The event at Faulkner Fest with SusanShadtPress authors couldn't have been more delightful. I'd been completely surprised when Susan, my publisher, asked me to be on this panel.
"I write kids' books," I told her. "Faulkner Fest?" I wondered aloud. It hardly seemed a good fit, Faulkner being Faulkner and all, but my publisher assured me that the theme of the conference was Magnificent Obsessions, and we could each talk about our obsession. Still unsure, I asked her, "And what is my obsession?"
"Children's literature," she said.
Well, duh. She had that right. I taught children for 20 years, and literature was at the heart of my teaching. I taught Children's Literature in college for more than 20 years, so, yeah, maybe I did belong on that panel.
The setting at Beauregard Parkinson-Keyes House in the French Quarter of New Orleans was beyond lovely, and we had a receptive crowd to hear about our books -- four about Mardi Gras. And mine. Poetry for children about emotions.
Pictured here are Madison Webb, author of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Patricia Austin, author of Elephant of Sadness, Butterfly of Joy, Matt Haines, author of The Big Book of King Cake and The Little Book of King Cake, Susan Shadt, owner and publisher of the SusanShadt imprint, Echo Olander, author of I Wanna Do That! and Rosemary James, co-founder of the Faulkner Festival.