More recollections of Hot Wells, upcoming literary events, Southern bookstores and more

            Randy C. Landry, a Maurice native who presently lives in Lafayette, wrote this in response to my book review last week of Larry Jorgensen’s “Hot Wells: A Louisiana Ghost” book. 

            “Your article in this morning’s Advertiser about the new book on Hot Wells brought back memories for me,” Landry wrote. “When I was younger, I remember my grandparents making trips to spend a few days there for the massages and hot baths. Later on, in the 80s, as a state employee, state workers from other parts of the state were required to stay in the motel there overnight when traveling on state business in the Alexandria area. Since the facility was state-owned at the time, staying there saved on travel expenses. I am sure this is covered in the book, but besides the motel, there was a swimming pool, the bath house and a restaurant.”

Also, in the review I erroneously named Louisiana Gov. Huey P. Long as Gov. Earl Long’s father. Huey and Earl were brothers and both governors of Louisiana. Being a lover of Louisiana I knew that, but think the heat had gotten to me that day. I apologize for the error.

Book events

            Several authors will be signing and discussing their books at the Acadian Museum of Erath’s 25th anniversary and fundraiser. The event will also open a new exhibit titled “The Life of Sen. Dudley J. LeBlanc, Sr.: Acadian to Cajun.” The event begins at 5 p.m. and tickets are $35, dinner and drinks included. Sen. LeBlanc's granddaughter, Michèle Le Blanc, will re-release books that LeBlanc authored, including “Acadian Miracle” (1966) on the 50th anniversary of its publication, and “The True Story of the Acadians” (1926) on its 90th anniversary. Authors attending the event are Le Blanc, Tom Angers, Josh Caffery, Warren and Mary Perrin, Sheila Hebert Collins and Nelwyn Hebert.

The Mississippi Book Festival is Saturday at the State Capitol in Jackson, Miss. Authors with a Louisiana connection attending the festival are Julie Reed of Mississippi who now lives in New Orleans; Greg Iles of Natchez, originally of Baton Rouge; Jesmyn Ward, an American novelist and an associate professor of English at Tulane University who won the 2011 National Book Award for Fiction and a 2012 Alex Award with her second novel “Salvage the Bones;” and retired assistant U.S. Attorney Charlie Spillers, author of “Confessions of An Undercover Agent: Adventures, Close Calls and the Toll of a Double Life,” who has Louisiana roots and spent six years with the Baton Rouge Police Department. For more information, visit http://msbookfestival.com.

At the library

Each year, the Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana offers writing workshops, or WordShops, on the day before the Louisiana Book Festival. (The Louisiana Book Festival will be Saturday, Oct. 29, in downtown Baton Rouge so the WordShops will be Friday, Oct. 28.) This year, a special workshop will be offered for those who nurture others learning to read and write and express their thoughts on paper. This includes teachers, librarians, parents and others. Catherine Gourley, national project director of the Letters About Literature national writing competition, sponsored by the Library of Congress Center for the Book and its state affiliates, will present “The Journey Within: Reflective Writing and the Letters About Literature Program.” Visit www.louisianabookfestival.org for more information.

It’s a Pokemon Go Party from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Friday at the South Regional Branch Library in Lafayette. Librarians will be dropping lures every 30 minutes and offering classes in 3-D Poke-creation and other crafts. There will also be Wii gaming and refreshments. No registration is required.

The Lafayette Public Library System now has 12 Speck air quality monitors available for free checkout at four of its locations - the Main Library downtown, the East Regional Library in Youngsville, the North Regional Library in Carencro and the South Regional Library on Johnston Street. Library card holders can check out the sensors for three weeks at a time to try in their homes. The Speck sensors detect particulate air pollution in the home.

Ebooks

            Chicago native Kane falls hard for Rocko and his sweet Louisiana accent in Nakiala Comeaux’s “My Louisiana Thug,” available as an ebook. Comeaux lives in Opelousas and has written numerous books, including “Whisper and Hitta: A Louisiana Love Story.”

            Lisa Coots, a native of Lacassine, has published a Coeur du Bayou Trilogy that is available through Amazon and as signed copies through the author. The books include “Promise,” “Hope” and “Magic.” For more information, visit http://lisacoots.com/.

Southern bookstores

            Last month I had the distinct pleasure of visiting Page and Palette bookstore in Fairhope, Ala., an independent bookstore that’s been open since 1968. The bookstore in the heart of town offers local, regional and Southern authors, plus ongoing literary events. Staff is helpful and attentive, the selection impressive. And there’s both a coffee shop and a bar attached to the main bookstore.

            This week, Page and Palette will host best-selling author Kate DiCamillo at 4:30 p.m. Thursday to discuss and sign her latest children’s book, “Raymie Nightingale.” 

Deadlines

The deadline for submissions to the 2016 Ernest J. Gaines Award for Literary Excellence is Monday so get to work today to send in your 2016 novel or short story collection. The contest includes a $10,000 prize.

           

Cheré Coen is the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country.” She writes Louisiana romances under the pen name of Cherie Claire. Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

TV personality Chip Coffey shares views on 'Growing Up Psychic'

Being an avid reader, I’m not a big fan of TV. I do tend to fall hard for those mini-series adapted from books, such as “Game of Thrones” and just about everything on “Masterpiece Theatre.”

            One non-adapted series I watch regularly is A&E’s “Psychic Kids: Children of the Paranormal,” in which children having trouble understanding their gifts are brought together and guided by adult psychics and counselors. One of those psychics is Chip Coffey, who appears genuinely interested in helping children understand and live with speaking or hearing unseen entities.

