Happy Halloween
Have a safe and fun Halloween!
Have a safe and fun Halloween!
Yesterday I drove up to Washington, D.C. to tour the Congressional Cemetery with fellow members of the Sisters in Crime Chesapeake Chapter. Established in 1790, the Congressional Cemetery is the final resting place for congressman, justices, military leaders and hundreds of colorful and fascinating individuals. According to our tour guide, 55,000 folks rest in the Congressional Cemetery. If you are ever in D.C. this historic gold mine is a must see.
I gathered with fellow Virginia authors Meg Medina, Natale Stenzel and Kit Wilkinson at the Gayton Library on Tuesday night. We each read from our favorite Banned Books including Olive’s Ocean by Kevin Henkes (Meg), A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle (Natale), The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini (Kit) and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (me). It was not only a great cause but great fun!
When I heard that Judith Krug, the librarian who founded and nurtured Banned Books Week, died this past April it brought home to me the genuine enormity of what she had achieved. I wanted to do something to honor her and her accomplishments. That “something” became a Banned Books Week presentation at the Gayton branch of the Henrico County Public Library, Tuesday, September 29th at 7:30 pm with authors Meg Medina (Milagros: A Girl from Far Away), Natale Stenzel (Between a Rock and a Hard Place) and Kit Wilkinson (Protector’s Honor). We’ll be discussing and reading from our favorite banned books and exploring why intellectual freedom is important to us all.
You may remember way back in the spring when I mentioned that I was redoing my kitchen. Well, the project kicked off Memorial Day weekend. It proved to be a long summer of coordinating contractors, choosing paint colors and moving furniture, but as Labor Day approaches I am more than happy to say the work is done! Thought you might like to see a few of the project pictures.