Thursday, April 28, 2016
REVIEW: THE SKULL OF PANCHO VILLA AND OTHER STORIES by Manuel Ramos
I reviewed The Skull of Pancho Villa and Other Stories (Arte Público Press, 2015) by Manuel Ramos for High Country News! Follow the link to read the review, por favor.
Labels:
crime,
fiction,
Latina/o,
short stories
Monday, April 25, 2016
MONDAY ROUNDUP: Texas Literary Calendar April 25 - May 1
Bookish events in Texas for the week of April 25 - May 1, 2016:
Special Events:
Houston Writers Guild Annual Conference, April 29 - May 1
Celebration of Authors Conference and Dinner, April 30
Children's Book Day/El día de los niños/El día de los libros, April 30
Dallas Book Festival, April 30
Houston Authors Bash Reloaded, April 30
Independent Bookstore Day, April 30
Ongoing Exhibits:
Encounters and Discoveries in Literature: Celebrating Arte Público Press and Twentieth Century Latina/o Literature, Houston, January 18 - June 30
In His Own Words: The Life and Work of César Chávez, San Antonio, March 15 - April 30
Monday, April 25:
Tuesday, April 26:
Fort Worth
San Antonio
Brazos Bookstore, Jeffrey Greene discusses and signs IN PURSUIT OF WILD EDIBLES, 7PM
Talento Bilingue De Houston, Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say 18th Anniversary Showcase, 6PM
University of Houston Library - Honors Commons, Glass Mountain launch and reading, 5:30PM
Thursday, April 28:
Brazos Bookstore, Douglas Brinkley discusses and signs RIGHTFUL HERITAGE, 7PM
Murder By the Book, Melissa Ginsburg will sign and discuss Sunset City, 6:30PM
Poison Girl Bar, Poison Pen Reading Series featuring ANDREW MALAN MILWARD, author of I Was a Revolutionary, 8:30PM
B&N - Sunset Valley, Meet Texas Writers Mike O'Quin, Eric Bryant and Rob Stennett, 1PM
BookPeople, MysteryPeople Presents Debut Novelist MELISSA GINSBURG speaking & signingSunset City, 3PM
BookPeople, Literary Fiction Writer ANDREW MALAN MILWARD speaking & signing I Was A Revolutionary: Stories, 7PM
Patchwork Austin, Flower Essences and Creative Writing Workshop with holistic shaman-teacher Elizabeth Quigg and ghostwriter Jess Hagemann, 9:30AM
Treaty Oak Ranch, Jack Allen will sign copies of the Jack Allen's Kitchen cookbook, 1PM
Twin Oaks Branch Library, APLFF presents: Writing Historical Fiction with Stephen Harrigan, 1:30PM
B&N - Westheimer, Filthy Fisherman book signing with Luke Holter, 2PM
Brazos Bookstore, Independent Bookstore Day celebration, all day
Brazos Bookstore, J. Bradford Hipps reads and signs THE ADVENTURIST, 7PM
Glassell School of Art - Studio School Temporary Location, The Booker-Lowe Lecture Series presents Garth Johnson, author of 1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse, 4PM
Half Price Books - Westheimer/Montrose, Mike Sims will sell and sign his novel Vickie, 1PM
Katy Budget Books, First Annual Spring Market for Independent Bookstore Day, all day
Rice University - Anderson-Clarke Center / School of Continuing Studies, OFF ROAD: Conversations with Artists Offline featuring William Wegman followed by a signing of Paintings, 4:30PM
Lubbock
B&N, Jodi Thomas signs the Ransom Canyon series, 2PM
Midland
Haley Memorial Library, Patrick Dearen signs Bitter Waters: The Struggles of the Pecos River, 2PM
Houston
Special Events:
Houston Writers Guild Annual Conference, April 29 - May 1
Celebration of Authors Conference and Dinner, April 30
Children's Book Day/El día de los niños/El día de los libros, April 30
Dallas Book Festival, April 30
Houston Authors Bash Reloaded, April 30
Independent Bookstore Day, April 30
Ongoing Exhibits:
Shakespeare in Print and Performance, Austin, December 21 - May 29
