Mary Kay Andrews

The Write Stuff


At Hilton Head’s Cooks n’ Books with Patti Callahan Henry and Salty Dawg



I’ve been lost in a book for close to three weeks now. Wandering around in the territory of imagination without my GPS. So you’ll have to excuse my absence from this blog. I spent a week down at The Breeze Inn on Tybee, working away on SUMMER RENTAL, bookended by appearances at Hilton Head’s Cooks and Books event and the Jacksonville Library’s Much Ado About Books, followed by another week of writer’s retreat with my writer’s group from North Carolina. It was a fun combination of public events and private torture, er, writing time.

I started off by travelling to Dataw Island, outside Beaufort, SC to speak to a book club luncheon on Friday. That Sunday was the Cooks and Books event on Hilton Head, which is a fund-raiser for Literacy of the Low Country. Got to see writer friends like Patti Callahan Henry, Jackie Cooper and Karen White, and of course, meet lots of friendly fans. Then it was back to work on Tybee. The first week at the beach, I plunged headfirst back into the book. I have to set goals for myself to keep my momentum, and I’d promised myself that I would have 200 manuscript pages by the time “the girls” arrived. And I also wanted to be able to send those pages off to my new editor for her feedback. It’s been an unusually chilly gray winter this year, which was good news, as I was not tempted to do much other than burrow in and write. My husband kept calling and asking if I’d gone for a bike ride, or at least a stroll on the beach. I did take one 30-minute beach walk, and another couple brief bike rides, but for the most part, it was a productive work week. Although, yeah, I did get burnt out on writing one day. Told myself I was going “off-island” to get dinner at Publix, somehow ended up driving into Savannah and making stops at World Plus Market–where I spent an hour cruising the aisles for shiny happy cheap stuff. Then I decided it was vitally important to world peace that I replace the mattresses in Boomerang Boy’s beach bedroom. Somehow, I managed to spend more time choosing which flavor Italian soda to buy at World Plus than I did at the mattress store. Finally, $900 later, I made it to Publix to buy my rotisserie chicken.

My only walk on the beach at Tybee–but a beautiful one



Then it was off to Jacksonville, where I gave the keynote luncheon talk at the Jacksonville Library’s Much Ado About Books festival. Such a fun event! I had all day Friday to wander around Jacksonville, and those smarty-pants library folks even provided me with a junk itinerary which sent me to the Avonlea Antique Mall, where I picked up a trio of cool old black and white beach snapshots to add to my collection, and then to Five Points, where I browsed Five Points Antiques and Fans and Stoves, both great little antique shops. At Five Points Antiques I scored a pair of retro vintage concrete seahorse placques just like the ones I’d been jonesing for these since seeing a story in House Beautiful last year.

Concrete seahorse plaques from HOUSE BEAUTIFUL

Friday night was the Much Ado About Books gala, which featured a theme of Lights Over London. The event organizers managed to turn the library’s rotunda and courtyard into a London fantasy, featuring Union Jacks, bobby hats, and even a huge Tower of London. My date for the night was Ward Lariscy, a Savannah native who happens to be one of Jacksonville’s most talented interior designers. I teased him about being my “arm candy” but it was a match made in heaven as we gossiped about antiques and Savannah and such. I even got to make my curtsey to “Queen Elizabeth,” who was, in reality Jacksonville arts champion Betsy Lovett. After a quick turn on the dance floor–told you those Jax folks know how to party–it was off to a dinner with a bevy of New York Times bestselling authors, lead by Steve and Liz Berry, and including my new friends Andrew Gross, Chris Bohjalian and Michael Palmer. They even taught me the NYT bestseller secret handshake.

Paying my respects to Queen Elizabeth, aka Jax Library Patron Betsy Lovett

On the way back to Tybee Saturday night, I took a quick detour to St. Simon’s Island to catch up with old friend Laura Lippman and family. Laura had just turned in her next NYT-bestseller, and she and husband, television writer/producer David Simon have been living in New Orleans while filming David’s new HBO series TREME, which premieres April 19. Laura’s LIFE SENTENCES just came out in paperback last week, so you should rush out and buy dozens of copies.

