Oklahoma Book Awards is this Saturday
It’s that time again! The Oklahoma Center for the Book will be honoring the best of 2011 Oklahoma books and authors on Saturday, April 14 at the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame and Jim Thorpe Museum.
We’ll be honoring Young Adult author Anna Myers with the Center’s Arrell Gibson Award for Lifetime Achievement, and we’ll also present an award to Friends of Libraries in Oklahoma for their Oklahoma Literary Landmarks project. And, of course, we’ll have the medalists in our five book categories. Gonna be a fun night!
Here’s the official press release…
Finalists Announced for 2012
Oklahoma Book Awards
Chandler Author Anna Myers is Lifetime Achievement Award Winner
Thirty-five books have been chosen as finalists in the 23rd annual Oklahoma Book Award competition. Winners in the categories of fiction, poetry, design/illustration, children/young adult and non-fiction will be announced at the Oklahoma Book Awards banquet on Saturday, April 14, at the Oklahoma Sports Hall of Fame and Jim Thorpe Museum in Oklahoma City. Author Jay Wilkinson, son of the University of Oklahoma’s legendary football coach, Bud Wilkinson, will serve as master of ceremonies.
Sponsored by the Friends of the Oklahoma Center for the Book, the awards recognize books written the previous year by Oklahomans or about Oklahoma. Of the 35 book finalists, 25 are by authors, designers or illustrators who reside in Oklahoma. This year some 121 books were submitted in the competition.
In addition to the literary awards, Chandler resident and children’s book author Anna Myers will be presented with the Arrell Gibson Lifetime Achievement Award. The award is named for Norman historian Arrell Gibson, who served as the first president of the Oklahoma Center for the Book.
Myers is the author of 19 novels for young people, all published by Walker Books of New York. Most of her books are historical fiction. The recipient of countless honors over the years, Myers’ awards include four Oklahoma Book Awards, New York Public Library’s Best Books for the Teenaged, New York Public Library’s Best 100 Books to Read and Share, Bank Street College’s Best Children’s Books, Parent Choice Awards, the Crown Award by Christian Schools, the American Library Association’s Quick Pick List, Independent Book Sellers Pick of the List and being included more than 20 times on children’s choice lists for various states.
Born in White Face, Texas, Myers was the sixth child of an Oklahoma oilfield-worker father who had been temporarily transferred to west Texas. When Myers was only a few months old, the family moved back to Oklahoma.
Myers attended what is now the University of Central Oklahoma and became an English teacher, but always dreamed of being a writer. In 1969, she married Paul Myers, a poet whom she credits with having a great influence on her writing. The couple had three children, all born within four years, which Myers acknowledges somewhat slowed her journey to becoming a published author.
It took Myers seven years to sell her first book, which was published in 1992. Since then, she has produced a book a year.
In 1999, after 30 years of marriage, her husband Paul died of cancer.
But with the encouragement of her family, which now includes seven grandchildren, the resilient Myers has continued her writing. In 2002, she married John Calvin, a man with whom she had gone to high school. The couple now lives in a house, built in 1925, in Chandler.
The following books are finalists for the 2012 awards:
CHILDREN/YOUNG ADULT
“Stealing Kevin’s Heart,” by M. Scott Carter of Oklahoma City, and published by The RoadRunner Press, Oklahoma City.
“Chikasha Stories, Volume 1: Shared Spirit,” by Glenda Galvan of Sulphur, and published by Chickasaw Press, Ada.
“The Revenant,” by Sonia Gensler of Norman, and published by Alfred A. Knopf, New York City.
“Hereafter,” by Tara Hudson of Choctaw, and published by HarperCollins Children’s Books, New York, N.Y.
“The Grave Robber’s Secret,” by Anna Myers of Chandler, and published by Walker & Co., New York, N.Y.
“The Snow Blew Inn,” by Dian Curtis Regan of Colorado Springs, Colorado, and published by Holiday House, New York, N.Y
“Mr. Duck Means Business,” by Tammi Sauer of Edmond, and published by Simon & Schuster, New York City.
DESIGN/ILLUSTRATION
“The Eugene B. Adkins Collection,” designed by Eric Anderson of Norman, and published by the University of Oklahoma Press, Norman.
“Shooting from the Hip: Photographs and Essays by J. Don Cook,” designed by Julie Rushing and Tony Roberts, both of Norman, and published by OU Press, Norman.