Encounters and Discoveries in Literature: Celebrating Arte Público Press and Twentieth Century Latina/o Literature, Houston, January 18 - June 30
In His Own Words: The Life and Work of César Chávez, San Antonio, March 15 - April 30
Humanities Texas Exhibit: Shakespeare, Hurst, April 1 - 30
Necessary Work: Bryce Milligan's World of Words and Design, San Antonio, April 9 - May 21
Texas Writers Exhibition, Dallas, April 17 - May 14
Necessary Work: Bryce Milligan's World of Words and Design, San Antonio, April 9 - May 21
Texas Writers Exhibition, Dallas, April 17 - May 14
Monday, April 25:
Abilene
Abilene Public Library, Texas Author Series featuring Nicole Sparks & Jenna Marwitz, authors of The Crockin' Girls Slow Cooking Companion and It's Our Crockin' Life, 12PM
Austin
BookPeople, Critically Acclaimed Actress BARBARA WILLIAMS speaking & signing The Hope In Leaving, 7PM
The Long Center, co-founder of America Online and CEO of Revolution, LLC, Steve Case discusses his new book, The Third Wave, 7:30PM
Cypress
Lone Star College, The History Department Speaker Series presents a talk by environmental historian Bartow J. Elmore, author of Citizen Coke, 7PM
Dallas
The Wild Detectives, Charlotte Rogan reading and signing Now and Again, 7:30PM
Houston
Brazos Bookstore, Martin Rock reads from and signs RESIDUUM, 7PMAbilene Public Library, Texas Author Series featuring Nicole Sparks & Jenna Marwitz, authors of The Crockin' Girls Slow Cooking Companion and It's Our Crockin' Life, 12PM
Austin
BookPeople, Critically Acclaimed Actress BARBARA WILLIAMS speaking & signing The Hope In Leaving, 7PM
The Long Center, co-founder of America Online and CEO of Revolution, LLC, Steve Case discusses his new book, The Third Wave, 7:30PM
Cypress
Lone Star College, The History Department Speaker Series presents a talk by environmental historian Bartow J. Elmore, author of Citizen Coke, 7PM
Dallas
The Wild Detectives, Charlotte Rogan reading and signing Now and Again, 7:30PM
Houston
Tuesday, April 26:
Austin
Austin History Center, Eliot Tretter reads, discusses, and signs Shadows of a Sunbelt City: The Environment, Racism, and the Knowledge Economy in Austin, 6:30PM
BookWoman, "In the Mind of Revenge" workshop with local authors Stephanie Noll and Liv Hadden, 7PM
Spider House Ballroom, Austin Poetry Slam, 8PM
The Writing Barn, Writing Your Heart Out: The Craft of the Personal Essay with Lisa Selin Davis, 7PM
Dallas
Lucky Dog Books - Oak Cliff, Soup's On: Stone Soup Poetry Showcase, 7PMBookWoman, "In the Mind of Revenge" workshop with local authors Stephanie Noll and Liv Hadden, 7PM
Spider House Ballroom, Austin Poetry Slam, 8PM
The Writing Barn, Writing Your Heart Out: The Craft of the Personal Essay with Lisa Selin Davis, 7PM
Dallas
Fort Worth
B&N - La Cantera, UTSA Graduate Student Poetry readings benefiting Sagebrush Review, 7PM
The Korova, PuroSlam with DJ Donnie Dee, 10PM
Trinity University, A Celebration of Women's Voices: San Antonio Poet Laureate Jenny Browne leads this National Poetry Month event showcasing “the power of the female voice through song, dance, artwork, poetry and dramatic monologues," 7:30PM
Wednesday, April 27:
The Korova, PuroSlam with DJ Donnie Dee, 10PM
Trinity University, A Celebration of Women's Voices: San Antonio Poet Laureate Jenny Browne leads this National Poetry Month event showcasing “the power of the female voice through song, dance, artwork, poetry and dramatic monologues," 7:30PM
Wednesday, April 27:
Austin
Austin Public Library - Terrazas Branch, Aural Literature: local author readings, 7PM