Writers retreat 2010 at The Breeze Inn

And then, it was time to buckle back down to work. I’d invited my North Carolina writer’s group–Diane Chamberlain, Margaret Maron, Sarah Shaber and Alex Sokoloff to come down to The Breeze Inn for one of our twice-yearly retreats, and they finally took me up on my plea/offer. We missed absent members Kathy Munger and Bren Witchger, but boy did we buckle down to work. Half “the girls” stayed at Castaway Cottage, which is right next door to The Breeze Inn, so everybody had their own working space. People often ask us what a writer’s retreat is, and we usually liken it to a writer’s bootcamp. All of us are multi-published veteran authors, so we are all serious and committed to our work, which is not to say we don’t have fun. We do. But work comes first! Our schedule usually follows a pretty set routine. We meet in the morning, and over coffee/Diet Coke, we talk about the day’s work. We write down our concrete writing goals for the day,–for instance, a plot point reached, or a page or word count achieved, and if anybody has an issue or problem with the work in progress, they ask for some brainstorming.The brainstorming is such a tremendous help! Together, we’ve come up with plot twists, titles, subplots, character names and much more for each other’s books. At lunchtime, we usually meet over a sandwich or leftovers, and talk about our progress so far, and then it’s back to work until we break for dinner. Not wanting to waste valuable work time by going out to dinner, we usually eat in, with each member taking turns supplying soup, stew, casserole, ect. Over dinner we assess the day’s progress and again brainstorm. Finally, after that, it’s usually some kind of diversion, usually a word game like Balderdash, Taboo or Scrabble, although we have also watched movies. The interesting thing this time around was that we were all at different stages of a WIP–(work in progress). Margaret is just starting her next mystery. Diane is facing a May deadline. Alex was mid-book and also starting to plot out her next book, Sarah was turning an old screenplay into a new novel, and I was mid-book, facing a summer deadline. While we were at the retreat, I received five pages of notes from my new editor, with suggestions on how to strengthen what I’d already written, and direction for the second half of the book. Those notes came at a perfect time, with my friends ready with ideas on how to achieve my editor’s goals. Together, we all hashed out tiny details (Diane’s female characters all had names ending in ‘a’), to big picture quandrys–how to add emotional depth to my lead protagonist. By Friday night, we were ready for a celebratory dinner out–at Sundae Cafe. And Saturday morning was getaway day for all. I think we all left satisfied with what we’d accomplished and excited with the prospect of our upcoming projects. We still need a name for our writer’s group, so if anybody has any suggestions, we’d love to hear ’em.

We Now Continue Our Regularly Scheduled Blog

My funny valentine and henchmen serve it up sweet n’ silly

Oh yeah. Where was I? When I’m wrapped up in a book–or in life, things fall by the wayside. Usually it’s laundry, bill-paying and grocery shopping, but this time around, I slacked off on blogging. The thing is, there were no monumental blog topics to put my arms around. Valentine’s Day came and went. We spent the weekend at The Breeze Inn, joined by two couples who are old friends. It was a cold, mostly gray weekend. We managed to watch the Tybee Mardi Gras parade, which was a hoot. Our favorite marchers were the Beach Chair Brigade–a group of fun women adorned in hilarious “bikini” beach cover-ups who did precision beach chair manuevers along the parade route. Saturday night the husbands fixed us a Valentine’s Day dinner, starting with yummy martinis and cosmopolitan cocktails, grilled shrimp and steak and a surprise dessert. The surprise was three grown men, serving pound cake and strawberries–dressed in red longjohns, which they’d hidden under their jeans and sweatshirts during dinner. Silly but sweet, just like our guys. On Sunday, before leaving the island, we were treated to a Valentine’s brunch given by Diane at Mermaid Cottages–the highlight of which was her Krispy Kreme doughnut bread pudding. Always good times at Diane’s.

Beach chair brigade struts stuff at Tybee Mardi Gras parade

I’ve been doing a few book club appearances this winter, including meeting with The Outlaws Dinner Club and Literary Society in Decatur. It sounds pretty high-minded, but really, they’re just a book- loving group of women who meet for dinner and book talk. After all that book talk, they played a cutthroat dice game to determine the winner of the door prize books I’d brought.

Dataw Island book club member and door prize winner

Last Friday, I spoke to a group of book clubs on Dataw Island, near Beaufort, S.C. No dice games this time, we just drew names for the door prize. That night, I attended the kick-off gala for the Cooks and Books literacy fundraiser on Hilton Head. After spending the night on the island, I headed back for Tybee, but not before making a quick stop at a yard sale I spotted. I scored an adorable pair of bamboo twin headboards for peanuts, and quickly added them to my booth at Seaside Sisters.

Hilton Head yard sale–home of the bamboo headboards

Sunday’s Cooks and Books event at the Shelter Cove Mall on Hilton Head was great fun. Chefs from some of the best restaurants on Hilton Head offered their yummiest dishes for an Iron Chef competition, and eight authors–including myself, my friend Patty Callahan Henry, and lots of others, signed books. All the proceeds went to the Low Country Literacy Volunteers.

MKA and Patti Henry getting cozy with Salty Dawg on Hilton Head
And now it’s time to dig in and write. My writer’s group from North Carolina will be joining me here at The Breeze Inn for a week of writer’s retreat on Sunday, so I’ve got to have 200 pages of the new book, SUMMER RENTAL, done before they get here. But before that, I’m heading down to Jacksoville on Saturday to give the keynote speech for the Jacksonville library’s Much Ado About Books festival. You can still buy tickets here. See? I really have been busy.

What’s on my Nightstand

My nightstand–at least one little corner of it

What’s on my bedside table these days? Oh, you know. Some hand lotion. The earrings I wore to a party Saturday night. Some shelter magazines. Like the latest issue of HOUSE BEAUTIFUL, which is a total rhapsody in blue–my favorite color.

Mood Indigo–a gorgeous Hamptons beach house in House Beautiful

I do try to let go of magazines, but this issue is never going away. And books. Lawwwwd, I do have stacks of books. But here are three very new books which I enjoyed very much, and which I think you’d enjoy too. Coincidentally, they all have Southern authors or themes, although I certainly don’t limit my reading to any one region of the country. The first book I want to tell you about is SAVING CEECEE HONEYCUTT.

