Thrilled to share this story down the road a ways, especially as Dylan is currently out on the road sounding better than ever -- more info to come!
I've just started contributing to the From the Mixed Up Files blog, having been a long-time reader while writing my own middle grade novels and stories.
The site is such a great resource for writers, readers, librarians, and teachers - I'm thrilled to be a part of it.
Check out my inaugural post, focusing on a few favorite MG anthologies:
From the Mixed-Up Files … of Middle-Grade Authors is a team of writers and readers of middle-grade books, and our goal is to celebrate and generate enthusiasm about books for 8-12 year olds.
I was thrilled to get the chance to write about the incredible, local Blue Monday concert series in my home of Lafayette for the Nov/Dec 2024 issue of Living Blues magazine.
I'd love to write a longer piece about this concert series and all the good it's done for musicians in the area, and I'm grateful to Living Blues for giving me the opportunity to write this.
Be sure to check out Living Blues - and check out a Blue Monday show if you can!
I'm thrilled to share that my picture book biography of Delta blues legend CeDell Davis will become...well, a book!
Astra/Calkins Creek is a perfect home, as they've released some of my favorite recent PB bios, especially focused on musicians. I'm so excited to work with Carolyn Yoder and the Calkins Creek team on this project.
My hope with this book is to celebrate and honor the music and life of CeDell Davis, who upended (in the best way) how I and many others listen to and play music.
A special thanks to the many people who knew, played with, and loved Mr. Davis (and Robert Nighthawk and Isiah Ross) for being so kind and helpful to me while researching this book. I'll go into more depth later, but for now - a huge and heartfelt thank you!
And a big thank you to my agent, Stephen Fraser, for his encouragement.
Here's a few photos as well I took while visiting this past year's King Biscuit Blues Festival in Helena-West Helena, AR, where the spirit of Mr. Davis is alive and well.
Cedell Davis mural in downtown Helena-West Helena
Entry at the Delta Cultural Museum - a must-visit!
Mr. Davis's headstone at the Magnolia Cemetery, next to Robert Nighthawk's
Robert Nighthawk display at the Delta Cultural Museum
Jimbo Mathus's killer blues band
Greg and Zakk Binns' band - incredible
Jimmy Burns and his band
L-R: Kent Burnside, Jimmy Burns, Roger Stolle, Jimbo Mathus, and Charlie Musselwhite Illuminating talk, hosted by Roger Stolle from Cat Head Records
And here's Mr. Davis in fine form, playing for a classroom in the 1980s:
Excited to share that my MG fantasy manuscript, THE BOOK CRAWLERS, won the 2023 SCBWI Work-In-Progress award for Middle Grade!
THE BOOK CRAWLERS pitch:
When outcast seventh grader Bartleby Goode discovers he’s a book crawler - a protector of the written word who can magically travel into books to help save them - he must use his newfound gift to battle an ancient, evil destroyer of words named Lexiconis, who has been summoned by her remaining followers to rule over a bleak, story-less world - unless Bartleby and his misfit crew of fellow crawlers can stop her first.
About the SCBWI Work-In-Progress (WIP) award:
The SCBWI Work-In-Progress (WIP) Award assists children’s book writers and illustrators in the publication of a specific project currently not under contract. One winner per category will be selected.
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