BookPeople, Writer ELIOT TRETTER speaking & signing Shadows of a Sunbelt City: The Environment, Racism, and the Knowledge Economy in Austin, 7PM
Dallas
Austin Public Library - Terrazas Branch, Aural Literature: local author readings, 7PM
BookPeople, Writer ELIOT TRETTER speaking & signing Shadows of a Sunbelt City: The Environment, Racism, and the Knowledge Economy in Austin, 7PM
Dallas
Dallas City Performance Hall, Arts & Letters Live presents author David Sedaris: Belly Laughs, 7:30PM
Kettle Arts Gallery, Pegasus Reading Series featuring poets Trista Edwards, editor of the anthology Till the Tide: An Anthology of Mermaid Poetry, Julia Leverone, author of Shouldering, and Martin Rock, author of Residuum, 7PM
Houston
Kettle Arts Gallery, Pegasus Reading Series featuring poets Trista Edwards, editor of the anthology Till the Tide: An Anthology of Mermaid Poetry, Julia Leverone, author of Shouldering, and Martin Rock, author of Residuum, 7PM
Houston
Talento Bilingue De Houston, Nuestra Palabra: Latino Writers Having Their Say 18th Anniversary Showcase, 6PM
University of Houston Library - Honors Commons, Glass Mountain launch and reading, 5:30PM
Thursday, April 28:
Austin
Austin Public Library - Spicewood Springs Branch, Not Averse to Verse: Celebrate National Poetry Month with the Typewriter Rodeo, 6:30PM
BookPeople, Edible Austin is proud to sponsor a moderated discussion between JEFFREY GREENE, award-winning author of In Pursuit of Wild Edibles, and Writer & Forager SUSAN EBERT, author of The Field to Table Cookbook, 7PM
Malvern Books, W. Joe’s Poetry Corner Presents Poetry Karaoke, 7PM
Monkeywrench Books, MWB Anniversary Part and Eliot book discussion, 6:30PM
Spiderhouse Ballroom, Testify storytellers present "Death and Taxes," 7:30PM
Dallas
BookPeople, Edible Austin is proud to sponsor a moderated discussion between JEFFREY GREENE, award-winning author of In Pursuit of Wild Edibles, and Writer & Forager SUSAN EBERT, author of The Field to Table Cookbook, 7PM
Malvern Books, W. Joe’s Poetry Corner Presents Poetry Karaoke, 7PM
Monkeywrench Books, MWB Anniversary Part and Eliot book discussion, 6:30PM
Spiderhouse Ballroom, Testify storytellers present "Death and Taxes," 7:30PM
Dallas
B&N - Lincoln Park, Becky Wade to discuss and sign Her One and Only, 7PM
Dallas City Performance Hall, Arts & Letters Live presents author David Sedaris: Belly Laughs, 7:30PM
The Wild Detectives, Janice Lee reading and signing The Sky isn't Blue, 7:30PM
Houston
Blue Willow Bookshop, Maggie Stiefvater will discuss and sign her new novel THE RAVEN KING, 7PMDallas City Performance Hall, Arts & Letters Live presents author David Sedaris: Belly Laughs, 7:30PM
The Wild Detectives, Janice Lee reading and signing The Sky isn't Blue, 7:30PM
Houston
Brazos Bookstore, Douglas Brinkley discusses and signs RIGHTFUL HERITAGE, 7PM
Murder By the Book, Melissa Ginsburg will sign and discuss Sunset City, 6:30PM
Poison Girl Bar, Poison Pen Reading Series featuring ANDREW MALAN MILWARD, author of I Was a Revolutionary, 8:30PM
University of St. Thomas - Jones Hall, Professor Patrick Geoghegan, author of Liberator: The Life and Death of Daniel O'Connell, 1830-1847, presents "Proclaiming Rebellion: Emmet, Pearse and the Road to 1916," 7PM
Lubbock
Lubbock Garden and Arts Center, Alvin R. Lynn discusses and signs Kit Carson and the First Battle of Adobe Walls, TBA
San Antonio
Katy Budget Books, Lin Oliver, co-author of the Hank Zipzer series, gives a reading and signs her new Fantastic Frame series, 6:30PM
Rudyard's Pub, Gulf Coast Reading Series featuring Adrienne Perry, Martin Rock, Carlos Herbert Hernandez and Erika Jo Brown, 7PM