If you loved THE HELP, you’ll love CeeCee

A first novel by Beth Hoffman, this is the story of 12-year-old Cecelia Rose Honeycutt, who has been the caretaker for her mother, a psychotic former beauty queen. CeeCee’s father has taken a powder, her mother is nutty as a fruitcake, and her only friend in her small town “up north” is Mrs. Odell, the widow lady who lives across the street. But when an even greater tragedy strikes, CeeCee’s salvation comes in the form of her great aunt Tootie, who rides into town in a vintage Packard and carries her off to a new life in Savannah, Georgia. If you’re like me, February is the time you’re yearning for a good read, a book that will take you away to a different time and place, and fully engage you in the life of a character you’ll come to know and love. That’s CeeCee. In the spirit of full disclosure, I should tell you that the editor of SAVING CEECEE HONEYCUTT is the brilliant and beautiful Pamela Dorman, who also acquired and published a little book you might have heard of a few years ago, a book called THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES by Sue Monk Kidd. Pam also happens to be married to the brilliant and dashing Stuart Krichevsky, who is my literary agent. So you know she has impeccable taste, both in books and husbands. Also on my nightstand these days is a new memoir by a former colleague from my days at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Rheta Grimsley Johnson’s ENCHANTED BARBIE AND THE SECOND COMING.

Rheta Grimsley Johnson’s new memoir

Starting out life as a foot-washing Baptist growing up in small Southern towns, graduating from journalism school at Auburn University and a life spent chronicling the everyday and the odd for a string of newspapers fortunate enough to hire her, Rheta Johnson’s eye for detail and her ability to make both the comic and tragic come alive make for a wonderful memoir. Her tales of starting a weekly newspaper on St. Simon’s Island, of meeting and marrying a journalism professor, and her ill-starred stint at the AJC had me from the get-go. Hers is a clear-eyed but affectionate look at a region she loves. There’s lots to love in this memoir–except for the book jacket. But don’t let that put you off. This is really a Valentine to a life in the South that’s rapidly disappearing. Which brings me to the third new book on my bedside table.

I LOVE YOU, NOW HUSH, is what my husband tells me almost every night when I’m rambling on and he’s trying to go to sleep. It’s also the title of a witty collection of essays about the nature of men and women–as seen by Melinda Rainey Thompson and Morgan Murphy. She’s a dyed-in-the-wool Alabama magnolia–a Kappa Kappa Gamma from Tulane, who also happens to have a masters from the University of Alabama-Birmingham, he’s a bourbon-swilling, cigar-smoking bon vivant whose work has appeared in Vanity Fair, Esquire, Forbes and Southern Living. Check out the chapter on Southern cusswords!

Molly’s Special Day

Molly’s christening cup–with pink roses

This past Sunday dawned sunny and beautiful. And pink. Because it was Molly’s christening day. Pink tulips by the front door, pink quince blossoms on the sideboard, a big silver punch bowl full of pink hydrangeas on the dining room table and antique silver christening cups full of pink roses scattered around the house. There were pink iced cupcakes, pink jellybeans, even pink M&Ms. And a very pink-cheeked, radiant little girl named Molly who was christened into our faith. The star of the day, Miss Molly, seemed to know it was an important occasion. She laughed and cooed and gurgled all day long, allowing many, many kisses and admiring looks.

Molly’s “in the pink” centerpiece

Her Missouri grandmother’s dear friend Kaye hand-crafted the most amazing confection of a frilly, lace-frosted christening dress and cap, just for Molly. It will be a family keepsake, and Molly was honored to be the first to wear it.

Presenting Miss Molly, in all her christening day finery

Grandma Jane–(she is GiGi, I am KiKi), flew in for the festivities, as did Molly’s godfather Zack, who is Mark’s childhood friend. Katie’s cousin Sarah, who was her maid-of-honor, flew up from Florida for the big day, and one of Katie’s oldest friends, Kristin, who was also in the wedding, stood up as Molly’s godmother, which was only fair since Katie is godmother to Kristin’s daughter Lydia Grace. Katie and Kristin and Carolyn, the third member of their best-friend trio have been friends since parochial school days.

Msgr. Lopez, aka Padre, Molly, Kristin and Zack

One reason Molly didn’t get christened any earlier was that Katie wanted a very special priest to baptize Molly. Monsignor Lopez was the school chaplain at Katie’s high school, and a much-loved teacher by everybody who graduated from St. Pius X high school for the past many years. “Padre” as the kids call him, has an unbelievably busy schedule, so we just waited until he had a free afternoon to do the honors. And he was so worth the wait, performing such a warm and tender ceremony that there really wasn’t a dry eye in the little St. Pius chapel.

Molly, Mark and Katie apres christening
In preparing for the festivities, I managed to dig out a photo from Katie’s own christening, nearly 28 years ago, in Savannah. Our then parish priest, Father Boland, did the honors. Guess what, he’s the bishop of Savannah now. And as you can see, Katie and I favored pink even back then.

