Traveling With T’s Holiday Gift Guide for 2016

I know. It feels like it’s barely November and in Mississippi- well today is nice weather (it’s in the 70’s!) . But with it being only 6 days to Thanksgiving, 7 days to Black Friday, 8 days to Small Business Saturday and 37 days to Christmas Day- even though we may not be ready to talk holiday shopping, the time is upon us.

But, don’t you fret- because I have been making a list for your holiday shopping (so that you will have more time to kick back, enjoy that hot chocolate and a good book 😉

Gift Guide for Book Lovers:

1. Gift cards. Book lovers love gift cards so we can go get the book we want (because odds are that you don’t know all the books we’ve pre-ordered or already have). Some pre-order suggestions to use your gift cards for: The Shimmering Road by Hester Young (February 2017), The Secrets You Keep by Kate White (March 2017), Slightly South of Simple by Kristy Woodson Harvey (April 2017), Her Every Fear by Peter Swanson (January 2017), and The Fifth Letter by Nicola Moriarty (January 2017).

2. Bookmarks. Every reader needs a bookmark and Marked by Mary makes some exceptional ones. Continue reading →

3 Reasons You Should Visit Greenwood, MS

I remember as a kid riding over to Greenwood from my house. It’s not that far away (30-ish miles) but in my kid mind, it felt far. My mom would have the music jamming ( no kid music played in the car- we listened to Robert Palmer, Eric Clapton, Bruce Springsteen & many others!) and I would begin to scan the horizon for the McDonald’s sign. The Golden Arches beckoned and let me know that we were in Greenwood. As the years went by, we didn’t visit Greenwood as much, but then I happened to hear about Jill Conner Browne (author of The Sweet Potato Queens’ Book Of Love) having a signing at TurnRow Books and well.. the rest is history.

I began keeping an eye on the events at Turnrow Books long before I identified as a book blogger, but having an indie bookstore so near to me has proved to be an asset to my role as a blogger.

But what does all this have to do with visiting Greenwood? I’m getting there! Continue reading →

Meeting Tiffany Quay Tyson, author of THREE RIVERS

Tiffany and Me (aka Traveling With T)

Ya’ll know how much I LOVE book signings (hence the smile on my face in the above picture!!!)

Tiffany Quay Tyson recently stopped by TurnRow Books in Greenwood, MS. Sitting at the signing, I watched the crowd as she read the excerpt on the baptism of Bobby- one of the characters in THREE RIVERS. I spied 13 people, sitting in their seats, paying close attention as Tiffany read. After the section on Bobby’s baptism- Tiffany explained further about the characters of the book. She then chose to read the section on how Obi and Liam begin to live on the land. The crowd was silent, fully focused on Tiffany. She was drawing us further into the story of THREE RIVERS with each word she read. When she finished, there was brief moment- almost as if the crowd was coming out from under the spell- then applause! Continue reading →

Literary Friday ya’ll…..

I’m looking forward to this weekend. A weekend of hopefully quiet time, some reading, some blogging and just trying to relax.

Why am I looking forward to this?

Because next weekend, the most adorable niece ever, Miss A, is spending the weekend with me- AND it’ll be all about the A, all weekend long. We’ll be dancing to Taylor Swift and Megan Trainor. Continue reading →

Meeting Rick Bragg, author of Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story

The day was cold. The day was a day for scarves (hence Traveling With T’s very fetch scarf!) The day was November 18th, 2014 and it was the day I met Rick Bragg- a storyteller of epic proportions.

Rick Bragg signing a book at TurnRow Books

I knew of Rick Bragg. Kinda. Vaguely. In a sense of I would hear others discuss him- but I was not familiar with his work. So, when Beth, a new friend of mine, asked me to attend the Rick Bragg book signing at TurnRow Books, I decided to drive over and see him for myself. And, boy was I glad I did. Continue reading →

Meeting Lisa Howorth, author of FLYING SHOES

Lisa Howorth shows aspiring writers that age is just a number in the publishing game. How old was Lisa when her first novel was published? 63. FLYING SHOES, Lisa Howorth’s debut novel, was a Deep South Magazine Summer 2014 Reading selection– and she was visitor to TurnRow Books in July 2014. When I saw that Lisa would be signing FLYING SHOES at TurnRow, I made plans to attend for several reasons- one that it was a Deep South Magazine selection, two that I had received a copy of FLYING SHOES at Book Expo American from her publisher Bloomsbury Pub, and three- well it just sounded good! Continue reading →

Meeting Wiley Cash and Deborah Johnson

Let’s set the scene: It was February 2014- a cold day in Greenwood, MS- but I was a happy bookish gal because I was seeing Deborah Johnson and Wiley Cash at their joint book signing.

Wiley, who recently had published THIS DARK ROAD TO MERCY, was getting quite the attention. TDRTM was a 2013 Deep South Magazine Fall/Winter Reading List selection and Deborah Johnson’s THE SECRET OF MAGIC had recently been chit-chat among several bloggers that I knew. So, I set out that day- and drove to Greenwood to see the 2 authors and hear their readings. Here’s a recap of that great afternoon: Continue reading →

Meeting Greg Iles, author of NATCHEZ BURNING

Several months ago, back in May 2014, I had the pleasure to meet Greg Iles at TurnRow Books in Greenwood. Greg had just recently published NATCHEZ BURNING (which all the bloggers that I knew were going nuts over- loving it so much!) and I decided that since he was going to be near my hometown- well, it would be just criminal to miss meeting him and getting a book signed. Continue reading →

Meeting Patti Callahan Henry at TurnRow Books

Listen- if you’ve been a reader of Traveling With T for awhile.. Heck, even for a minute- you know that I LOVE books and that I ADORE author signings. It’s just a fact. So I squee-ed BIG TIME when I heard (err….website stalked TurnRow Books) that Patti Callahan Henry would be in town and I would be able to be in the same room with her. Continue reading →

Belles on Wheels at TurnRow Books (Oh what a night!)

Let me set the scene: A big bus, loaded with authors of steamy romance books. Ladies who have spent significant amounts of time on various “best selling” lists. Ladies who have found their niche and have fan bases that are extremely supportive. The bus tagline says: “7 Cities, 10 Authors, 1 Wild Ride” (a very appropriate tagline!

The women- the Belles on Wheels!

Champagne

BBQ Parfait

All the authors sitting and hanging out, lovely snacks and drinks to enjoy while we were listening to the authors talk about what it was like to be on best selling lists, what writing steamy scenes is really like, and how they use social media.

Continue reading →