Sharing the Joy ...

I had a great time yesterday at the Go On Girl! Book Club's Meet 'N Greet event. Diane McKinney-Whetstone and I shared a laugh over having books with the same art work. She's really a lovely person. We discovered a few commonalities: She was the GOG! Author of the Year Awardee in 1998. I was the Awardee in 2003. She's from Philadelphia and I went to school in the Philadelphia area, sort of. We both love to set our stories in the past -- she in the 1960s, I in the 1920s. Her stories carry the rhythm of jazz in every sentence. Truly marvelous.

The Book Club's newest discovery, Scholarship Awardee Camille Acker, read from her heartrending submission about a young mother abandoned by her husband: "Walking on Tiptoes." And Book Club member Tina Hawkins read an excerpt from her unpublished work "Teetoring on the Brink."

It was a super evening. The Go On Girl! Book Club is a national organization that does a lot for its authors. It was definitely an assist in getting Harlem Redux published. So authors, I recommend contacting the club if you haven't done so -- and readers I recommend joining it. You'll be happily surprised.