Saturday, July 21, I’ll have a book signing at the Books-A-Million in Sherman, Texas for my children’s book, Jim Limber Davis: A Black Orphan in the Confederate White House. Since that’s the first weekend for sales of the new Harry Potter book, traffic should be intense. Should be an author’s dream-signing. Yes, I know they’re coming for the Harry Potter book, but they’ll all see mine and since lines are likely to be long, I should be able to talk to many people. Channel 12 news has promised to have a photographer there to cover my signing. I’m very excited about this event. I’ll also get to see my parents where I’m staying. We’re all still having some difficulty in adjusting to our lives without my younger brother.

Sherman is the largest city in that part of the state. BAM is the largest bookstore in the area. I write a weekly column for a paper in the area called, TGIF Weekend Bandit, and my latest column concerns Sherman’s history, so I decided to post that short column today as well.

The cities of Bonham and Sherman Texas are such quiet towns these days that it’s hard to imagine their wild moments during the Civil War.

Ben McCulloch had made the area his headquarters. He supposedly set up his camp just outside of Bonham, close to one of Bonham’s cemeteries on the Sherman-Bonham highway.

Bonham’s and Sherman’s tranquility was radically disturbed when William Clarke Quantrill and his longhaired raiders set up their camp on Mineral Creek, fifteen northwest of Sherman. The destroyers of Lawrence, Kansas, there would hunt, pilfer, and drink whiskey. When those pastimes bored them, they would come to town to race horses, drink more whiskey, steal from shop owners, shoot up buildings and church steeples, and generally misbehave. The shocked folks of the town must have felt like the Devil had come to visit them.

One of his raiders was especially notorious: Bloody Bill Anderson. He married a young Sherman saloon girl who called herself, “Bush Smith.” I’ll have more on Bloody Bill in another column.

Quantrill and his men fell into disfavor with McCulloch. McCulloch called Quantrill into his room, declared him arrested and then invited him to supper. Quantrill declined the invitation. After McCulloch left, Quantrill captured his two guards and escaped. He joined his men waiting for him outside and they rode into Indian Territory.

I must do some research and see if I can find some of his campsites along Mineral Creek and in Indian Territory. If you want to learn more of Quantrill, a good book is The Devil Knows How to Ride by Edward E. Leslie.

Today, I was interviewed on 540 AM Talk Radio by Bob Teague and Corey Crowe. The interview was conducted at 5:30 pm, prime drive time. I found the pair to be sharp, lively, funny, and skillful interviewers.  I am constantly amazed as to how the Jim Limber story affects people.  In New Orleans, many people who stopped at my table asked, “You’re talking of Jefferson Davis, the President of the Confederacy?”  And I said, “Yes.”  The irony of the first presidential family in America to have a black member is not missed by many.  This story is of course in contrast to any story of the other president during that Civil War, Lincoln, who had no love for black Americans and wanted to send all the blacks here in America to Liberia and other places.

I have an MP3 recording of the interview that I’ll send you if you write me and request it. My email is rickeyp@bayou.com.

I really enjoyed my little book-signing tour in New Orleans last weekend. The city looks much better than it did when I was there the spring after Katrina (at least in the areas I went to). The FEMA trailers that were in every other yard it seemed are now gone, the abandoned cars under the bridges have been hauled off, and many buildings and houses have been repaired. The traffic is still horrible, though I find New Orleans drivers more polite and less risk-taking than New York drivers.

I enjoyed meeting people and telling them about the Jim Limber story. I sold books to people from Atlanta, Scotland, Ohio, New Jersey, various parts of Texas, Alabama and other Southern states. As always when I do signings, I learned some things about how to best promote my book business. I know many authors don’t like this part of the business, but I happen to love it. The fact is, you won’t sell books unless stores order them, and unless you’re like nationally famous, the stores won’t order them unless they have a reason to promote it. Thus, signings are very important.

I love to people watch in New Orleans. I probably got a dozen story ideas while I was there. Enough for now. Writing work to do.  We’re already halfway through 2007, and I’ve got to make the remaining months really count. I’m presently working on getting a week’s worth of work together for Houston, Atlanta, and for Orlando.

I just returned from my little book signing tour in New Orleans. I’m tired, but excited because it went so well. After the signing at the Ruston Library Thursday night, I had to pack for the trip. I only got a couple of hours sleep, and was on the road by 3:30 a.m. Reached New Orleans in time to visit my publishing company, Pelican, before my first signing at the Algiers Naval Exchange. Security was tight, and there were all kinds of hoops to jump through. (Don’t go to a military base without proof of insurance and car title!) After I was signed in by the commissary staff, I took my station at the Exchange and sold lots of books. All were wives of men stationed there. Military mothers are really cool—so down to earth, so concerned about their children. I also read from my book to a group of 34 children in summer camp there. I had a grand time.

