New Orleans Notes, No. 11

One advantage of going to Saints and Sinners is the chance to meet people I’ve only communicated with online. That was the case with a fellow Houstonian who writes under the name Gavin Atlas. We first got to talk at the opening party on Friday night, then he came to the Fool for Love reading on Saturday. I would have sworn that there was a photo of us talking to each other, but I can’t find one in either my files or anyone else’s Flickr sets from the festival. Maybe I imagined it. But I didn’t imagine our conversations or his quietly engaging personality.

I’m not sure when Gavin and I first began talking via LiveJournal, but I do remember that when I found out he lives in Houston I asked if he’d read The Deal, which is set here. He hadn’t, and since it’s out of print and I had a few extra copies, I sent him one. I enjoy sharing that book with other Houstonians because it features places that have since gone, like Crossroads and Lobo bookstores and Ming’s restaurant, along with several other Montrose restaurants as well as Houston museums, stores, and neighborhoods.

He didn’t have to, but in a gesture of kindness, Gavin sent me a signed novel by a friend of his, Kimberly Frost. I’m not normally a reader of paranormal romance, but Would-Be Witch blended its witches with humor and Texas hair and WEREWOLVES! Who would have thought that I’d find myself lying awake at night anxious about werewolves? Oh, the power of the written word.

When I got a recent newsletter from Murder By the Book, I discovered that Kimberly will be signing her second novel in the Southern Witch series, Barely Bewitched, at 6:30 p.m. on September 2. This time Gavin won’t have to send me a copy; I’ll be there!

On Tuesday (that’ll be today by the time I post this), Kimberly is beginning a seven-day contest on her web site. She’ll be giving away copies of her new novel as well as novels by other paranormal authors to people who comment on her blog. So get yourself over there and to her web site to find out more about Kimberly and her work. While you’re at it, check out what’s going on with Gavin’s work on his web site.