Tom and I at Katie’s christening 28 years ago–with Bishop Boland
Afterwards, of course, we had a party at our house. The menu was unabashedly girlie in Molly’s honor; our special chicken salad (Beyond the Grave Chicken Salad-from LITTLE BITTY LIES) on mini-croissants, cold asparagus with vinaigrette dressing, Aunt Jeanne’s pickled shrimp, fresh fruit skewers, devilled eggs, and the afore-mentioned cupcakes from our neighborhood bakery, Sweet n’ Sinful.

Three generations celebrate Molly’s happy day
Molly was passed from arm to arm, and cousins and aunts and uncles and neighbors and old friends gathered around and enjoyed the afternoon, while pink candles flickered on the dining room table, and a fire crackled in the living room fireplace. We couldn’t have asked for a nicer day, or a sweeter reason to celebrate!

Be It Resolved

Well, we’re officially a month into the New Year. The national news reports say that Punxatawney Phil has predicted another six weeks of winter. But down here in Georgia, we’re choosing to listen to our own resident groundhog, Gen. Beauregard Lee, who says spring is just around the corner. But back to those resolutions. How’re we doing? In January, I ran a contest in my newsletter asking readers to tell me what you were resolving to change for 2010. I wanted to know because I’ve had a bit of a love/hate relationship with resolutions over the years. I figured maybe my readers could teach me a thing or two.

And you did! This was by far the most popular contest we’ve run yet, with triple the number of entries from the previous contest. But as the entries came in, I started to worry that we were all being a bit too self-critical. Because really, who doesn’t hate the size of their butt? Okay, maybe Kate Moss, who famously said “nothing tastes as good as skinny looks.” Hate her! But then I got an entry from Beth, who said her goal for the year is “to try not being so hard on myself.” Amen, Sister Beth.

Your responses ran the gamut from heartfelt to funny, and inspirational. Of course there were those entries about wanting to shed extra pounds. Kimmy sent me an itemized list–1. Lose weight. 2.Be more patient. 3.Get through school. We can all relate, Kimmy. Just be sure to be patient with yourself. Speaking of patience, several of you told me of your desire to keep calm and carry on, as the saying goes. Charity is hoping for “A Return to Graciousness,” and thanks to Heather’s resolution to “Speak Softly and Carry a Big Stick,” her kids now know she means business when she does NOT raise her voice. A couple of readers wrote me very personal notes about challenges they were facing. Jane is looking forward to getting involved with her step-grandchildren now that their mother is in jail, and mourning the loss of her mother to the end stages of Alzheimer’s Disease, so she’s vowing to savor each moment of the day while she can. Elizabeth has ended an abusive relationship and is planning to treat herself with a trip to Savannah. After losing one pregnancy, Mandie is overjoyed to be looking forward to the birth of her first child in May. A couple of you told me you’re reinventing yourself after job losses. I’ve reinvented my ownself more than once, so I can tell you that this is such an exciting (and scary) process. My niece Sarah told me that she and nine friends came up with “Ten for 2010”–a list of resolutions that involves trying new things–and reading new books. Love this idea! I gave her HISSY FIT to start off with.

There were a couple resolutions I couldn’t get behind, however. Restrict adult beverages to weekends? Clean more? Read less? Not me! Given the choice, I’d rather go with readers like Antoinette and Vivian, who resolved to make no resolutions at all.

So, who’s the winner? As usual, I could not pick just one. So two of you will receive autographed copies of BLUE CHRISTMAS. Martha Quinn is so tried of failed resolutions that she is picking twelve from past years and tackling one per month. Martha, do let us know how you make out with your dirty dozen. And then there’s DeDe Woodling, whose resolution gave me a much-needed laugh on a chilly winter day. DeDe has resolved to be more like her dog. We can all take something from her goals: to love unconditionally, forgive easily, feel the sun on her face, and run like the wind while she still can. Go, DeDe, go! Congratulations to Martha and DeDe and happy reading to you and everybody else.

Finally, I’ll leave you with one last resolution from a reader named Carolyn who simply stated, “Laugh more, worry less.” Words to live by, indeed.

A Week At The Beach…Kinda

My favorite hideaway, The Breeze Inn

I came down to Tybee Island and our cottage here, The Breeze Inn, to write for a few days. I do that whenever I can sneak away from home and hide out. It’s not that I can’t write at home. I can. I do. But it’s different at Tybee. No housekeeping. I make my bed in the morning and rinse out my cereal bowl and spoon and the house is done. No laundry. I wear faded black yoga pants and sweats. Nobody wants to know what’s for dinner. ‘Cuz it’s just me. And I do what I want. And that’s how I roll down here. Mostly it’s either a rotisserie chicken picked up at the Publix on nearby Wilmington Island, or spaghetti. Why spaghetti? Because when I first started running away to write down here, I usually stayed at the sweet little Garner cottage owned by our friends Ron and Leuveda.

Garner Cottage–my favorite cottage other than The Breeze Inn

And the tiny apartment-sized stove there only has two burners. So. One burner for the pasta, and one burner for the marinara sauce. Sometimes I go all la-de-damn-da and throw some sauteed Italian sausage or some rotisserie chicken into my (right out of the jar) marinara sauce. Sometimes I add a healthy splash of whatever wine I happen to be sipping. Mostly I sip cheap chardonnay. I have a new favorite cheap wine as of this weekend. It’s called SKN–which stands for Screw Kappa Napa. I spotted the bottle on the shelf because SK are my agent’s initials. The typeface on the label even looks like the typeface on his letterhead. The wine, (not Stuart, he’s way pricier) goes for twelve bucks and some change at Publix, and the chardonnay and the cabernet are surprisingly good. Even Mr. Mary Kay who is somewhat of a wine snob likes the SK cab.