Kyle
Lubbock
Lubbock Garden and Arts Center, Alvin R. Lynn discusses and signs Kit Carson and the First Battle of Adobe Walls, TBA
San Antonio
The Twig Book Shop, Helene Segura discusses and signs The Inefficiency Assassin, 6PM
Urban-15 Studios, Mega Corazon Poetry Slam: 9 hours of performance poetry!, 1PM
Southlake
The Marq Southlake, An evening with Charlaine Harris, 5PM
Friday, April 29:
Urban-15 Studios, Mega Corazon Poetry Slam: 9 hours of performance poetry!, 1PM
The Marq Southlake, An evening with Charlaine Harris, 5PM
Friday, April 29:
Abilene
Texas Star Trading Company, Glen S. Ely will sign The Texas Frontier and the Butterfield Overland Mail 1858-1861, 4:30PM
Austin
Malvern Books, Telling Tales with William Kuko, 7PMTexas Star Trading Company, Glen S. Ely will sign The Texas Frontier and the Butterfield Overland Mail 1858-1861, 4:30PM
Austin
Dallas
Dallas City Performance Hall, Arts & Letters Live presents author David Sedaris: Belly Laughs, 7:30PM
Denton
UNT - Union Room, North Texas Review reading and reception, 5PM
Fort Worth
The Dock Bookshop, Poetry Month Celebration featuring Poet Chuck Jackson, 7PM
Houston
Brazos Bookstore, Andrew Malan Milward reads and signs I WAS A REVOLUTIONARY, 7PMDallas City Performance Hall, Arts & Letters Live presents author David Sedaris: Belly Laughs, 7:30PM
Denton
UNT - Union Room, North Texas Review reading and reception, 5PM
Fort Worth
The Dock Bookshop, Poetry Month Celebration featuring Poet Chuck Jackson, 7PM
Houston
Rudyard's Pub, Gulf Coast Reading Series featuring Adrienne Perry, Martin Rock, Carlos Herbert Hernandez and Erika Jo Brown, 7PM
Kyle
Waco
Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum, Symposium and Book Signing with Kemp Dixon, author of Chasing Thugs, Nazis, and Reds: Texas Ranger Norman K. Dixon, TBA
Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum, Symposium and Book Signing with Kemp Dixon, author of Chasing Thugs, Nazis, and Reds: Texas Ranger Norman K. Dixon, TBA
Saturday, April 30:
Austin
B&N - Arboretum, Meet and Greet Book Signing with poet Barbara Youngblood Carr, 2PMB&N - Sunset Valley, Meet Texas Writers Mike O'Quin, Eric Bryant and Rob Stennett, 1PM
BookPeople, MysteryPeople Presents Debut Novelist MELISSA GINSBURG speaking & signingSunset City, 3PM
BookPeople, Literary Fiction Writer ANDREW MALAN MILWARD speaking & signing I Was A Revolutionary: Stories, 7PM
Patchwork Austin, Flower Essences and Creative Writing Workshop with holistic shaman-teacher Elizabeth Quigg and ghostwriter Jess Hagemann, 9:30AM
Red Salmon Arts, & we did not flee: A Reading and Plática with Ariana Brown (with special guests Micaela Williams and Loyce Gayo), 6PM
St. Edward's University, Writers' League of Texas workshop: "Author to Entrepreneur: A Roadmap to Effective Self-Publishing" with Danielle H. Acee , 9AMTreaty Oak Ranch, Jack Allen will sign copies of the Jack Allen's Kitchen cookbook, 1PM
Twin Oaks Branch Library, APLFF presents: Writing Historical Fiction with Stephen Harrigan, 1:30PM
Windsor Park Library, Austin Poetry Society meeting featuring Chuck Taylor of Slough Press, 1:30PM
Corpus Christi
B&N, Andy Purvis signs Secrets of Greatness, 1PM
Dallas
Corpus Christi
B&N, Andy Purvis signs Secrets of Greatness, 1PM
Dallas
B&N - Preston/Royal, Todd Edmundson reads and signs The Adventures of Queen Maybelline: Book One - Maybelline Learns to Fly!, 11:30PM
Memorial Park Public Library, Tumblewords Project workshop: "The Breath of Character" with Gene Keller , 12:45PM
