Future Reading for Stories of the Confederate South

This afternoon, I was interviewed by Sunny Meriweather of KEDM, 90.3, which is the public radio station here in Monroe, Louisiana. The interview was recorded and will be broadcast Friday morning, October 20 at 8:30 a.m. and 12:50 p.m. We discussed my new book, Stories of the Confederate South, and the upcoming reading/book signing at the West Ouachita (pronounced wash-it-tah) Library in West Monroe at the Cheniere exit on I-20. Sunny had read my book, and gave it a favorable review, and in her typical professional fashion, asked excellent and relevant questions. Several of my Confederate friends intend to be there in their reenactor uniforms so that visitors can ask questions about their equipment and the life of a Confederate soldier in the War Between the States. As I’ve said before, I love doing readings. Readings give me an opportunity to really test my writing on an audience, as well as a chance to get my work into the hands of readers.

Southern Soldier Boy

Southern Soldier Boy

Here is a link to a great Civil War song, “Southern Soldier Boy.” You can hear the tune on a MIDI file if you want. The song was written by Captain G.W. Alexander, C.S.A., and is to the tune of “The Boy with the Auburn Hair.” Here are the lyrics.

Bob Roebuck is my sweetheart’s name,
He’s off to the wars and gone;
He’s fighting for his Nanny dear,
His sword is buckled on,
He’s fighting for his own true love;
His foes he does defy;
He is the darling of my heart,
My Southern soldier boy.

When Bob comes home from war’s alarms,
We’ll start anew in life;
I’ll give myself right up to him,
A dutiful, loving wife.
I’ll try my best to please my dear,
For he is my only joy,
He is the darling of my heart,
My Southern soldier boy.

Oh, if in battle he were slain,
I know that I would die,
But I am sure he’ll come again
To cheer my weeping eye.
But should he fall in this our glorious cause,
He still would be my joy,
For many a sweetheart mourns the loss
Of her Southern soldier boy.

I hope for the best, and so do all
Whose hopes are in the field;
I know that we shall win the day
For Southrons never yield.
And when we think of those who are away,
We look above for joy,
And I’m mighty glad that my Bobby is
A Southern soldier boy.

Next Reading

My next reading for Stories of the Confederate South will be at the West Ouachita Public Library, Monday, October 23, 2006. I have an interview on KEDM, 90.3, a public radio station, to be recorded Wednesday, Oct. 18, for an interview that will play Friday morning Oct. 20. I am excited! I always seem to do well at readings at libraries.

Parent Teacher Day

Bastrop High School has two Parent-Teacher days a year. The students love them because it’s another day off. Teachers have a diversity of feelings about these days. Some are openly hostile, saying that such days are a waste of time, another Sisyphean task dumped on teachers who already have too many rocks to move around. Others wish the meetings could be held at night, which is the only time the working parents could come. Some love these days, as it allows them to talk and socialize with their fellow teachers. Most teachers like to talk school-shop, and some have perfected the art of gossip, so for these, it is an exciting day.

Then there are those like myself who are ambivalent, who use the time to read, write, catch up on grading of papers, and thinking time. It’s good to find this little island of peace in a work day after a week of fighting the powers of ignorance and darkness. (Those powers are mighty, too!) I’m taking my laptop and my new copy of The Road Road by Cormac McCarthy. McCarthy is always dark, but I do believe this is his darkest novel yet. The setting is a post-apocalyptic dystopian America. I may get to grading the papers. A diligent man would grade the papers first, then read and write. I’m not always diligent though, and it is hard to consign myself to hours of grunt work when I have lines of poetry and images of beauty swirling through my mind.

Our first parent-teacher conference is today from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. We teachers are assigned a table in the cafeteria where we are to sit with our gradebooks and talk with any parents who are concerned enough to come to the school and meet their child’s teachers. On these parent-teacher days, I usually speak with an average one parent an hour, so I’ll see about 6-7, for about two minutes each.

