Back From Atlanta

I’m back from my Atlanta trip, and already so swimming in other commitments that I don’t have time to do the whole thing justice. I will say that Kennesaw State treated me very well. I was welcomed, chatted to and dined by a great many people. I appreciated their generosity very much.

They also worked me like a dog. In addition to two readings I had several lunch/dinner gatherings, a visit to a Marietta high school, meetings with several comp classes, several writing classes, and even an auditorium of a couple hundred students of world literature! I got to talk about my work, about the writing process, about literary and genre fiction, and a host of other topics. Frankly, I talked until I lost my voice…

I also got a couple of sushi lunches out of it, spent a little time at the bar, and I had an enjoyable evening with a book club that had a great deal to say - and ask - about Gabriel’s Story. Fortunately, the wine flowed and the food was fine that evening. Not least, I got to see Martin Luther King's birth home and gravesite. All good stuff. I came back exhausted, but that’s as it should be too.

The lion’s share of the thanks goes to novelist and professor Anthony Grooms, author of Bombingham and Trouble No More. He’s a wonderful writer, obviously a great teacher, and a generous host and guide.

It was well worth the effort, and I'd happily do it again.