From Algiers, I drove to Napoleonville and did a living history/book talk presentation with a Civil War show and tell table and a talk and some music on my guitar. There too I was well received and sold a good number of books. From there I went to my friend’s house in Napoleonville where I spent the night.

Saturday, I drove to the 1850’s house on St. Anne Street in the French quarter. This place was a bookstore and museum sponsored by the Friends of the Cabildo. Really interesting and committed people work there. I set up a table outside and was selling books like crazy till it started raining and I had to retreat inside. The crowds coming in dwindled, and so did sales.  After I fulfilled my commitment of time, I returned to my friend’s house in Assumption Parish. We ate at a very Cajun seafood place, watched a documentary about the wild poet, Bukowski, and then retired. (I became fond of Abita beer on this trip!)

Today, Sunday, I was at Tisket A Tasket close to Cafe Dumond on Decatur Street. I only had to retreat inside because of the rain for 20 minutes in the four hours I was there. I sold all but four of the books they had ordered. The owners were very pleased. I drove home to Monroe, mostly in the rain. Sometimes the rain was coming down so hard I could only drive 20 mph on the Interstate!

At any rate, I’m glad to be home. I’m behind in my correspondence, and tons of work has piled up here, but I’m learning the work is what the career of writing is about. Elizabeth George says a writer will make it if he or she has talent, passion, and discipline. I hope I have all three. If not, I will soon. I’ll probably talk more of New Orleans in future posts.

Tonight, I have a signing and presentation at the Lincoln Parish library at 6:30 p.m. Tomorrow, I must rise EARLY and get to New Orleans by 11:00 for another.  Then one that afternoon at the Assumption Parish Library, then two more signings in New Orleans. I’ll be staying with a friend in Assumption Parish, so I’m not sure if I’ll have access to the Internet or to a wireless system the whole weekend. Cell reception is likely not to be that great there either. I’m realizing how much of my writing work is dependent upon the Net these days. Personally, I’d rather not have to be online so much, but the fact is I’ll lose money if I’m not.

I’ve been so busy with my new writing vocation that I keep turning down invitations to go out etc., with friends. (it does feel good for it to not be an “avocation” anymore) I’m so self-absorbed these days that I’m sure many of my friends and acquaintances will either forget me or write me off. I’ve been writing and working like a fiend though. I have written two more children’s books and submitted them to my publisher. I’ll share more on that as I get word. Until next time.

I want to thank my friends and the staff at Pelican Publishing for the cards and the emailed notes of sympathy regarding the loss of my brother. It means more to me than you’ll ever know.

My week’s writing schedule is filling up fast. Today, I’m making phone calls, tying up loose ends, handling business that was dropped during my week in Oklahoma because of my brother’s death, and working on editing the Daily Harvest book. I also have an SCV meeting tonight. The rest of the week relates to my new children’s book, Jim Limber Davis: A Black Orphan in the Confederate White House:

Wed. July 11, Public Library presentation in Winnsboro, LA 1:30 pm
Thurs.  July 12 6:30 pm Library presentation in Ruston

Friday July 13 – Algiers Naval Exchange, New Orleans. (signing) 11:00 am-1:00 pm
Friday afternoon, 3:30, Presentation at the Assumption Parish Library in Napoleonville, LA

Saturday, July 14 – Signing at the Jackson House, New Orleans 1:00 pm
Sunday, Signing at A Tisket, A Tasket in the French Quarter in New Orleans. 1:00 pm They have a cool Web site: http://www.atisketatasketneworleans.com/index.html

While attending to the needs of my parents and the death-details of my brother this week, I did manage to attend two plays for the annual Oklahoma Shakespearean Festival in Durant, Oklahoma. I saw two plays: Smoke on the Mountain and MacBeth. Both plays were directed by Paul B. Crook who teaches theatre at Louisiana Tech at Ruston. I especially enjoyed MacBeth. I loved the language of the director’s notes on this play. Crook said:

“I’ve always been attracted to this play because it is truly a study of the potential for Evil that all of us have. Thankfully the vast majority of us have no trouble resisting those impulses, but it’s fascinating to watch characters who are unable to fight those base and primal urges. MacBeth understands that his Evil actions are perverse, yet he continues . . . demonstrating a supreme moral disorder and disrupting the lives of those around him and, by extension, an entire country. Watching his descent is riveting and terrifying.”

