Busy Little Bees, Making Honey Day and Night

Movie buffs will recognize the above as a line delivered by Bette Davis in All About Eve.

I'm moving, y'all. As Jerry Orbach said in his most famous role as Lenny Briscoe on Law & Order, moving is one of the 10 most stressful situations, right up there with a colonoscopy.

Be back to the blog sometime next week.

Yeah, yeah, another interview

It's at Urban-Reviews.com, which is run by the lovely Radiah Hubbert, whose picture of us from Saturday at the Slam Jam I borrowed.

There's also a review of Once Upon A Project on the site (fortunately, the reviewer liked it). So check it out while I rush around opening an account with the electric and gas company and to find out who the heck will provide our phone and cable service, since AT&T does not service our new neighborhood.

Moving. It's definitely one of the 10 most stressful life situations.

Mr. & Mrs. Loving, together again

Mildred Jeter Loving, who together with her husband, Richard, filed suit to get the miscegnation laws off the books in their home state of Virginia, died of pneumonia on May 2nd at the relatively young age of 68.

You may have seen the Showtime movie about the Lovings that starred Timothy Hutton and Lela Rochon. The Lovings came from a part of Virginia where sex between races was not considered a big deal (it was much more open than in most areas of the South), but marriage just wasn't done. Sheriff deputies barged into their bedroom in 1958, just a few months after they were married, and hauled them off to jail (naturally, Mrs. Loving was kept incarcerated longer than Mr. Loving). The couple pled guilty to breaking the law and were banished from the state in lieu of not having to spend more time in jail.

By 1963, Mildred Loving had had enough of living in Washington DC and wrote to Attorney General Robert Kennedy. The ACLU took on the case and eventually overturned the decision and did away with the law. The Lovings returned home in 1967 and lived happily, but not ever after. Richard was killed in a car crash in 1975, in which Mildred, riding with him, lost an eye.

Mildred Loving, who according to her obiturary considered herself more Indian than black (a sentiment that may have lived in her heart, but certainly not in her physical appearance), lived out the rest of her life quietly, declining to give interviews.

They're together again, this time for good.

Have another Margarita

It's the fifth of May, otherwise known as Cinco de Mayo. This is a fun holiday, because, like St. Patrick's Day, it's largely an excuse to drink

. . . except the weather is warmer and daylight hours are longer.

I went to a Cinco de Mayo party Saturday night, after returning from a day at the Slam Jam exhausted. My husband "forgot" to mention he'd accepted an invitation (he does that a lot). But it was fun, and I actually found myself downing pomengranate martinis, which were quite tasty. I've never had a pomengranate in my life until then.

Speaking of the Slam Jam, it was wonderful to see my fellow writers, some of whom I met for the very first time. I got to meet colleagues whom I've communicated with online, on the phone, or both, like LaConnie Taylor-Jones, Gwyneth Bolton, and Celeste Norfleet (Celeste and I share the same wonderful agent, who will be taking five questions late next week).

Deatri, Dyanne, Barbara, Ann and possibly others whose names I can't recall put together a wonderful event. I do admit to being a little taken aback when I saw that the size of the panel for the author session I was scheduled for with my good friend Sean Young had doubled to include two additional authors, so that didn't go quite the way I'd planned. I was only there for the one day, so I don't know if additional authors were squeezed into other author sessions or just ours; but I do understand that these things happen when planning an event of this size, and I stand by my initial impression of a job well done. I'm just glad I got there in time. I had to pick up an important certified letter from the post office and went to the wrong one (in this area, every two to five minutes of driving puts you in a different town). But hey, when you're moving, you want to know what day your inspection/reinspection/closing is scheduled for, and I wasn't willing to wait until this morning to find out.

The marathon author signing gave everyone a chance to schmooze (not snooze, folks). I was tickled when two authors brought their entire collection of Bettye Griffin romances for me to autograph, and honored by those who purchased Once Upon A Project, both readers as well as my writer colleagues Gwyneth, Celeste, and Donna Hill. I approached sister authors Marilyn Tyner and Alice Wootson singing the Irving Berlin classic, "Sisters," and they surprised me by knowing the entire song, right up through "Lord help the sister who comes between me and my man." I guess we're showing our age, Lord help us.

I didn't stay for the Emma Awards (instead of going to bed early, I was sipping those pomengranate martinis) and don't know the winners, but I do know that my friend LaConnie won Favorite Debut Author. Congratulations to LaConnie and all the other winners and nominees!

Happy Cinco de Mayo to all of you! I've got one more weekend of book promotion this Friday and Saturday, and then I can turn my attentions to other things, like packing, since M-day will be less than 2 weeks from now!

Too Smooth For Words

Last week, Shelia Goss did an interesting round-up of classic black movies over the years. A couple of people mentioned Cabin in the Sky, but surprisingly, no one said anything about Stormy Weather, made the same year (1943). It's one of the backstage movies about putting on a show, which means the storyline is slim (and unbelievable, since Bill "Bojangles" Robinson was 65 to Lena Horne's 26 . . . but I digress). I have many happy memories of watching this movie with my siblings on Saturday afternoons. What makes this movie so wonderful is the many musical and dance performances, including Lena Horne singing the title song which has since become her theme. Dooley Wilson was funny, Fats Waller jovial, Cab Calloway all teeth, Bojangles tapped up a storm, Lena Horne was beautiful, Katherine Dunham and her troupe sexy.

But this movie contains what Fred Astaire - no slouch himself - called the best dance number ever filmed - the Nicholas Brothers in a flawless performance, the sheer athleticism of which boggles the mind. No wonder Fayard Nicholas needed a hip replacement later in his long life. One has to hope they did this in one take, but probably not.

Watch it and marvel! And have a great weekend. I have a signing in the Citicorp Center in downtown Chicago tomorrow afternoon and Saturday I'll be at the Romance Slam Jam, doing an author session with my friend and colleague Sean Young, a signing in the afternoon, and catching up with old friends and new ones the rest of the day. I'll be back to the blog on Monday.

It's heeeeeeeeeere . . . .

Today's the official publication date of Once Upon A Project. I hope you've gotten yours! I've already gotten e-mail requests for those free bookplates I've offered (you've gotta be on my mailing list to know what the heck I'm talking about.)

I'm taking the day off to do some deep breathing (it's been just nuts the last couple of weeks), but there's still plenty of Bettye Griffin to go around. (All right, so I'm being spread thinner than the last of the peanut butter, but after this I'm going back under my rock until the release of my next book!)

I did interviews with two of my blog buddies. Shelia Goss' column can be found here, and Patricia Woodside's here.

Those of you who work in downtown Chicago near the Citicorp Center, I hope to see you at my signing at lunchtime this Friday. I also look forward to seeing everyone who's coming to the Slam Jam on Saturday (I'm busy with signings and other things and will only be at the Slam that one day.)

I wish you good reading! And if you read Once Upon A Project and enjoy it, please consider sharing your good opinion about it with an online review on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, or both!

Dr. Maxine Thompson Live Internet Radio Shows

This Week's Guest - Monday, April 28, 2008
Maxine Thompson

Dr. Maxine's Show provides sponsorship for entrepreneurs and the literary community. Dr. Maxine invites you to join her this week on her various shows where she will be speaking with some interesting people.

ArtistFirstMonday, April 28, 2008 9:00 PM Eastern, 8:00 PM Central

This week's guest: Bettye Griffin, Author of Once Upon A Project

Here's the link to listen.