“Route 66 Sightings,” photographed and designed by Shellee Graham, Jerry McClanahan, and Jim Ross, all of Arcadia; and published by Ghost Town Press, Arcadia.
“Forging a Nation: The American History Collection of Gilcrease Museum,” designed by Carol Haralson of Sedona, Ariz., photography by Robert S. Cross of Tulsa, and published by the Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa.
“To Capture the Sun: Gold of Ancient Panama,” designed by Carol Haralson of Sedona, Ariz., photography by Robert S. Cross of Tulsa, and published by the Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa.
“Ilimpa’chi’ (We’re Gonna Eat!): A Chickasaw Cookbook,” with photography by Sanford Mauldin of Norman; designed by Aaron Long of Sulphur and Skip McKinstry of Oklahoma City, and published by Chickasaw Press, Ada.
FICTION
“Cold Glory,” by B. Kent Anderson of Oklahoma City, and published by Forge Books, New York, N.Y.
“Crying Blood,” by Donis Casey of Tempe, Ariz., and published by Poisoned Pen Press, Scottsdale, Ariz..
“The American Café,” by Sara Sue Hoklotubbe of Pagosa Springs, Colorado, and published by the University of Arizona Press, Tucson, Ariz.
“Along The Watchtower,” by Constance Squires of Edmond, and published by Penguin Group, New York N.Y.
“Broken Wings,” by Carla Stewart of Tulsa, and published by Faith Words, Nashville, Tenn.
“Strangers & Exiles,” by Marlene Reed Wetzel of Tulsa, and published by Out on a Limb Publishing, Tulsa.
“Dandelion Summer,” by Lisa Wingate of Clifton, Texas, and published by Penguin Group, New York, N.Y.
NON-FICTION
“The Oklahoma State Capitol: A History of Our Seat of Government,” by Bob Burke of Oklahoma City and Charles Ford of Tulsa, and published by Oklahoma State Senate Historical Preservation Fund Inc. and Oklahoma Heritage Association, Oklahoma City.
“The Cherokee Syllabary: Writing the People’s Perseverance,” by Ellen Cushman of Okemos, Mich., and published by OU Press, Norman.
“Stories of Old-Time Oklahoma,” by David Dary of Norman, and published by OU Press, Norman.
“Forging a Nation: The American History Collection at Gilcrease Museum,” by Amanda Lett, Randy Ramer, Kimberly Roblin, and Eric Singleton, all of Tulsa, and published by the Gilcrease Museum, Tulsa.
“Dynamic Chickasaw Women,” by Judy Goforth Parker and Phillip Carroll Morgan, both of Sulphur, and published by Chickasaw Press, Ada.
“An American Betrayal: Cherokee Patriots and the Trail of Tears,” by Daniel Blake Smith of St. Louis, Mo., and published by Henry Holt & Co., New York City.
“David Crockett: The Lion of the West,” by Michael Wallis of Tulsa, and published by W.W. Norton & Co., New York City.
“The Wild West 365,” by Michael Wallis of Tulsa, and published by Abrams Books, New York, N.Y.
“Will Rogers: A Political Life,” by Richard D. White Jr. of Baton Rouge, La., and published by Texas Tech University Press, Lubbock, Texas
POETRY
“The River White: A Confluence of Brush & Quill,” by Ken Hada of Ada, and published by Mongrel Empire Press, Norman.
“Depending on the Weather,” by Abigail Keegan of Oklahoma City, and published by Village Books Press, Cheyenne.
Leaving Holes & Selected New Writings,” by Joe Dale Tate Nevaquaya of Norman, and published by Mongrel Empire Press, Norman.
“Hail Mary, On Two,” by Jim Spurr of Shawnee, and published by Village Books Press, Cheyenne.
“Dreaming Sam Peckinpah,” by W.K. Stratton of Round Rock, Texas, and published by Ink Brush Press, Temple, Texas.
“In the Shadow of Asclepius: Poems from American Medicine,” by Howard F. Stein of Oklahoma City, and published by Dog Ear Publishing, Indianapolis, Ind.
Library YouTube Break #30:
Anita Hill on MHP
OK, technically, this is not from YouTube. But I figure YouTube is to video as Kleenex is to facial tissue. Anyway… that’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it!
I had to throw this up because 1) it features a bona-fide Okie; and, 2) it relates to a previous post on Okie Reads.
So enjoy you hump-day video break!
Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy
Stop at the American Cafe
Sara Sue Hoklotubbe’s second Sadie Walela mystery takes us to eastern Oklahoma for small town murder and mayhem. Sadie has decided to follow her dream of owning a restaurant and has purchased the Liberty Cafe from owner Goldie Ray. She’s going to rename the cafe after her great aunt’s place, The American Cafe.
First day of ownership sees Sadie threatened with a shotgun by the town’s crazy woman and saved by the local coffee regulars. She also learns Goldie Ray has been murdered. Not a very auspicious beginning to a new career.
The book is reminiscent of a Billie Letts novel, where seemingly diverse characters become family. And like all families they display both good and self-destructive behaviors. The novel is thick with family secrets and Sadie is challenged to find out the truth.
Oklahomans will appreciate the setting, and insights into Native American culture. This novel will hold your interest until the very end. It made me want to go back and re-read the first Sadie Walela mystery, Deception on All Accounts.
The American Cafe was published by the University of Arizona Press in 2011. Enjoy!
Talking About Books:
Stealing Kevin’s Heart
My friend M. Scott Carter can now add “published author” to his impressive resume. Scott is a journalist who has lead several lives—at the Oklahoma State Senate, in the advertising industry, as director of marketing for the Metropolitan Library System, as reporter for the Norman Transcript, and now as a political reporter for the Journal Record.
Although I had some interaction with him while he was in the advertising world, I really came to know him while he worked for the library system. It’s obvious Scott has a passion for libraries and reading, and he’s particularly interested in promoting reading for pleasure to boys and young men. So I really wasn’t surprised to find that Scott’s first novel was aimed at young adults. (And, it’s a romance!)
Stealing Kevin’s Heart is the story of sixteen-year-old Alex Anderson, a young man who witnesses the death of his best friend Kevin, descends into depression, and ultimately finds the guidance—and the girl—to help him retrieve his life.
I was anxious to talk to Scott when the book came out. So… this edition of Talking About Books is really an author interview with my friend, M. Scott Carter.
Q: Scott, because you have an interest in marketing reading to boys, tell us a little bit about your relationship with books and reading while you were growing up.
A: I grew up in a very small town. However, the librarian at the public library was a genius. Every time I came in (and it was a lot) she would hand me a book and ask me “have you read this?” Usually I hadn’t and, almost always, I checked out what she handed me. I also racked up a million dollars in library fines (thankfully, my mom paid those). Seriously, though, it was at the library where I discovered the joy of reading and a deep long-lasting love for books.
Q: The saying goes, “Everyone wants to have written a book, but nobody wants to actually write one.” Have you always wanted to write a book? When did the desire translate into action?
A: Yes. I’ve wanted to write a book since I was in grade school. My mother bought me an old Underwood typewriter and I started my own newspaper (it covered our house and a couple of the neighbor’s) and even though that project was short-lived, I discovered just how much I enjoyed writing. I think that’s why I embraced journalism so strongly; it offered me the opportunity to write every day.
Q: This is ultimately a life-affirming book, but readers have to confront a lot of darkness first: death, potential suicide, a life-threatening medical condition, and an outrageously abusive character. Would you address this darkness and its role in the book?
A: Life is difficult and just because you’re writing about kids doesn’t mean it’s not difficult for them, too. There were several of these elements that I experienced when I was younger and they had a deep and lasting impact on me. I remember being chased home and beaten as a kid. I think it’s because of those events that I can identify with the underdog. Many times the underdog has to face the darkest obstacles. I wanted my characters to do that, but I wanted them to survive with their humanity intact. That’s a big part of Stealing Kevin’s Heart, showing how you can survive the darkest times and still remain human.
Q: I laughed at the “announcer” in Alex’s head who occasionally comments on his situation. (See Alex Anderson get arrested, tried, and convicted for trying to stop a crime. Only in America!) It’s like a promo for a TV show, or something you would hear before going into a commercial. Do you have an announcer in your head?
A: Yeah I do. That was straight out of my own life. There are so many times during the day that I hear a voice in my head broadcasting my latest screw-up that I’d swear I’ve been picked up by all three networks. Seriously, though, I added that to show that Alex was always thinking. He’s a modern kid, so he has that primary television experience and it’s manifested in his brain as his own personal television announcer. Still I would not recommend this for everyone.
Q: There are spiritual—even paranormal—dimensions in the final pages. Without giving anything away, would you talk about this aspect of Stealing Kevin’s Heart?