Screw Kappa Napa–the new Official House Wine at Breeze Inn Cottage

I got down here Tuesday and I fixed my spaghetti and chicken, and whirled up some smoothies in the blender for breakfast. And I managed to work out some twists in the manuscript of the new book, which I’m calling SUMMER RENTAL. My editor is calling it something else, but we’ll work that out later. I even managed to write a couple of new chapters. We had a little snafu with the printer, but after I called Mermaid Cottage’s IT guy, he came over and fiddled around and we got it fixed. On Friday Mr. Mary Kay flew in for a conjugal visit. Okay, maybe he also wanted to take his boat out, but that’s what I’m calling it. Friday night we went to dinner at our favorite spot on Tybee, The Sundae Cafe. Yummy as always. On Saturday, after dropping MMK at the marina, I met my friend Tacky Jacky for some junking. Jacky and I have been junking together for more than 30 years, and she sewed all the slipcovers and even the master bedroom curtains for The Breeze Inn. We’ve had some capers together, including the infamous incident where we ended up sleeping at the Metter Jail after a late-night car breakdown. But Saturday we just went gallivanting. Don’t you love that word? We hit a yard sale and I picked up some books for a quarter apiece for our little beach house library, and Jacky got a countertop rotisserie. Then we found ourselves an estate sale, and I bought a great looking console table for $75 that will work perfectly as a writing table/dressing table for the downstairs guest bedroom I’ve been re-doing. Then it was home to check off some items on our honey-do list. Because we rent out the house through Mermaid Cottages, we try to do maintenance stuff in the slower winter months. Tom cleaned out the owner’s closet and added shelves, while I put a couple coats of clear polyurethane on the master bathroom vanity, which is actually an antique dresser I picked up at Brimfield. I also gave our dining room table a coat of tung oil because it was looking kind of tired out. That night, we invited Jacky and her friend Martin, and our friends Jimmy and Susan for dinner. Susan is the madam at Seaside Sisters, where I have my little antique booth, and Jimmy is the owner of Seaside Sweets, the great candy store/gelato shop on Tybrisa. We always like to invite Jimmy to dinner because he brings us whatever new gelato flavor he’s experimenting with. For dinner, I decided to try a recipe from a new cookbook called PIONEER WOMAN COOKS. If you haven’t read Ree Drummond’s blog, PioneerWoman, you must. It’s an account of her transformation from stiletto heel-wearing big city chick to Oklahoma ranch wife–raising four children, cooking for her hunky hubby, whom she calls The Marlboro Man, and all things cattle ranch. The blog features her amazing photography, as does the cookbook, which is a real keeper. Saturday night we made her Penne ala Betsy, which is a shrimp in tomato cream sauce with penne pasta.

Pioneer Woman’s Shrimp Penne Pasta

And by we, I mean MMK. Of course, he had to kick it up a few notches by adding a can of of Rotel tomatoes with chiles, but it was a genius touch. While Tom cooked, I fluffed the house, including setting the table. We almost always invite friends to dinner when we’re at the beach, and I love to surprise our guests by not going with paper plates, but instead using china, pretty glasses and linen napkins, which I pick up on the cheap at estate sales, Homegoods, Tuesday Morning, ect.
Our dinner table setting

Jacky brought along her famous garlic-cheese spread and some good Italian bread, and Susan made an awesome salad. And Jimmy? He brought an amazing mascarpone gelato which we dolloped on top of my brownies and topped with hot fudge sauce. Aunt Bea! That was some good grub. Sunday morning, the weather finally cleared long enough for us to take a spin around the island on the two new/used beach cruisers we just bought from our friend Tim O’Neill at Tim’s Bikes. And then we headed home to Atlanta–in time for monsoon rains. Oh well, we’ll always have Tybee.

So Many Books, So Many Authors

Those fun-loving Pulpwood Queens–with MKA in the middle

I have been to some parties in my time. I was at the Sweet Potato Queen St. Patrick’s Day extravaganza in Jackson, Miss. one time. I’ve done St. Patrick’s Day in Savannah, Pirate Fest on Tybee Island, Ga., and my own Savannah Breeze weekends. Twice. But boy, howdy, Kathy Patrick sure knows how to put on a throw-down of her own. This past weekend I joined some thirty-some other authors at Kathy’s Pulpwood Queens Girlfriends Weekend in Jefferson, Texas for their 10th Anniversary clambake. Kathy owns what is probably the world’s only bookstore/beauty shop combination, Beauty and The Book, in Jefferson, and she is a world-class promoter of book clubs and all things bookish. And what a time we all had. Jefferson is an adorable small east Texas town–with 35 inns and B&Bs. My new friend, author Jenny Gardiner and I stayed at The Hale House Inn, where our hosts Timm and Karen Jackson treated us like royalty and fattened us up with lavish breakfasts. We started off Thursday night with a dinner party at Jefferson’s Excelsior Hotel, where author Janis Owens, of The Cracker Kitchen cookbook, along with some other great cooks, prepared a true Southern dinner of baked ham, gumbo, corn casserole, rolls and yummy desserts.

