I don't even know how to start describing what the last 3 days have been like. I knew that the event, put on by Kathy Patrick who started the Pulpwood Queen book club (now over 500 chapters strong), was going to include authors, tiaras, leopard print everything, and hot pink, glued together with lots of southern flamboyance and women ready to play. I expected that almost all the featured books and authors would be fluffy romance stuff, which is not the kind of thing I enjoy reading. But I also knew that my favorite author, Pat Conroy, would be there, and so I bought the ticket and showed up. What actually happened was far above and beyond my expectations.
First of all, there was a wide spread of book types and authors. (I came away with a fairly long list of books that I'm really looking forward to reading.) Although there is a heavy emphasis on southern authors (many of them first-time authors), there was a good smattering of authors from other places too. And a healthy dose of well-known, award-winning authors too. For 2 long days, we listened to panels of 4 or 5 authors tell about themselves and their latest book -- a different panel every hour, and that's a lot of authors. Plus a different keynote speaker every morning. And every author was available for book signing. Plus a silly-fun dinner theater thing Thursday where the authors were in the play and served dinner, a talent show Friday night where several authors joined in the fun (talents ranged from genuine talent to bouncing a ball on a racket), and the Big Hair Ball on Saturday night, which is a costume event for which everyone goes all out.
On the more serious side, it was an amazing experience to meet so many authors all talking about their backgrounds, how they got started writing, and their paths to publishing. Kathy Patrick really showcases new authors and some of those books look very interesting and are not necessarily books that I'd know about otherwise. Not only are the featured books for sale at the event (Barnes and Noble set up a mobile shop), but publishers were giving away advance reader copies of several of the books and also provided a bunch of other giveaway books to entice us to give them a try. We kept getting so many free books that by the end, I ended up with 17 books (only 4 of those were ones I purchased). Of course "free" means that I end up paying money to have them shipped home, but it is still amazing. Apparently the publishers recognize that Kathy Patrick has created a large network of readers -- many of the authors stated that this was unlike any other book event they have ever been to. Even the Dallas Morning News prints the Pulpwood Queen book selection list along with the New York Times bestseller list. And Kathy Patrick single-handedly has gotten more than one first-time author recognized by publishers. As a side note, Pat Conroy told us that he wrote his latest book, My Reading Life, because of the delightful time he had at a previous Girlfriend Weekend event, after seeing how important reading was to so many people.
I think it would be hard to create a similar event in California, in part because it has such a southern regional flavor. But also, this event hinges entirely on Kathy Patrick's ability to create relationships between authors and authors, and between authors and readers. And also because she is able to talk people into doing things they would not ordinarily do. And the result is pure magic.
So I'm coming home with an armload of books I'm dying to read, and a list of even more books that I'm going to download onto my Kindle ASAP. And I've discovered some authors that are wonderful. It's worth being tired to the bone.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Jefferson, TX and New Orleans here I come
I'm getting ready for my first I'm-retired-so-I-can-go-anywhere-anytime trip. First destination is to Girlfriend Weekend in Jefferson, Texas (http://www.beautyandthebook.com/girlfriend-weekend.html) and then on to New Orleans. OK, what's Girlfriend Weekend you ask? Well, to make a long story short, there is a wild woman named Kathy Patrick in Jefferson who opened a shop that is both a beauty shop and a bookstore, then started up a book club called the Pulpwood Queens. Although they are serious about reading, they don't take themselves very seriously -- tiaras, leopard accessories, and pink are nearly mandatory attire at book club meetings (it is Texas, after all). Well, the book club has snowballed and there are now over 200 chapters in the USA. So a few years ago Kathy organized a gathering of book club members and rounded up a bunch of authors and started Girlfriend Weekend. This year is really is an extravaganza of several hundred people and over 70 authors and 3 solid days of panel discussions, talks, meet-and-greet functions, etc. Fannie Flagg and Pat Conroy (one of my favorites) will be keynote speakers. The event works because the authors have as much fun as the attendees. I am really excited about going!!!!
Fun fact: Random House publishers have bankrolled the first few episodes of a new reality TV show called Beauty and the Book (which is the name of Kathy Patrick's salon/bookstore). They are going to do a premier showing of the show during the weekend.
As for New Orleans, need I say anything? I'm looking forward to the 4 B's -- bourbon, blues, beignets, and bread pudding, in that order. I've never been there, so I'm hoping to get to the Mardi Gras museum, stay up late listening to great music, and just soak in the atmosphere. I'll probably come home tired, but it will be worth it.