A: The spiritual component is just an example of one young man trying to discover his humanity. The paranormal aspect was written to show that sometimes, once in a while, there are things that happen in the world you just cannot explain. I like the idea that there is something bigger out there. And I like the idea that a real, honest-to-goodness friendship doesn’t end when one person dies. I was trying to show that, too.
Q: A little birdie (a Facebook post, actually) tells me you have another book in the works. Want to give us a preview?
A: Yes. My second novel for RoadRunner Press is The Immortal Van B. It’s the story of a young woman who “accidentally” clones a teenage Ludwig Van Beethoven, teaches him how to play the electric guitar and falls in love with him. It’s different but I think it’s really fun. I just finished writing it this week. I’m editing it right now and I really hope people like it.
Q: Being a sci-fi geek, that certainly sounds like it’s up my alley! Finally, because I’ve never known: what does the “M” stand for?
A: Marvelous. Most fun. Martian. Okay, okay, it actually stands for Matthew. When I was in college I worked at the campus radio station, and the news director there dubbed me “M. Scott” because there was another Scott on the air. The name stuck and I’ve used it as my pen name since then.
Well, Matthew Scott, thanks for taking the time to visit with us about your new book, and congratulations on its publication. I found my copy of Stealing Kevin’s Heart at Full Circle Books, but you can find it at other stores or online. Of course, you can also check with your local public library.
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Read an excerpt from Stealing Kevin’s Heart.
Follow M. Scott Carter on Facebook, Twitter, or subscribe to his newsletter.
Mark Your Calendars:
Events in Stillwater and Tulsa
Out of Nowhere: Images of Oklahoma
Opens 3:30 pm, Monday, February 20
Edmon Low Library, OSU-Stillwater
The State of the Novel: Constance Squires and Rilla Askew
7:00 pm, Tuesday, February 21
Joseph Gierek Fine Art, 1512 E. 15th Street, Tulsa
Yep! Two literary events comin’ up next week. The first is a gallery showing of the photography of Kelly Kerr, featuring images from his Centennial book Oklahoma Revisited. Books will be available for purchase and signing at the reception after the event.
Kerr is an award-winning photographer, filmmaker and visual communications faculty member at OSU Institute of Technology. Michael Wallis, best-selling author, speaker and storyteller will introduce Kerr.
Born and raised in Ada, Okla., Kerr discovered his passion as an OSU student shooting for the school newspaper, The Daily O’Collegian.
Kerr graduated from the business college in 1989 and was hired at the Tulsa World in 1994. He covered breaking news, features, entertainment and sports. He was named the Oklahoma Press Association’s Photographer of the Year and twice the Associated Press Sweepstakes Award winner.
In December 2007 Kerr became a faculty member at OSU-IT teaching photography and film in the visual communications program. Kerr has received two teaching awards: the 2011 National Institute for Staff and Organizational Development Excellence in Teaching and Leadership Award and the 2010 OSU-IT Outstanding Faculty Award.
The OSU Library houses two oral history interviews with Kerr. The first interview focuses on his experiences as an OSU student. The second highlights his photography and creativity. Both interviews are available online.
Event partners include Friends of the OSU Library, OSU Institute for Creativity and Innovation, OSU School of Media and Strategic Communications, Center for Oklahoma Studies, Oklahoma Oral History Research Program, the Tulsa World and OSU Research and Technology Transfer. This event is free and open to the public. For event questions, call 405-744-7331.
Our second spotlight event features readings from new Oklahoma novelist Constance Squires and veteran author Rilla Askew.
Squires’ debut novel, Along the Watchtower has been called “smart, funny, and beautifully written.” Askew is one of our greatest Oklahoma writers, having won the American Book Award (Fire in Beulah), three Oklahoma Book Awards (Strange Business, The Mercy Seat, and Harpsong), and nominated for the Pen/Faulkner Award (The Mercy Seat.)
Squires will read from her novel, while Askew will debut an exclusive preview from her forthcoming book, Kind of Kin. A dialogue will follow about the current state and future of the novel. Sponsor of the event is Book Smart Tulsa. Don’t miss it!
Okie Bookshelf:
Anita Hill on Finding Home
“In August 1973, three weeks past my seventeenth birthday, I packed my clothes in three hand-me-down Samsonite suitcases and left the only place I had ever called home.”
Anita Hill looks at the meaning of home in this series of stories that trace a journey from her family’s move to the “promised land” of Oklahoma to today’s sub-prime mortgage crisis. In Reimagining Equality: Stories of Gender, Race and Finding Home, Hill demonstrates how this search for a better place—a place to call home—has been stymied for far too long for many of our citizens by “institutional incentives that encourage separation.”