Hangin’ with my peeps Pat Conroy, Melissa Conroy & Judy Christie at opening party

To show our appreciation for all those book-loving Pulpwood queens, the authors donned aprons and served dinner and bussed dishes. Since I never worked as a waitress, it was a first for me, and I nearly had a gumbo-catastrophe while clowning around with a tray of dirty dishes. On Friday, the parade of author panels began. I was on a panel with Janis Owens and Lauretta Hannon, who has written the funny/tragic MEMOIRS OF A CRACKER QUEEN.

Cracker-jack authors Janis Owens, Lauretta Hannon & MKA


Friday night we were all asked to come up with a fitting costume for The Barbie Ball. For once, my imagination nearly failed me, but at the last minute before leaving for the Atlanta airport, I grabbed a vintage leopard-print coat, a feather boa, and a leopard-print, befeathered pocketbook from my costume closet. Voila! Bitter First Wife Barbie was born, accessorized with a vicious divorce attorney, hefty alimony check and estrogen patch.

My author buddies Patti Callahan Henry, left, and Kerry Madden, right

The Barbie ball-goers were much more imaginative than me, however, coming up with such novel identities as Cougar Barbie, Three-Way Barbie (triplets!), Hippie Barbie, aka my BFF author Patti Callahan Henry, and Original Barbie–who turned out to be a young (very svelte) hairdresser who arrived in Barbie’s original 1959-era black and white striped knit bathing suit, before changing into a floor-length black strapless sheath just like the one my original Barbie owned.

Here I am with the Three-Way Barbies

On Saturday, there were more panels, a ticketed luncheon with Pat Conroy, and that night, the party of all parties, The Hair Ball. This year’s theme was The Wizard of Oz, and Kathy and company outdid themselves. Book clubs competed for the prize of best themed table decorations and best girl
groups.

Good Witches Complete with Mojito Fountain and Light-up shot-glasses

The Good Witches came swathed in white tulle, with Glinda the Good Witch crowns made from glitzed-up trash baskets and decked out their table as a heavenly cloud–complete with a working Mojito Fountain and LED-light-up shot glasses. Another group dosed themselves and their table with a pink theme. They floated a helium balloon above their pink-draped table which even had a working crystal ball with Dorothy’s picture in the middle. Each one of the group was in a different Wizard of Oz costume–but in pink. Still another group made themselves into The Emerald City. I tell ya, it was inspired. The authors did themselves proud too. Our buddy Ad Hudler, author of MAN OF THE HOUSE, dressed himself in black, painted his face and bald head green, and donned a headpiece made to look like a stage with drawn-back green curtains–transforming himself into The Great And Powerful Oz.

Pulpwood Queen Kathy Patrick as Texas Tornado and author Ad Hudler as Great and Powerful Oz


Jenny Gardiner, who has a sick streak like me, came as Judy Garland–the last years, complete with cigarette holder and necklace of prescription pill bottles. Since I didn’t have a real costume, I just treated myself to a makeover from one of Kathy’s artists–complete with Texas-tornado styled big hair, glitter hairspray and thick, spidery fake eyelashes. There were so many more clever, gorgeous costumes I couldn’t quite take it all in.

Mother-daughter team of Lollipop Kids took home Best Costume award

There was a band, and lots of dancing, and laughing and general merriment. And when the weekend was over, we’d all met lots of new friends–women who came to party and celebrate a shared love of books, and authors, people like Kerry Madden, who has a great new children’s biography of Harper Lee, and Jamie Ford, whose New York Times bestselling debut novel, HOTEL AT THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET garnered rave reviews last year, and children’s book author Melissa Conroy, who’s written an adorable picture book called POPPY’S PANTS, and who was accompanied by her famous daddy, Pat Conroy, who wrote a little thing called SOUTH OF BROAD. When I got home Sunday night, I discovered that my sparkle, literally, had worn slap off. The fake eyelashes were MIA, and my feather boa looked like it had been through the wringer what with all that dancing and shimmying. I’m back to plain ol’ unglitzy me again. But next year? Watch out Jefferson!

THE FIXER UPPER GAME

I’ll admit it–six months ago I thought a casual game was like a pick-up poker game. Since then I’ve learned that casual computer games are one of the hottest trends sweeping the nation. And they’re especially popular with people like you–my readers. That’s why I was so excited when the folks at Digironin in North Carolina wanted to create a game based on THE FIXER UPPER. Our game features Dempsey Killebrew and the other characters from THE FIXER UPPER, playing a series of fun, brain-teasing hidden object games based on the plot of the book,–kind of like a scavenger hunt on the computer. And I’m even more excited today, because it’s my launch day! Whoo-hoo! Bring out the champagne and laptops! You can go here and take a free trial run today only. There are other sites where the game will be available too, and it will work for both PCs and Macs. Check it out and let me know if you’re hooked. Oh, and, be sure to spread the word.

