen counties, a lot of its inspiration is actually from this neighborhood, which was the first Southern-feeling place I’d come to after leaving Virginia. People nod to you or say hello on the street in Bed-Stuy, and many people here are from the South or have relatives there. My students used to go on and on about “down South.” 

My story “Homecoming” is partly set here; Marcus grew up in the Brevoort houses, which are just across the street from the school:

While in New York, I also read at a Barnes & Noble in the city–my first chain bookstore stop. I try to shop at independents as much as possible, but I also happen to like Barnes & Noble for their generous teacher discount (20%). That year I taught first grade, I was able to buy every child in my class a Christmas present from Barnes & Noble–a copy of Madeline, a book we read so often we memorized it (though we never mastered the “two straight lines” part in real life).

At B&N, I read the first part of “Opportunity,” a story set in King William but inspired by a rather tough woman who was my boss at the school pictured above and the cause of some of those Cheeto-runs. My friend Coquille (still a NYC teacher!) chortled knowingly while I read.

Amazing News!

I couldn’t post about it because I was in Walkerton, but on Friday the shortlist for the Frank O’Connor Short Story Award was announced, and Mattaponi Queen made the list! This means that I’ll get to travel to the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Festival in Cork City, Ireland this September, and hopefully hang out with the other shortlistees: Robin Black, T.C. Boyle, David Constantine, Laura van den Berg, and fellow North Carolinian Ron Rash. The list is very impressive, and I’m tremendously honored.

The Guardian ran a story about the contest on Friday, with insightful comments by Rash, van den Berg, and Boyle on the so-called death of American fiction. The headline was “U.S. Writers Dominate Frank O’Connor Award Shortlist” (five of the six nominees were from the United States). I do hope people notice that two North Carolinians made the list. 

I’ll post more soon about my recent travels, which have included everything from a high school in Brooklyn to the nursing home in Norfolk where my mom grew up. And to celebrate the shortlist news, I’ll remind you of my offer to send you a four-leaf clover (just email me). It’s getting harder to find them now because it hasn’t rained much lately, but I will do my best!

And, in case you can make it to one of my readings, I’m still giving away MQ preserves:

Friday Links

Part of my Little Women doll collection (mentioned on Shelf Awareness), all jumbled up in a cabinet in Walkerton; that's Meg and Beth in front, and Jackie Kennedy hanging out in the back corner in her inaugural finery.

Kevin Larimer, editor of the ever-useful and interesting Poets & Writers (which featured me among their five debut fiction writers this summer), asked me to write  a post about my experiences with literary agents on their Agent Action blog. You can read my reflection on what I did wrong and how I wish things worked here. The June/July issue also features a story on the book-making robot I met in Cambridge and some sort of scary tales about the publishing industry–you should check it out!

The Richmond Times-Dispatch ran an article about Locust Grove.

I was a Book Brahmin on Shelf Awareness last week; click here for my Q&A on books I’ve loved and books I’ve pretended to read. 

Mattaponi Queen was an “editor’s choice” on the Printers Row book blog hosted by the Chicago Tribune.

Also, what I’ve just finished rereading: A Hope in the Unseen: An American Odyssey from the Inner City to the Ivy League by Ron Suskind. Such a wonderful work of journalism–I’m planning to teach it in my 11th grade class next year. If you haven’t read it, it makes a great summer read or an excellent present for a teacher.

Finally, if you are a fan of The Moth, I can recommend The Monti, Durham’s version of the popular unscripted storytelling series. We have all kinds of famous literary people here, and other interesting people with good stories. I spent an entire morning this week listening to the finalists for their Hippo Awards. My favorite storyteller was Jill McCorkle, but they were all great. The Monti will have a radio special on WUNC this Sunday at 6:30 P.M. I’m planning to download it for my car trip to Richmond on Monday.