The search for home, of course, goes beyond the four walls—to the neighborhood, the community, and even the nation where we feel we belong. Our search begins with ourselves and our own family history:
When I began to explore my family history, I was in search of the perfect past. What I found were surprises and a messy, complicated reality that forced me to abandon the myths that filled my head about family, progress, and success.”
Hill discovers that the system established following slavery, to correct slavery’s depravities, had failed her ancestors. And yet, Hill’s ancestors “dared to imagine” a better place for themselves and their children.
This need for home runs deep in the American soul. From the first Euro-American settlers, to Abigail Adam’s arguments for women’s legal protections in their own homes, to commerce secretary Herbert Hoover’s Own Your Own Home campaign, to the twentieth century migration of blacks to the North, to George W. Bush’s Ownership Society, it is a need that has framed our national conversation.
Hill’s stories synthesize this history and conversation with personal reflections from herself and others, race and gender issues, government policies, and our enduring dreams for a better life.
After establishing the links among home, belonging, achievement and success, Hill calls for a new vision amidst the current housing crisis that has brought a great nation to its knees. This vision can take inspiration from the social networking communities that are being embraced, especially by younger citizens, as well as the story of President Obama, who’s “fervent search for home brought him to the presidency…”
The vision? “…not of movement, but one of place; not one of tolerance, but one of belonging; not just of rights, but also of community—a community of equals” Such a vision, Hill argues, could make an inclusive American Democracy where all of us feel at home.
This is a beautifully written, hopeful book.
Stopped short by Short stories
I always say I don’t like short stories, but maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about, Wetzel’s stories took
my breath away. Marlene Reed Wetzel was the winner of the PEN/Amazon.com Short Story Award for ‘A Map of Tripoli, 1967′. Fortunately this story is included in the anthology I’m reviewing, Strangers & Exiles. You can find quite a bit about her award winning story but very little else out on the Internet. It looks like the big bookstores don’t carry this book but you should be able to find it in a local book store or from the publisher.
Back to what I was going to say about the book. Strangers & Exiles tells the story of women inhabiting a world where they survive as strangers to their families, to their land, to their husbands and even to their bodies. Men come and go like desert mirages.
“There are only two kinds of men in the world,” Mantini says. “Men who pretend to love women before they marry, who actually love only themselves.” “The other,” he says, “never forgets from where he came.”
From childhood bullies, to abandonment abroad, the women survive, sifting through debris left by careless relationships and tragic circumstances. They are exiled to foreign countries and exiled at home. The stories provide an interesting introduction to the Middle East (Before Gadhafi) where the people are always on the verge of change, yet cling to an ancient way of life. I disagree with the quotes on the back cover. I don’t think of her women as “risk-takers” but rather women thrown into the quagmire and hanging on for dear life. Wetzel’s writing leaves you craving a new page, a new story. Images remain long after the final page.
Read this book by Oklahoma author Marlene Reed Wetzel, make yourself a believer in the power of short stories.
*Only negative, Out on a Limb Publishing allowed many careless publication errors. Wish publishers would do a final read before sending it to print.
Okie Bookshelf:
Conscience: Breaching Social Amnesia
The great astrophysicist Stephen Hawking warns us that contact with alien life may not be in our best interest. After all, human history shows all too well how indigenous peoples suffer at the hands of a more technologically-advanced society.
The laws of space and time suggest that such visitations are probably not in our future. Still, if we were to awake one morning to find mother ships overhead, I suspect that a nervous Earth might hear our visitors say something like the following. (Note: just replace “Indians” with “Earthlings”):
“The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians; their lands and property shall never be taken from them without their consent; and, in their property, rights, and liberty, they shall never be invaded or disturbed.”
—[Secton 14, Article 3, Northwest Ordinance of U.S. Congress, July 13, 1787
This quote introduces Chapter 5—“What’s mine is mine. What’s yours is mine!”—of Conscience: Breaching Social Amnesia by vehoae. In the author’s first book, she illustrates, through exhaustive research, how the perspectives and motivations of the European invaders and their progeny influenced the rhetoric, politics, and decision-making of the day regarding the continent’s Indian Nations.
Beyond the dishonest diplomacy practiced with the tribes, we are treated to the views and arguments of political and religious leaders as they sought a solution to the Indian problem. Such quotes and primary document details trace the discussions of extermination, assimilation and segregation of the tribes from early European settlement to the days of the Indian Boarding Schools.
