Richland Library Local Author Showcase Over!

   And so the Deckle Edge, South Carolina's revamped Literary Festival! Today went well, with quite a few people saying they will check out Places and Times on the web. I made some new friends, and saw some old friends. The Library really did a superb job of arranging everything, and I cannot thank them enough.
 
    Yesterday I met Marjory Wentworth, the state's Poet Laureate. Later she posted that she was eager to read the book I presented to her. I also swapped books with someone today, but more about that later on.

    Next event in two weeks!

Very briefly on Deckle Edge Saturday

    It is always great to see friends and fellow poets like Al Black and Len Lawson. Their Poets Respond to Race event is timely and profound.  also saw Columbia Poet Laureate Ed Madden, whose workshop I took this summer past. From him I was able to purchase a signed copy of his soon-to-be-released book, Ark. Hopefully I can read it in a few days.

    And hopefully it will not take South Carolina Poet Laureate Marjory Wentworth that long to read the signed copy of Places and Times which she graciously accepted. Later, she commented on Facebook that she was eager to do so.

    The third and final Poet Laureate I met today was Edgefield's Laurel Blossom. Her county is next to mine, and maybe I can go over there sometime to visit her community.

    T

omorrow to Local Author Showcase! 

Off to Deckle Edge this weekend

   The South Carolina book Fair has been transformed, and Deckle Edge is one of the events:
http://deckleedgesc.org/

    Saturday, 20 February, I am going to see my friends Al Black and Len Lawson present and see another event. Of course there will be networking, and new people to meet. On the next day, Sunday, it is the Richland Library Local Author Showcase at the Columbia Museum of Art, where I will be with 29 other writers. Quite an honor!

A Guest Devotional

    We all know that there are some fascinating people on the Internet, and otherwise we might never have met them. What first attracted me to Desiree was a poem she wrote, from back in the days when I regularly checked Facebook's poetry groups.

Mondesir

     After a few chats, we friended each other, and learned more about each other. Once I noticed that she offered space for guest devotionals on her blog. I took her up on it, and in the fullness of time, she kindly published it. What is interesting from all this is the other reading she has been doing about the overall subject.

    In 2005 I saw the movie she posts in Germany. As a German-speaking US Lutheran (with Lutherans in the German and Hungarian parts of my DNA), the story of the Confessing Church and its valiant resistance means a lot to me.

    Below I post a link to her blog, You can also find the post on our respective Facebook pages. Thanks and blessings, Desiree!

http://www.desireemmondesir.com/home/2016/2/17/a-devotional-the-courage-of-sophie-scholl

My Google Collections

https://plus.google.com/u/0/collections  I've added one on favorite films. Tell me if there is anything you would like to see. Eventually I plan to have one with links to some of you reading poems from Places and Times.

Sunday is getting closer and closer

    I am excited even more about this upcoming event. If you are anywhere near Columbia, SC, come on by. And if not, let me know that you want to be there in spirit! There are a few days of literary events in Columbia this weekend; I am thrilled to have a part of them.

    Anyone wanting to know how they can obtain a signed copy of Places and Times, let me know! To celebrate the first anniversary of the book I am thinking about some special things. One is to

encourage people to record their reading of their favorite poem from it (on Soundcloud or video). 

A Mixed Bag Tonight

     There is a lot of buzz around the USA these days about feeling the "Bern", as in "Bernie Sanders". While I feel some of that (not a time for politics), I do feel the burn from the gym. Right now I feel a little from some Johnnie Walker Red, purchased at Ft. Jackson's Class 6.

     A week from tomorrow it's this event: https://www.richlandlibrary.com/events/local-author-showcase   Last year I attended with a book a-coming, now I have one. If anyone out there would like a signed copy, we can talk, regardless of where you are! that will save you a trip to Columbia, SC, which is worth seeing by the way.

     A few more visits from Syria to this blog. I am humbled that someone has the interest with everything going on in that part of the world. There have been many hits to older posts, which means I do not have to winnow the out. My post about the Grey Cup has 11 hits today. Not bad, eh?

    I am also reading and loving Jenna Le's Six Rivers, but that will deserve a special post, as will something forthcoming from a dear friend and fellow poet.

   Right now I;m listening to this:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y1LJmLzNkyY  


   Take care and let me hear from you! I would love it if you wold follow this blog. I believe I have that set up correctly.