Rock House Cafe & Gallery, National Poetry Month reading: BorderSenses Barbed Wire Open Mic Series presents featured reader Juan Morales and April Tumblewords Project workshop presenters Viva Flores, Sarah Walker, Lawrence Barrett, Robin Scofield, and Gene Keller, 8PM
Rock House Cafe & Gallery, National Poetry Month reading: BorderSenses Barbed Wire Open Mic Series presents featured reader Juan Morales and April Tumblewords Project workshop presenters Viva Flores, Sarah Walker, Lawrence Barrett, Robin Scofield, and Gene Keller, 8PM
Galveston
Galveston Bookshop, Marie Cook signs Texas Coast Experience, a Gulf Coast book of photography and history, 2PM
Houston
B&N - Vanderbilt Square, A Great Day To Live book signing with Damali Keith, 2PMGalveston Bookshop, Marie Cook signs Texas Coast Experience, a Gulf Coast book of photography and history, 2PM
Houston
B&N - Westheimer, Filthy Fisherman book signing with Luke Holter, 2PM
Brazos Bookstore, Independent Bookstore Day celebration, all day
Brazos Bookstore, J. Bradford Hipps reads and signs THE ADVENTURIST, 7PM
Glassell School of Art - Studio School Temporary Location, The Booker-Lowe Lecture Series presents Garth Johnson, author of 1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse, 4PM
Half Price Books - Westheimer/Montrose, Mike Sims will sell and sign his novel Vickie, 1PM
Katy Budget Books, First Annual Spring Market for Independent Bookstore Day, all day
Rice University - Anderson-Clarke Center / School of Continuing Studies, OFF ROAD: Conversations with Artists Offline featuring William Wegman followed by a signing of Paintings, 4:30PM
Lubbock
B&N, Jodi Thomas signs the Ransom Canyon series, 2PM
Midland
Haley Memorial Library, Patrick Dearen signs Bitter Waters: The Struggles of the Pecos River, 2PM
Round Rock
B&N - La Frontera, Shifting Time book signing with Kelly Bennett Seiler, 2PM
San Antonio
B&N - La Cantera, Springtime New Author Event with Jet Arnett, Teresa Garza, Jean Bailey Glauser and C.J. Roberson, 1PM
B&N - San Pedro, Michael Annese Book Discussion and Signing: The Victory Cycle, 2PM
Bihl Haus Arts, Readings and book signings by Wings Press poets and writers Mariana Aitches, Roberto Bonazzi, Jay Brandon, Robert Flynn, Celeste Guzmán Mendoza, Amalia Ortiz, Carolyn Osborn, and Carmen Tafolla, 2PM
Viva Tacoland, Gemini Ink and Bluestar Arts present Uniting Arts: Visual and Spoken, 4PM
The Woodlands
B&N - Woodlands Mall, Timothy Jones signs Harnessing the Dynamics of Public Education: Planning for a Return to Greatness, 4PM
San Antonio
B&N - La Cantera, Springtime New Author Event with Jet Arnett, Teresa Garza, Jean Bailey Glauser and C.J. Roberson, 1PM
B&N - San Pedro, Michael Annese Book Discussion and Signing: The Victory Cycle, 2PM
Bihl Haus Arts, Readings and book signings by Wings Press poets and writers Mariana Aitches, Roberto Bonazzi, Jay Brandon, Robert Flynn, Celeste Guzmán Mendoza, Amalia Ortiz, Carolyn Osborn, and Carmen Tafolla, 2PM
Viva Tacoland, Gemini Ink and Bluestar Arts present Uniting Arts: Visual and Spoken, 4PM
The Woodlands
B&N - Woodlands Mall, Timothy Jones signs Harnessing the Dynamics of Public Education: Planning for a Return to Greatness, 4PM
Sunday, May 1:
Austin
B&N - Arboretum, Meet and Greet Book Signings With the Texas Association of Authors, 12PM
BookPeople, Award-Winning Author JOHN BOESSENECKER speaking & signing Texas Ranger: The Epic Life of Frank Hamer, the Man Who Killed Bonnie and Clyde, 3PM
Malvern Books, celebrating the winners of the Texas Association of Authors’ fifth annual Book Awards Contest, 1PM
B&N - Arboretum, Meet and Greet Book Signings With the Texas Association of Authors, 12PM