Back from Christmas Break

Did you miss me over the holidays? Right now, Christmas and New Year’s seem like a blur. We had family in town for New Year’s–my lil’ sis Patti, her husband and their friends. We did a little partying in the hood, then took off for Tybee on New Year’s Day.
Me and my lil’ sis Patti

Once we got back to Atlanta, it was time to get ready for Scott’s Antique Market, and a jaunt with two of my favorite antique experts–junk buddy Beth from KnickKnackPaddywack Antiques in Raleigh, and uber-designer Eddie Ross. I had a list of items I was hunting for at Scott’s this month, all of it stuff for my project-in-progress, our downstairs guest bedroom. Up until the past year, this had been the lair of Boomerang Boy. I’d decorated it in early hunting lodge motif–with a stuffed deer head, high-backed antique oak bed, and dozens of rustic lake and river-scapes. But now that BB has de-camped for Charlotte, NC, that guest room was looking a little tired. Not to mention the fact that the bed was a double–hardly comfy for the couples who stay with us–and the fact that the bed rails, sadly, were being held up by concrete blocks. Classy, huh? I started the project in the fall, having the walls painted a dreamy pale aqua, and the ceiling painted the same color, cut in half with white. I’ve picked out a creamy linen for drapes, and a cream and aqua check silk for a bedskirt, and an aqua, green and coral linen floral for a comforter cover and pillow shams, but it’s all being made right now. My designer friend Clay and I found a gorgeous antique Italian bench at an estate sale in Buckhead back in October, and the mottled green paint and orangey-coral velvet upholstery were the perfect match for the fabrics I’d picked out. In the meantime, I was trying to wrap my head around paying huge bucks for a custom upholstered rafia headboard that would have been a copy of a Mrs. Howard headboard I spotted last year in HOUSE BEAUTIFUL.

Mrs. Howard’s Pricey Bed

Mrs. Howard’s bed retails for $4,125, and the copy I was studying would have been around $1,800. But I just couldn’t make my hand write that check. Not to mention Mr. Mary Kay would have spit nails if he’d seen said check. Instead, I hunted around, until I found a pretty substitute at Ballard’s Backroom here in Atlanta. It’s the low-profile Louis bed, and it usually sells for $799. I found it just before Christmas on a day when everything in the store was 20 percent off. But my bed was missing the side-rails, so it had been marked down. A stock clerk managed to find a set of rails, but one of the middle support legs was in a different finish, and one of the bed slats was cracked, so the store manager knocked another 25 percent off, and I ended up paying about $350, which made me much happier.
Louis low-profile Bed

Now all I needed was–nightstands, lamps, a dresser, a rug and art. Nightstands were a bit of a problem. I like big, non-rickety nightstands that can hold a reading lamp, books, magazines, a glass of water, ect. And with these modern pillow-top mattresses, I needed something at least 32 inches tall. I also wanted something big and chunky to fill the wall above the headboard, which sits between two narrow windows. I had a starburst mirror in mind, but these can also be pretty pricey–especially if you’re looking for one with some size to it. And I wanted to start looking for art to fill the blank wall opposite the bed. Fortunately, junk buddy Beth came into town Wednesday night so that we could get an early start for set-up day at Scott’s. Beth is my Raleigh friend, and the owner of KnickKnackPaddywhack Antiques. We make a perfect junking team because we both love to travel to Europe, love theatre and love antiques. But Beth buys and sells the really good English and French stuff, while I, mostly buy, good junky stuff. Usually Beth would be shopping at the antique fairs in England this time of year, but wisely, this time around she decided to scoot down to Atlanta to shop with me. Wouldn’t you know it, Thursday morning, we walked in the building and the first dealer we saw had a pair of killer tole lamps that Beth fell for. And a few feet down that same row I found a mirror. It’s big, it’s sunburst, and it apparently fell off a truck at some point. It formerly had a row of mirrored tiles surrounding the mirror, but they were all missing. Which is why I got it for $50. I found a dealer who could restore it, but when I thought about what that might cost, I think I’ve persuaded myself that I actually like it in its current shabby state.
Fifty-Buck Starburst Mirror from Scott’s

Thursday night, the weather people were forecasting snow and nasty weather, but that didn’t stop me from attending a blogger dinner with Eddie Ross, sponsored by the nice folks at Larson-Juhl Frames. The dinner was at the hip n’ happenin’ JCT Kitchen, in Atlanta’s Westside Design District. I met lots of other local bloggers, like Jennifer Boles of Peak of Chic, Rhoda of Southern Hospitality, and the hilarious Tami of Talking With Tami. Eddie and Jaithan were as cute and charming as always, and full of news about plans for upcoming projects. By the way, if you’re in the design district–where Forsyth Fabrics, Lewis & Shearon Fabrics, Ballard’s, and Lamp Art are all located, you totally should check out JCT. Awesome southern food. By the time dinner was over, the snow was really coming down. But a little snow never slowed down this junk posse. All the local schools were cancelled, but Beth and I hit the road for Scott’s anyway. We strolled the aisles, ate our customary Greek food, and then, I spotted ’em. A pair of substantial nightstands. They are three-drawer chests, probably from the ’50s or ’60s, repro French Provincial, which the dealers had painted just the right shade of gray-green., with a wax finish and new hardware. Beth liked ’em too, and urged me to buy them. But I had to stroll around for another hour before I went back, did a little bargaining, and sealed the deal. They were not as inexpensive as I’d hoped, but these are sturdy, all-hardwood, and the perfect size, color and condition, and the price was fair, if not a steal.

