Welcome to a brand new feature of my blog in which I showcase authors, book sellers, librarians, teachers, bloggers, and publishing biz guests!  Woo hoo!

      

    

  

  

  

 

 

 

 

 

My first guest is the talented Irene Latham, author of Leaving Gee’s Bend (Putnam, 2010) , and a book of poems, What Came Before.  Irene and I are both members of the Tenners online support and promotional group.  We will be appearing on author panels at the Virginia Festival of the Book on March 20, 2010, in Charlottesville, Va., so please come see us!

 

Hi, Irene. What’s your favorite flower and why?

Oh, I love so many!  But if forced to choose, I’d say the azalea.  They are native to Alabama, and many folks use them to landscape, so come March and April, there are bursts of pink and white and red everywhere!  It’s a beautiful time to be in this state.

[FYI flower lovers:  in the language of flowers, azaleas mean temperance, or finding balance and self- control.]

 Is there a quotation you live by or have posted at your desk?

“Life is not about finding yourself.  Life is about creating yourself.”

 Which book do you wish you could live in?

Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein.  (I mean, have you seen those drawings?  What fun!)

 

Who’s your favorite dead poet? (We don’t want to hurt the feelings of the living here!)

Kahlil Gibran.  I read The Prophet at least once a year.

 

What’s the most impressive dish you can cook?

Oh, I love to bake — lately, cakes.  A friend gave me a great recipe for Chocolate Chip Pound Cake, and I made it quite a few times over the holidays to give as a gift.  People seemed impressed….

 

What’s your favorite time of the day to write and why?

I love early mornings before the kids get up.  That’s definitely my most fertile time — something about the dark and the quiet and the way my mind is still operating near to that dream-state.

Quilts are both an actual part of your novel and a metaphor. How do you see quilts as a metaphor for life?

Every quilt tells a story.  And every single one of us has a story to tell — something that only we CAN tell, in our own unique, individual way, with our own particular style of stitching and piecing.

You can follow or find out more about Irene at www.irenelatham.com.  [Leaving Gee's Bend is jetting its way to me as I write, so I'll post my thoughts on that later.]

And her inspiring book trailer is here.  Thanks so much for stopping by, Irene!