BookPeople, Award-Winning Author JOHN BOESSENECKER speaking & signing Texas Ranger: The Epic Life of Frank Hamer, the Man Who Killed Bonnie and Clyde, 3PM
Malvern Books, celebrating the winners of the Texas Association of Authors’ fifth annual Book Awards Contest, 1PM
Houston
Carl Walker Jr. Multi-Purpose Center, lecture and book signing with Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan, authors of Democracy Now!: 20 years of Covering the Movements Changing America, 3PM
Evelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center -- Kaplan Theater, Mani-Pedi STAT with author Deb Ebenstein, 7:30PM
Murder By the Book, Susan Wittig Albert will sign and discuss the new China Bayles mystery, Blood Orange, 2PMEvelyn Rubenstein Jewish Community Center -- Kaplan Theater, Mani-Pedi STAT with author Deb Ebenstein, 7:30PM
Thursday, April 21, 2016
REVIEW: SUNSET CITY by Melissa Ginsburg
My review of Sunset City (Ecco Books) by Melissa Ginsburg was published by Lone Star Literary Life. This is poet Ginsburg's excellent first novel. From the review:
Sunset City, poet Melissa Ginsburg’s first novel, is a soulful, sexy, dangerous noir. In all good noir the location is an essential character in the story—and Houston’s slippery underbelly fits the bill. It’s all here: the bayous, ship channel refineries, Memorial Park, River Oaks, Montrose, Rudyard’s, and, always, real estate, in a city “that never stopped, it reached and reached,” where money exerts a “gravitational pull.” Ginsburg’s simple plot allows atmosphere to suffuse the story. You’ll feel the humidity on your upper lip and see the vivid, chemical sunsets for which the book is named.
Charlotte, the most fully developed character, is sympathetic but frustrating in her self-destruction, as if she wants to beat someone else to the punch, feeling like “a poison I couldn’t stop swallowing.” She comes undone in the immediate aftermath of Danielle’s murder, on a drug and booze-soaked mental flight, trying to numb her grief. Ginsburg writes one of the best altered states I’ve ever read, both darkly humorous and melancholy, when Charlotte ends up in the drunk tank and it becomes “clear that someone, at some point during the night, had made a bad decision.”Please click here to read the entire review.
Labels:
fiction,
Lone Star Literary Life,
mystery,
Texas,
thriller
Tuesday, April 19, 2016
HELL TO PAY: Pamela Fagan Hutchins Guest Post
(What Doesn't Kill You, #7)
An Emily Romantic Mystery
by
Pamela Fagan Hutchins
Genre: Romantic Mystery
Publisher: SkipJack Publishing
Date of Publication: March 26, 2016
# of pages: 383
Scroll down for Giveaway!
Big-haired paralegal and former rodeo queen Emily has her life back on track. Her adoption of Betsy seems like a done deal, her parents have reunited, and she’s engaged to her sexy boss Jack. Then client Phil Escalante’s childhood buddy Dennis drops dead, face first into a penis cake at the adult novelty store Phil owns with his fiancée Nadine, one of Emily’s best friends. The cops charge Phil with murder right on the heels of his acquittal in a trial for burglarizing the Mighty is His Word church offices. Emily’s nemesis ADA Melinda Stafford claims a witness overheard Phil fighting with Dennis over a woman. Before he can mount a defense, Phil falls into a diabetic coma, leaving Nadine shaken and terrified. Meanwhile Betsy’s ultra-religious foster parents apply to adopt her, and Jack starts acting weird and evasive. Emily feels like a calf out of a chute, pulled between the ropes of the header and the heeler, as she fights to help Phil and Nadine without losing Betsy and Jack.