It’s an uncomfortable history, of course. Reading about the worse angels of our nature (if I may twist the resurrected Lincoln quote) should make us feel uncomfortable. Seeing an unflattering side of American statesmen like Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson strikes at our patriotic heart.
We know this truth about our past, but some Americans would just like us to forget about it. But vehoae says, “No, look. This is what we did. Here is the proof.” Her appendix, exhibits, bibliography and end note citations take up a third of the book. (I wasn’t kidding about exhaustive research.)
While at the University of Oklahoma in the late 70s, I was lucky enough to have a class with Dr. Jerry Steffen, who warned us about condemning past generations. The future will laugh at us, and condemn us, too, he said. He reminded us to always consider past history in light of the times. This did not mean we should not pass judgements on cruelties of the past. It meant that by understanding the period of history, we could understand why such cruelties happened.
There is no advantage to ignoring our history, but there is much to gain by confronting painful truths. For what better way will we truly find the better angels of our nature?
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Visit vehoae’s website to find out more about the author, her interests and her work.
Read an interview with the author, where she discusses her book and the writers that inspired her. Plus, she provides a host of research tips for non-fiction writers!
Okie Bookshelf: An award-winning children’s author releases her first adult novel
One of the great things about working with librarians is meeting local authors. I’ve met a slew, and I can tell you that Oklahoma authors are really good folk! One of my author friends has released a new book, and I’m here to tell you about it…
Marilyn and Me by Molly Griffis
When Molly debuted her web page, it described her as an “Oklahoma award winning children’s author.” These days, the page says she writes for “adults and young readers.” Molly is indeed branching out with this new novel aimed at adult readers, but she continues to write about subjects that are deeply personal for her.
For example, her wish to educate and enlighten today’s children about the watershed World War II era in America led to a trilogy of children’s books. Two of them won Oklahoma Book Awards for childrens/young adult literature: The Rachel Resistance and Simon Says. Her love for a friend named Billie Letts led to the publication of You’ve Got Mail, Billie Letts.
Molly has recently experienced the deaths and illnesses of loved ones—a strange affair we must all traverse unless we check out of this life early—and these experiences have inspired Marilyn and Me, a road-trip novel unlike any other road-trip novel you may have come across.
When Lydia Patterson and her best friend Marilyn both lose their husbands in the same week, Lydia is suddenly thrust into the role of only caregiver for Marilyn, who is in stage four of early-onset Alzheimer’s. At the same time, the rattling of chain bookstores forces the closing of the independent Book Nook where Lydia has worked for most of her adult life. Her judgment impaired by grief, Lydia decides to fulfill a promise made long ago to take Marilyn on a road trip. On the first day out, a blind cat who also turns out to be pregnant crawls into Marilyn’s lap and heart causing her to speak for the first time in two years and leaving Lydia with some tough choices.
If you know Molly, you know how important family and friends are to her. You also know she can be nostalgic and sentimental, but that any potential sappiness is more than sufficiently tempered with an enthusiasm for life and discovery. She writes like she lives, with an observant eye that can’t help but focus on the rewards of this spiritual and bodily journey we are on.
Molly knows it’s the journey that’s important. And what you discover along the way.
Mashed Potatoes, fun airfare
Flew to Washington D.C. last week, the trials of flying we all know too well. I always try to take an easy, enjoyable read, usually a fun little mystery. So before I left I hunted through my books, located a Margaret Moseley, purchased at a Full Circle bookstore sale. Margaret was born in Oklahoma and you’ve probably know her for Bonita Faye, which was a finalist for the Edgar Award, in 1996.
This time my read was Margaret Moseley’s Grinning in His Mashed Potatoes, starring Honey Huckleberry (not so strange I have cousins with the same last name). Honey is a representative for several book publishers. She markets and promotes their titles to locally run bookstores. She and her best friend Janie are at a fund-raising event when best selling author and guest of honor, Twyman Towerie takes a bite of his dessert and falls face first into his mashed potatoes. Honey, of course, is seated next to him. He has a lot of ex-wives, four to be exact, who would gladly put a little something in his lemon meringue. One is on her way to revealing a ”tell-all” memoir and even the large diamond Twyman tried to bribe her with isn’t working. And the plot thickens….
Since the book was written in 1999 it’s interesting to observe the emergence of computers, and smile at our reluctant acceptance of technology that we can no longer even imagine doing without. Great plane fare, clever and fun, take an Okie on the road with you next time.