Abbeville, Louisiana Reading

Last night, I did a reading from Stories of the Confederate South for a Sons of Confederate Veterans organization in Abbeville, Louisiana. There were only a dozen in attendance, but they all bought books, and through some of the individuals there, I set up future writing/music related activities.

They were an interesting group of men–articulate, walking historical encyclopedias, and extremely passionate regarding their convictions. One man was the first heliocopter pilot I’ve ever met. I’ll have to get with him–I could tell he had stories in him. There was a man who owns a bookstore, Patti’s Book Nook, who is now going to order my books. His website is http://www.pattisbooknook.com/. Another member is prominent in the Scottish Society circles. I ran out of time before I could really get to know any of them, but I do hope to return. This camp has a link, you can go to it and learn something about them. www.geocities.com/ccduster Anyway, I did the reading, then I played and sang some Southern and Irish tunes. I had to leave at 8;00 pm after my presentation, as Monroe is 200 miles north. I packed up my books and guitar and reached my house at midnight, tired but energized for my writing work.

Abbeville Reading

This afternoon, I’m writing this at a little coffee shop called The Courtyard, in Abbeville, Louisiana. Abbeville is a few miles south of Lafayette. The atmosphere of the café is so Southern that I can’t help but love it. They have free wireless, but as luck would have it, “the little box died” and the manager said they were waiting for another. I’m doing a reading from Stories of the Confederate South at 6:00 at the Golden Corral Steakhouse, but as I arrived at 3:00, I decided that exploring the quaint town of Abbeville would be a better option than sleeping in my truck. As I meandered my way to the town square, I came upon this coffee shop. Great coffee, and plenty of metal tables and chairs fill the inside of this very old building. There’s plants, a nymph statue with a fountain, and a huge, very old safe in the corner. Six tall bookshelves behind me are filled with paperbacks. Someone reads in this town. The café evidently has some sort of book club (allowing trade-ins) and the books are for sale. As I’m the only customer at 4:00 in the afternoon, it’s hard for me to judge how effective their efforts to promote literacy are. The café even has tables and chairs outside for us smokers (truly, a dying breed). Yet, the temperature is in the 90’s here today, so I opted to stay inside where it’s cool.

Tonight, I’m scheduled to do a reading and play some tunes on my guitar for the local camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. I’ve decided to do the reading first tonight, so I can be sure to have time to sell some books and promote my children’s book coming out in the spring. Next post, I’ll tell you how the reading went and what I learned from the experience.

Fall

My birthday, Sept. 23, is officially the first day of fall. I love the fall, with its winds and coolness. Here in Monroe, Louisiana, the weather vacillates between hot and what should be fall weather, but at least we’re past the 100 degree days. Fall is a meditative season for me. I always write a fall poem, but for the past few years it’s been written while waiting on a college class. Since I’m no longer teaching at a college, I’ve got to make other arrangments for that annual poem. Today was supposed to be cool, but it’s not. Perhaps tomorrow I’ll have the weather I need to write that poem.

Busy Sunday

Today, the edge of fall is in the air. I helped my best friend with his deer stands and other chores yesterday. I love the South, and when I’m out in the woods, I truly see and feel the South’s beauty. Today, I have my own chores, a Scottish Society meeting, band practice, and hopefully I can squeeze in some writing business time. Not much time for a creative writing window though. And I hate that. Since our band is playing at at the Northeast Louisiana Celtic Fest, http://nelacelticfest.org/ we need lots of practice. We laid down the instrumentals for our demo CD and Tom is going to lay down the voice this week. Then I’ll really start pushing the band.

Tonight I’ll try to read another chapter in Running with Scissors, which I’ve found to be a hilarious read.

Book Review

Someone posted a very nice review of Stories of the Confederate South on Amazon. This review made my day. Just when you think no one is reading or thinking about your work. I also have a review coming up in Road Trips Magazine, a cultural magazine here in North Louisiana. Tonight I have a reading in Lafayette. Next post, I ‘ll tell you all about it.