CLICK FOR ALL PURCHASE OPTIONS
Top 10 Song List: Emily from Hell
to Pay
You may know me as the protagonist in Heaven to Betsy, Earth to
Emily, and the new release Hell to Pay. Growing up in west Texas and cutting my teeth in
the rodeo world, I lean toward country music. But not always! Here’s my list of
favorites:
1. Garth Brooks’ Much Too Young, because my dad played it all the time when I was a girl, and he loved the line “worn out tape of Chris LeDoux.” Dad idolized Chris LeDoux, his rodeoing, and his music.
2. George Straits’ Amarillo By Morning. You can’t grow up in Amarillo and not learn to love this song. And it’s a great one.
3. Mac Davis’s Texas in My Rear View Mirror. I went to Texas Tech University in Lubbock on a rodeo scholarship (yes, you read that right), so you’re about to get a lot of Lubbock, and this song was about Lubbock. Because the word before Texas in the chorus was Lubbock: happiness is Lubbock, Texas in my rear view mirror.
4. The Dixie Chicks The Long Way Around. Natalie Maines, the lead singer, is from Lubbock. And just so you know, y’all, I’m not embarrassed she’s from Texas, although since it’s 10% of the population of the U.S.A., I think it’s a foregone conclusion that at least 10% of the wackos and weirdos are from here. And politicians (but don’t they fall in the wacko and weirdo category?), love ‘em or hate ‘em. Anyway, my friend Katie loves the Dixie Chicks, and she turned me on to this song. There’s a line that goes “My friends from high school, Married their high school boyfriends, Moved into houses in the same ZIP codes, Where their parents live.” I love it. But, *sigh*, while I didn’t marry my high school boyfriend, I moved back to the same zip code as my parents last year. Yeah. I did.
5. I graduated from high school in 2002. Drops of Jupiter by Train brings back so many memories, as does . . .
6. Kryptonite by 3 Doors Down. My gosh I love this song.
7. And . . . It’s a Great Day To Be Alive by Travis Tritt. Can you hear me singing? Because I am. Loud and off-key. “I got my rice cookin’ in the microwave.”
8. Gwen Stefani, Hollaback Girl. No, scratch that. Hey Baby by No Doubt. I really like Gwen, but I love No Doubt.
9. Jason Aldean’s Flyover States is one of my favorites now. If you met a girl from Amarillo, you’d know exactly what he means. Maybe you already do.
10. Only one more. Okay, then it would have to be Wrapped by George Strait. I think I could do a whole list of just George Strait. Nothing says Texas like his music. And he’s even got a rodeo song: I Can Still Make Cheyenne.
Anybody else out there graduate high school around 2002 and
college about four years later? That
makes us the same generation. What songs bring back your memories, and do you
still listen to, all these years later?
Pamela Fagan Hutchins writes overly long emails, best-selling, award-winning mysteries (WINNER USA Best Book Award, Fiction: Cross Genre, Finalist) and hilarious nonfiction. The Houston Press named her as one of Houston's Top 10 Authors (2014). She is a recovering attorney and investigator who resides deep in the heart of Nowheresville, Texas and in the frozen north of Wyoming. Pamela has a passion for great writing and smart authorpreneurship as well as long hikes with her hunky husband and pack of rescue dogs, traveling in the Bookmobile, and her Keurig. Download her mystery Saving Grace, free everywhere, and visit her website or drop her a note pamela at pamelahutchins dot com. And if you would like her to visit your book club, women’s group, writer’s group, or library, all you have to do is ask.
************************************************************
GIVEAWAY! THREE WINNERS EACH
WIN SIGNED COPIES OF
ALL 3 EMILY ROMANTIC MYSTERIES!
April 11 - 20, 2016
Check out these other great blog stops on the tour!
4/11 Margie's Must Reads Review
4/13 The Page Unbound Author Interview #1
4/14 All for the Love of the Word Review
4/15 Because This is My Life Y'all Guest Post #1
4/16 My Book Fix Blog Excerpt
4/17 It's a Jenn World Review
4/18 A Novel Reality Author Interview #2
4/19 Texas Book Lover Guest Post #2
4/20 Hall Ways Blog Review
Labels:
fiction,
giveaway,
guest post,
Lone Star Book Blog Tour,
mystery,
romance,
Texas,
Texas author
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