The 2011 Louisiana Book Festival Author Line-Up

The Help on the Big Screen - This Weekend!

It's finally that time! Kathryn Stockett's highly praised novel The Help will be in theaters everywhere this weekend! Whether you see it with a group of great friends or alone with a bucket of popcorn, take a couple of hours of leisure and make it a RRPQ assignment! I want to know what you think of the movie! Let's discuss it during the next meeting!

How well do you know Kathryn Stockett?

• Kathryn Stockett goes by the nickname "Kitty," but she won't mind if you call her Kathryn.
  
  

• Skeeter and Constantine's relationship and Mae Mobley and Aibileen's are inspired by Stockett's relationship with the black woman who cared for her as a child, Demetrie.

• The British cover of The Help features a photo of two black women in white maid's uniforms on either side of a little white girl in a pushchair (a stroller for big-kids). The photo is from The National Congress archives, and was considered too controversial for the US cover. Why do you think that is?

• Actress Octavia Spencer has been cast as Minny. This is a good thing, because Minny was actually inspired by Spencer, who is friends with Stockett.

• Stockett never imagined her book as a bestseller and says she might have written it differently if she had known that gazillions of people would read it!

• The film version of The Help is a collaboration between Stockett and several of her childhood friends, also natives of Mississippi.

• Nearly fifty literary agents rejected The Help. It took Stockett five years to find one to represent her. Bet those rejecters are crying now – every time they look at the bestseller lists.

Save the Date, Ya'll!

Hi Ladies! After having to cancel our July meeting, I just wanted to keep you up to date on what's coming up. Of course, if you watch any kind of tv, you will know that Kathryn Stockett's bestselling novel-turned movie The Help will be in theaters on August 12! If you want to go as a group, just let me know!

Also, hold on to your hats, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson, author of Suck Your Stomach In & Put Some Color on and the newest Sue Ellen's Girl Ain't Fat, She Just Weighs Heavy will be joining us for our August meeting! Get ready for some laughs on August 23rd at 6:30pm at Columbia Cafe! I hope you can all make it!

Hurry Less, Worry Less...The Podcast!

What do you get when you type in Judy Christie's name in an iTunes search engine? A Hurry Less, Worry Less for Families Podcast, of course! Free episodes of encouragement and tips that are short enough for the busiest mom. Subscribe and get one episode a week!

Don't forget to pick up her many books at a bookstore near you!

Have I mentioned that she's a Red River Pulpwood Queen?

Sue Ellen's Facebook Party and We're Invited!

To celebrate the release of Sue Ellen's Girl Ain't Fat, She Just Weighs Heavy, Shellie Rushing Tomlinson is hosting a Southern style shin-dig! Join her on June 2nd at 5:00 PM PST (6 MST, 7 CST, 8 EST)!

She'll be dishing on Bubba Whispering, debunking the Big Boned Theory, and how to manage going Straight Running Crazy. If you don't know what any of that is, then be sure to pick up a copy of the book (Not necessary to join the fun! Who knows - you might win a copy!) and join her at 5:00 pm on June 2nd at the All Things Southern Facebook page.

And tell your friends - She's giving away copies of her books and some great gift certificates.

Queen Michelle, Here There and Everywhere!

Red River Pulpwood Queen Michelle McCrary is a devoted wife, mom, and then some. But did you know that she is a writer? Yes, Michelle, I said WRITER. She is currently contributing to the local Minute Magazine, covering the newest popular sport, roller derby. She also edited the horror short story anthology Dead Set: A Zombie Anthology along with Joe McKinney. This book just won third place in the Independent Publisher Book Awards in the category of horror!

Her entire family is one to talk about. Veteran dad, 2 smart boys who have won awards in Kung Fu, and of course Michelle, who hosts the Shreveport Zombie Walk each year to bring in food for the area food banks. Active in their church and community, it is no wonder that Family Circle Magazine (read article here) chose to spotlight the McCrarys in the current, June 2011, issue. Find it on newsstands now! Congrats Queen Michelle!

R.W. Norton Gallery Rare Book Library To Open

Shreveport Blog, created by local "man about town" Robert Trudeau has reported that the R.W. Norton Gallery of Art is to open a rare book library this summer, highlight being John James Audubon's "The Birds of America". Read the full article here.