Plenty of spooky new books in time for Halloween

There’s a Facebook page that goes with this column and I use it to announce book events and promote great new books. Through Facebook, I also had the pleasure of meeting Ellen Byron of Los Angeles, who loves Louisiana (the love affair started when she was a student at Tulane) and uses our state as the setting for her cozy mystery, “Plantation Shudders: A Cajun Country Mystery.” Library Journal named it the “debut mystery of the month” and Publisher’s Weekly said, “ Byron’s debut brings energy and verve to the cozy.” I’m so looking forward to reading it and you should too and help Byron’s dream come true. Her hope is to someday retire and spend a month a year in Lafayette and “just tootle around the state.”

Byron is a native New Yorker who lives in Los Angeles and spends lots of time writing about Louisiana, including the second book in the series, “Crawdeaddy.” Her TV credits include “Wings” and “Just Shoot Me” and she’s written more than 200 magazine articles and published plays include the award-winning “Graceland” and “Asleep on the Wind.”

For more information, visit http://www.ellenbyron.com/.

Michael Murphy, author of “Eat Dat New Orleans,” returns with paranormal tales in “Fear Dat New Orleans: A Guide to the Voodoo, Vampires, Graveyards and Ghosts of the Crescent City.” Murphy, a native of Ohio who has lived in New Orleans since 2009, explains the city’s aboveground cemeteries, its love affair with vampires, its over-achieving status as haunted city and its voodoo heritage. There’s also a handy listing of mediums, tarot readers and haunted hotels and bars, plus personality profiles of the some of the city’s paranormal experts and a foreword by Anne Rice.

I (your blogger Chere Dastugue Coen) will sign “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana,” a collection of Acadiana ghost stories, along with my other books — “Exploring Cajun Country,” “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History” and “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets” — from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Barnes & Noble Lafayette.

Literary Week

It’s a great week for book lovers.

On Wednesday, Oct. 28, the Festival of Words Cultural Arts Collective hosts an evening of oral history, songs and poetry featuring poet/songstress Angie Joelle and Donald Milton who will share personal stories. The program begins at 7 p.m. at Chicory’s Coffee & Café in Grand Coteau.

            Words and Music, A Literary Feast in New Orleans opens Thursday, Oct. 29, and runs through Nov. 2. For information on the festival that includes paranormal fun this year, visit http://wordsandmusic.org/2015-words-music-schedule.

            The 12th Louisiana Book Festival will be from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 31, on the grounds of and inside the Louisiana State Capitol, Louisiana State Library and the Louisiana State Museum in Baton Rouge. They still need volunteers; call (225) 342-4996. For information, visit www.louisianabookfestival.org.

            The Heart of Louisiana’s annual Fall in Love with Romance Readers’ Luncheon will begin at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015, and feature keynote speaker Diana Rowland at Juban’s restaurant in Baton Rouge. Author Lori Leger will emcee.

Book events Oct. 25-31

Writers’ Guild of Acadiana meets at 7 p.m. the last Tuesday of the month at Barnes & Noble Lafayette. The meetings are free and open to the public.

Richard Campanella discusses his book about the work of Del Hall, “The Photojournalism of Del Hall, 1950s-2000 — New Orleans and Beyond” at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Octavia Books of New Orleans. Also at Octavia this week, Kaija Parssinen reads from and signs “The Unraveling of Mercy Louis” at 6 p.m. Thursday.

Ellen Gilchrist signs “Acts of God” at 6 p.m. Thursday at Garden District Book Shop of New Orleans.

Photographer Judi Bottoni and Carnival expert Peggy Scott Laborde discuss their latest book, a collection of photographs and essays titled “New Orleans Mardi Gras Moments,” as part of the Coffee and Conversation series, at 7 p.m. Thursday at the East Bank Regional Library in Metairie.
            Dr. Camesha Hill-Carter of Shreveport, author of “I Dare You: 31 Days To Fire Up Your Potential And Live Your Destiny Now,” will be recognized by Distinguished Readers Book Club at 1 p.m. Saturday at the West Shreveport location of Shreve Memorial Library.
            Friends of the Ouachita Public Library Book Sale will be 9-3 Friday and Saturday at the West Ouachita Library, 188 Hwy 546 in West Monroe. This is the last book sale for 2015.

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

Heart of Louisiana RWA hosts Fall into Romance Readers Luncheon Oct. 31 in Baton Rouge

            The ninth annual Heart of Louisiana Fall into Romance Readers Luncheon will feature international bestselling author of paranormal suspense and urban fantasy, Diana Rowland, beginning at 11:15 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 31, at Juban’s Restaurant, 3739 Perkins Road in Baton Rouge.

White Trash Zombie Gone Wild, 

Book 5 of the Angle Crawford/

White Trash Zombie series.

