After an exhausting Friday in New Orleans, an exhausting but exhilarating weekend at NELA Celtic Fest, I am delighted to share this news: Pelican Publishing in Gretna, Louisiana, has agreed to publish two more of my children’s books. These are working titles, as I know the publisher has the right to tweak things. The first is another alphabet picture book with a working title of The Little Confederate’s ABC Book.  I intend for this to be sort of Civil War primer for the children of the South.  Our Southern culture and history is slipping from public and family consciousness and we need to hold on to it. Each letter of the alphabet has text in poem form that teaches the young Southern scholars about the words, history, people, and culture of the South during the Civil War.

The second book has a working title of Sunday School with Professor Jackson, and it tells the story of a black Sunday Presbyterian Sunday school that the great Stonewall Jackson taught at just before the War Between the States.  Several notable and influential black educators and ministers came from that Sunday school. They were also grateful for Jackson’s work, even raising money for a stained-glass window in their church that honored Stonewall. You can see that window today in the church in Roanoke, VA.

The next stage involves the publisher finding a good artist for the work. I suspect the book will be available sometime next year.  I’ll publish sample poems with some illustrations as the artwork comes in.

Tomorrow, I’ll be speaking at the state convention of the Louisiana Reading Association. My topic is, “Why Authors Should Fall to their Knees and Worship Librarians.” I’ll try to make a post about that event tomorrow night.