            Coffey grew up psychic, although he didn’t fully understand and embrace what he calls a “gift from God” until later in life. His current book, “Growing Up Psychic: My Story of Not Just Surviving but Thriving — and How Others Like Me Can, Too,” aims to go beyond the TV series, helping children and parents cope with being intuitive.

            The book is filled with Coffey’s life story, psychic experiences he’s had growing up in a haunted house, tales from children of the TV series and intuitive people Coffey has met. A handy dictionary in the back explains the different types of psychic abilities.

            Whether you have children with gifts, experience your own intuitive abilities or are like me, fascinated by those who do, this book is a great, personal guide to the paranormal. 

Acadian Museum looking for photos

            The Acadian Museum and authors Patrick Morrow, Philip Andrepont and Warren A. Perrin have been selected by Arcadia Publishing to write a book on the history of St. Landry Parish. Photographs are being sought from the public for inclusion in the book. 

            “We have one year to gather the materials for the book,” said Andy Perrin, member of the museum’s board. “We would like to locate, scan and include in the book about 250 interesting photographs of St. Landry Parish.”

            All proceeds from the sale of the book will be used to support local museums. To submit photos, make an appointment to bring them to Andrepont Printing, 5043 Interstate 49,  South Service Road, Opelousas, LA, 70570, (337) 942-6385 or send to Philip Andrepont at philip@andrepontprinting.com. Include basic background information about each photograph such as date, place and the names of people and places shown.  All persons or groups who contribute materials will be acknowledged in the book.

            The Acadian Museum has previously published “Acadian Redemption,” “Une Saga Acadien,” “Vermilion Parish” and “Iberia Parish.”

            The current Louisiana Poet Laureate Julie Kane has been commissioned to compose an original series of five to seven poems with the history of Lake Charles and the Louisiana Bicentennial as inspiration. The series will be revealed during a special poetry reading by Kane at 4 p.m. Saturday beneath the 375 year-old Sallier Oak by the Imperial Calcasieu Museum in Lake Charles.

            Kane’s series will celebrate the intersection between landscape and identity while uniting both the raw and the rapturous images and symbols of Southwest Louisiana. Kane is also a non-fiction writer, editor and translator and is the author of several books of poetry. She was appointed to the position of Louisiana Poet Laureate by Gov. Bobby Jindal in 2011, and is a professor of English at Northwestern State University.

            World War II Associated Press reporter Ed Kennedy was one of several journalists allowed to witness Gen. Alfred Jodl signing the official documents as the Germans surrendered to the Allies. He was ordered to hold the story but defied the military embargo and broke the news of the Allied victory. His scoop generated controversy, rival news organizations protested and the AP fired Kennedy several months after the war ended. This month, LSU Press has published “Ed Kennedy’s War: V-E Day, Censorship, and the Associated Press,” edited by Julia Kennedy Cochran with an introduction by Tom Curley and John Maxwell Hamilton. Events honoring this publication will be held this week in New York and Washington, D.C., hosted by the AP.

            Cochran worked as a journalist in New York for AP, Reuters and Business Week magazine. Curley, who recently announced his retirement, has led the AP since June 2003. Hamilton is founding dean of the Manship School of Mass Communication at LSU and currently serves as LSU executive vice chancellor and provost. He is the author or coauthor of six books, most recently “Journalism’s Roving Eye.”

            For more information, visit http://lsupress.org/.

            “Trust in Me,” a humorous small town romance by West Monroe author Beth Cornelison, will be offered free through the Kindle Select program today and Monday. Cornelison is a multi-published author and her romantic suspense novels have won national awards including the Daphne DuMaurier Award of Excellence.

           

Book events

           Alex V. Cook signs “Louisiana Saturday Night” at 2 p.m. Saturday at Barnes & Noble, 5707 Johnston St. in Lafayette. At noon, local artists will perform in support of the book.

            Danny R. Von Kanel, Louisiana author, music teacher and church musician, will lead a “Get Published” seminar from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Monday, May 14, at the Rapides Parish Library Westside Regional Branch in Alexandria. The seminar will cover knowing market opportunities, writing a query letter, e-books, how to get a book published and keys to writing an effective book proposal. Von Kanel has published articles in 45-plus magazines and has had two books published by CSS Publishing. His third book, “Building Your Life by the Owner’s Design (The Positive Approach to Building Your Life God’s Way),” will be published by 4RV Publishing in 2013. The seminar is free; register at the Rapides Parish Library.

           

Cheré Coen is the author of “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” She teaches writing at UL-Lafayette’s Continuing Education. Write her at chere@louisianabooknews.com. 

Change of July 3 Acadian Museum event location

UPDATE: The Acadian Museum of Erath will induct Maria Placer into its Order of Living Legends on Sunday, July 3, but the location has changed. It will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at L’Eglise located on 3203 Alcee Road in Abbeville (it is actually in the hamlet of LeBlanc off of LA Highway 339). Both Warren Perrin and I (Cheré Coen) will be signing books at this event.

Directions from Lafayette are:

From Lafayette:
From Ambassador Caffery Parkway, turn right at the intersection of Ambassador Caffery and Verot School Road (LA 339 South).

Verot School Road will come to a T and LA 339 will continue turning left (Chemin Agreable) and then a quick right (Decon Road). At the Decon Road turn there is a Chevron station.

From the Chevron Station, continue on LA 339 (Decon Road) for approximately 1.9 miles.

J. Alcee Road will intersect LA 339 on the right. Turn right at J. Alcee.

L'Eglise will be located on the left side of J. Alcee Road. There is a sign indicating L'Eglise at the intersection of J. Alcee Road and LA 339.

Visit www.legliseinc.com for further details.