My signing at Roby’s Hallmark and Flowers shop in Durant did well on Saturday, July 7. Riley H. Risso-Coker, the producing director of the festival, now in its 28th year, really promoted the book at the Shakespeare Festival. She wants to go to schools and perform a staged version of my children’s book, Jim Limber Davis: A Black Orphan in the Confederate White House. In case you don’t know Jim Limber’s story yet, here is a condensed version:

Jim Limber Davis was rescued from an abusive guardian by First Lady Varina Davis when he was only five years old. Jefferson and Varina Davis then became his legal guardians and Jim lived with them in the Confederate White House for several years, enjoying life as a member of their family.

When Union soldiers invaded Richmond, Virginia, and captured Jefferson Davis, they also kidnapped Jim Limber. Soon after his capture, cruel rumors spread that Jim was Jefferson Davis’s slave. After the Civil War, Jefferson Davis tried to locate Jim, but he was never found.

This true story shows how Jim Limber was accepted as one of the Davis’s own children and reveals their love for him. Although Jim’s whereabouts after the war still remain a mystery, the story offers an example of compassion during this complex time in our nation’s history.

I’m still in Oklahoma. At the coffee shop again after a day of chores and a visit to a lawyer concerning legal matters concerning my brother.  Death is not an easy thing to deal with.  To relieve some stress, I mowed my parents three acre yard. I’m going to a dinner theatre tonight, a performance of Smoke on the Mountain. Should have a grand time.
Whitney Otto: The Passion Dream Book

I just finished reading Whitney Otto’s The Passion Dream Book. The author also wrote the New York Times best seller, How to Make an American Quilt. Having enjoyed this read, I’ve also added How to Make an American Quilt to my reading list.

The Passion Dream Book is a complex novel, a novel of ideas centered around art, artists, and the relationships of artist to patron and of artist to fellow artist. Rich in allusions and historical details as well as brief snapshot synopses of many artists (painters, writers, dancers, singers), I found this novel a rich and rewarding read.  Personally, it was also a timely read, for it addresses many of the issues I think about and face as I focus on promoting my own art.  Otto speaks of art as ephemeral, smoky, and shape-shifting. I underscored many, many lines in this novel. Here are some quotations I really liked:

About the nature of artists:
Romy (central character) discovers “early on that a crowd of artists are too outside, too removed from the rules of the general public, and too egocentric to care” ( (94-95).

“[H]ome is where your art is” (125).

“That’s the problem of the colony of artists; they are a small group who seldom go outside their tribe. The life of a secret under these circumstances is brief” (181).

“You need to be connected with other people, and these connections often lead to love. In contradiction, you need to be alone. If you are alone, they you are leaving your loved ones alone. If they are alone too much, they might find someone new who won’t leave them alone so much. If you are always alone, what life do you have to put into your work?” (202).

The “work of an artist is emotional work” (267).

About art:
“America’s near refusal to support art and artists at all” (147). [This would be in contrast to ancient Florence and Venice that honored and supported artists generously].

After a brilliant discussion of how rich and powerful patrons of the arts needed artists to insure immortality, Otto says of the artists: “Artists . . . saw the power and money and need of their patrons as a way of doing their work” (2).

I found a great summary of Otto and her work here: http://www.writersontheedge.org/otto.html

Last Saturday, June 30, 2007, my younger brother died. I’m in Oklahoma with my parents this week, trying to be strong, but failing miserably at it. I’m still rather numb and mute from grief, but I thought I’d post this short epitaph.

Jimmy Dale Pittman

(April 21, 1954-June 30, 2007)

Today was a hot day, but an enjoyable one. I drove to Alexandria and set up book signings at the Books A Million and Waldon Books. The dates:

August 17, Friday: 3:00 p.m. until closing Waldon Books at the Mall in Alexandria.

August 18, Saturday, 10:00 a.m.-12:00. Waldon Books at at the Mall in Alexandria.

August 18, Saturday, 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Books A Million in Alexandria.

December 21-22, All Day. Waldon Books at the Mall in Alexandria. This one will be not only for Jim Limber Davis: A Black Orphan in the Confederate White House, but also for Stories of the Confederate South.

Today was also a sad one. My younger brother, Jimmy, is in Baylor hospital in ICU. Very serious condition. Please say a prayer or light a candle or something for him. I’m beside myself in worry.