The Ballard’s Bed with Scott’s Nightstands

By the time we finished shopping that day, we’d filled up my car, plus Beth’s, not to mention all the stuff Beth bought the previous day. Saturday morning, Mr. Mary Kay packed up Beth’s car and then loaded up our cartop carrier with all the stuff that wouldn’t fit inside her car. Beth headed up 85, home to Raleigh, and I headed up 85, to Larson-Juhl’s offices, where Eddie and Jaithan hosted a really lovely tea and framing demonstration.

Eddie Ross and His Blogging Posse

All the tables were filled with gorgeous flower arrangements made by Eddie. The framing demonstration was really interesting and informative, with Eddie using prints, Wedgewood plates, and moulding and mat samples to illustrate all the choices available when framing. At Eddie’s suggestion, I came away with a scheme to shadow-box frame the souvenir spoons my mother collected in Europe on her honeymoon. And then today, Sunday, I just had to head back to Scott’s one last time. I’d seen Brooke at Velvet and Linen’s blogpost about Love Train Antiques, but had never shopped there before. Love Train is in a separate building in the parking lot at the South Expo. The dealers have tons of European antiques and cool vintage industrial salvage stuff. I scored seven antique French architectural illustrations for the bargain price of five bucks apiece!

French Architectural Prints

Now, I guess I’d better get back to working on my new book so I can afford all that framing I’m dreaming up, not to mention curtains and duvet covers.

A Christmas Gift for You

Dear Friends: My Holiday wish for all my readers is that you are warmed by the love of family and friends at this special time of the year, with good things to eat and drink, and of course, something good to read. Earlier this week I posted a piece about my lemon pound cake, and the story of how my sister Susie and I developed the recipe. Today, I thought I’d share a piece I wrote two years ago, for Atlanta Magazine. I hope you won’t find it too sad, but at this time of year, I think our thoughts turn to those who are no longer with us. Let’s raise a virtual glass to their memory. And to to all of you, from my house to yours, here’s wishing you a joyous holiday and a splendid New Year!

The milk glass cake plate in all its splendor

My sister’s Decatur neighborhood was pretty sketchy ten years ago. Renters came and went, often in the middle of the night. So, on that frigid winter day when we spied a house with a pile of shabby furniture plopped in the middle of the yard, we hardly gave it a second glance. It snowed, and the furniture took on an artful frosted look. But when the thaw came, we noticed something odd growing out of the melting muck. The weather was frigid, but we couldn’t resist walking over to get a closer look. On a dare, I dashed over and picked up the mysterious item, and ran, laughing, to where Susie stood waiting on the curb.

“Look!” I said, breathlessly, holding out the treasure. It was a cake plate, of antique milk glass, with an elegant scalloped edge and a graceful fluted stand. It was perfect, and we couldn’t believe someone would leave it behind. But they had.

Neither of us could give up claim to the cake plate, so we decided it would alternate homes, from her Decatur cottage to my Avondale bungalow. On Christmas Eve, after early children’s Mass, we’d hurry over to Susie’s for her open house. There would stand the milk glass cake plate, adorned with Watershed’s chocolate cake – she’d gotten the recipe from the AJC one year. By New Year’s Day, the cake plate was back in Avondale Estates, for my traditional oyster roast, offering a luscious lemon cream cheese pound cake. By Easter, the plate would be pressed into service for our mother’s three-layer carrot cake with maple-cream cheese frosting.

When we moved to Raleigh six years ago, we quit throwing the New Year’s Day oyster roast. Not long after our move, our mother passed away, and eventually, Susie moved to Florida to help care for our father during his final illness. Christmas Eve suddenly didn’t seem quite so festive any more, now that we weren’t all stuffed into her tiny cottage, nibbling on honey-baked ham and chocolate cake, with the kids sipping their ritual “children’s champagne,”–really just sparkling apple cider–from Susie’s Waterford flutes.

When we did move back to Avondale Estates three years ago, in November, it was a foregone conclusion that the New Year’s Day oyster roast would be reinstituted. Susie missed the party that year, but the cake plate was there, and so was the lemon pound cake.
In July 0f ’07, the unthinkable happened. Susie was on the way to visit us in Avondale – where we’d planned a Fourth of July dinner on the grounds. She never made it. Leaving the interstate in Adel, she was killed in a horrific traffic accident. After we got the news, I met my brother Johnny in Tifton, where we made arrangements to take my sister home one last time.

A few weeks after the funeral, I was poking around down in the basement, looking for Tupperware to pack a batch of cookies for a weekend house party. I didn’t find the Tupperware, but I did find the milk glass cake plate, which I hadn’t seen since our move to Raleigh. I guess it’s mine now, by default. I guess, too, that later tonight, I’ll be digging through Susie’s cookbooks, looking for that bittersweet chocolate cake recipe. Maybe tonight, after we return from early children’s mass, even though her niece and nephew are now grown and of legal drinking age, we’ll even toast my big sister’s memory, with a glass of children’s champagne.