I'll keep you posted on my airport experience -- not looking forward to the new TSA security procedures. Yuck.
Fun fact: Random House publishers have bankrolled the first few episodes of a new reality TV show called Beauty and the Book (which is the name of Kathy Patrick's salon/bookstore). They are going to do a premier showing of the show during the weekend.
As for New Orleans, need I say anything? I'm looking forward to the 4 B's -- bourbon, blues, beignets, and bread pudding, in that order. I've never been there, so I'm hoping to get to the Mardi Gras museum, stay up late listening to great music, and just soak in the atmosphere. I'll probably come home tired, but it will be worth it.
I'll keep you posted on my airport experience -- not looking forward to the new TSA security procedures. Yuck.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Being a bum is harder than I thought
The first three weeks of retirement don't count because I was running around doing all the Christmas holiday stuff and heavily involved in the Revels Christmas show (10 performances). But the day after Christmas it started and BOOM, just like that I turned into a bum in one week. Who knew it was that easy?
For three days I didn't even get out of my jammies. Watched movies and played computer games all day. Stayed up late and slept in late. So before I knew it, I was staying up until 3 AM and sleeping until noon. Now, I've always been a morning person -- wake up naturally around 6 AM wide awake and ready for the day, then get really sleepy by 10:30 or 11:00. This staying up late thing and sleeping late was a whole new thing for me.
I read a book a long time ago (can't possibly remember the title) about a woman who rents a cottage for a year on Cape Cod. Her goal was to get away from people and her old life. So she decided to sleep, wake, and eat whenever she felt like it, with complete disregard to normal schedules. If she slept 18 hours and stayed up 24 hours and ate breakfast at 3 AM, that was perfectly fine. She gradually discovered that her natural schedule did not correlate to the normal expectations -- her body was comfortable with about a 30-hour day.
And so I've always wondered what my natural rhythm would be. By the Saturday after Christmas, I found myself still up and alert at 3 AM and horrified at how fast the change had happened. I'd turned into a total bum in only one week!!!! I was more than a little concerned but then I remembered several retired friends telling me that there is a long adjustment period, so I relaxed a bit and finally went to bed at 3:30 AM.
And the next day, a miracle happened. My brain awoke at 7 AM, alert and ready for the day. So I figured I might as well get up, fully expecting to crash in the afternoon. But amazingly, I was awake all day until 11:30. And this morning is the same. So I figure that maybe I've finally had all the sleep and resting up that my body can possibly tolerate and that I'm back to my normal self and just don't have the right constitution to be a real, long-term bum. All those years when I was sitting at my desk at work and fantasizing about laying around the house doing nothing and it turns out that it's just not as easy as I thought. I guess I need to find other ways to spend my time.
Next week, I'm off to New Orleans.......but will talk about that next blog.
For three days I didn't even get out of my jammies. Watched movies and played computer games all day. Stayed up late and slept in late. So before I knew it, I was staying up until 3 AM and sleeping until noon. Now, I've always been a morning person -- wake up naturally around 6 AM wide awake and ready for the day, then get really sleepy by 10:30 or 11:00. This staying up late thing and sleeping late was a whole new thing for me.
I read a book a long time ago (can't possibly remember the title) about a woman who rents a cottage for a year on Cape Cod. Her goal was to get away from people and her old life. So she decided to sleep, wake, and eat whenever she felt like it, with complete disregard to normal schedules. If she slept 18 hours and stayed up 24 hours and ate breakfast at 3 AM, that was perfectly fine. She gradually discovered that her natural schedule did not correlate to the normal expectations -- her body was comfortable with about a 30-hour day.
And so I've always wondered what my natural rhythm would be. By the Saturday after Christmas, I found myself still up and alert at 3 AM and horrified at how fast the change had happened. I'd turned into a total bum in only one week!!!! I was more than a little concerned but then I remembered several retired friends telling me that there is a long adjustment period, so I relaxed a bit and finally went to bed at 3:30 AM.
And the next day, a miracle happened. My brain awoke at 7 AM, alert and ready for the day. So I figured I might as well get up, fully expecting to crash in the afternoon. But amazingly, I was awake all day until 11:30. And this morning is the same. So I figure that maybe I've finally had all the sleep and resting up that my body can possibly tolerate and that I'm back to my normal self and just don't have the right constitution to be a real, long-term bum. All those years when I was sitting at my desk at work and fantasizing about laying around the house doing nothing and it turns out that it's just not as easy as I thought. I guess I need to find other ways to spend my time.
Next week, I'm off to New Orleans.......but will talk about that next blog.
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