            Rowland has lived her entire life below the Mason-Dixon line, uses "y'all" for second-person-plural, and otherwise has no southern accent (in her opinion.) She attended college at Georgia Tech where she earned a bachelor’s degree in applied mathematics, and after graduation forgot everything about higher math as quickly as possible. She has worked as a bartender, a blackjack dealer, a pit boss, a street cop, a detective, a computer forensics specialist, a crime scene investigator, and a morgue assistant, which means that she's seen more than her share of what humans can do to each other and to themselves. She won the marksmanship award in her Police Academy class, has a black belt in Hapkido, has handled numerous dead bodies in various states of decomposition, and can't rollerblade to save her life. She presently lives in south Louisiana with her husband and her daughter where she is deeply grateful for the existence of air conditioning.

            Louisiana award-winning author LoriLeger is scheduled to serve as emcee and other local and regional novelists will be on hand to share their experiences. Each attendee is seated with at least one author and all authors are easily accessible during the pre-luncheon "meet and greet" and post-luncheon book signing from 2  p.m. to 4 p.m. There will be goodie bags for each attendee, baskets of books for raffle, and door prizes are among the other highlights of the event.

            Attendees are encouraged to come dressed in costume as your favorite fictional character or Halloween spirit.
            The event is sponsored by Heart of Louisiana, also known as HeartLA, the Baton Rouge chapter of the Romance Writers of America. HeartLa is a not-for-profit professional organization dedicated to the support, encouragement and education of aspiring writers of all romance genres. For more information, visit www.heartla.com.

Celebrate Picture Book Month with wonderful new titles

             November is “Picture Book Month,” a time to not only purchase great children’s books for those on your holiday list but to pass on stories that celebrate gratitude, love and giving this Thanksgiving week.  

            Leif Nedland Pederson, author of “The Adventures of the Swamp Kids: The Missing Chord” published by Ally-Gator Bookbites of Lake Charles has written a charming holiday sequel that delivers a great message titled “Tutu’s Christmas on the Bayou.”

            Tutu the turtle enjoys his Louisiana Christmas but for once he’d like to see a real Christmas tree. By the time he drags a Christmas tree from the lot to his home on the bayou the tree is devoid of needles. Heartbroken, Tutu’s friends make light of the situation and decorate it nonetheless. The moral of the story is “Whenever you give those you love something special, you’ll always feel good in return.”

            Pederson concludes the book with a holiday lagniappe lesson and ways to create holiday pinecones and popcorn and cranberry garlands. The book is illustrated by Tim Banfell.

            A young boy awakens in Tonya Bolden’s “Beautiful Moon,” realizing he hasn’t said his prayers. He quickly falls to his knees beneath a full moon and prays for the hungry to be fed, the sick to be healed and for wars to end, in addition to those he loves. What makes this story so exceptional — beautifully illustrated by Eric Velasquez — is the intertwining of other people’s stories relating to the child’s prayers, proving that one person’s prayers are universal. Both the story and illustrations make this a heart-rendering book.

            Pelican Publishing has several new children’s books out in time for the holidays, including “New Orleans Mother Goose” by Ryan Adam, illustrated by Marita Gentry and “Macarooned on a Dessert Island,” a fantasy about being marooned in candyland by the ever imaginative Johnette Downing, illustrated by Christina Wald. There’s also a couple of holiday tales — “The Great Pirate Christmas Battle” where Santa stops marauding pirates from stealing Christmas toys by Michael G. Lewis, illustrated by Stan Jaskiel and “My Puppy Gave to Me” by Cheryl Dannenbring, illustrated by Cynthia Kremsner, a canine take on the “12 Days of Christmas.”

            For more information on these books and to view their covers, check out the “Louisiana Books” Pinterest board.

Ally-Gator

            At the recent Louisiana Book Festival in Baton Rouge I met Tommie Townsley, publisher of Ally-Gator Bookbites in Lake Charles. This innovative woman has not only created a publishing house for her own children’s books, but of those of several authors. Townsley’s “Cajun Tales” with illustrations by Anne Dentler involve whimsical animals such as Adolpheaux the Adventurous Dolphin, Amos the Artistic Alligator and Dixie the Ole Dawg. Rebecca Stelly writes and illustrates “To the World Above,” centering around an imaginary deep sea creature named Ruke who sends a message in the bottle to the surface and receives a reply. The correspondence between the two educates readers about the deep sea, including science lessons throughout the book disguised as storyline, a handy glossary in the back and activities. Townsley is also the chairman of Southwest Louisiana Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators Guild and a board member for The Children’s Museum of Lake Charles. For more information, visit www.ally-gatorbookbites.com.

Meeting authors

            Another author I was privedged to meet at the Louisiana Book Festival was Kendare Blake, winner of the Louisiana Teen Readers’ Choice Honor Book Award for “Anna Dressed in Blood,” a young adult paranormal mystery in which a teenage ghost hunter meets his greatest challenge in the ghostly Anna of Thunder Bay, Canada. Being a ghost lover — and a fan of modern young adult fiction — I nabbed a copy as well as her latest, “Antigoddess.” Blake smiled sweetly when she handed me the book and added, “Hope you like it.” I think she secretly doubted a woman my age would. But I did, couldn’t put it down, even though I always cringe at the death of teenagers (it’s a mother thing) and am amazed at how many people die in YA books.  Even better, there’s a Louisiana connection, but I won’t give that away.

            On Nov. 15, I was honored to be a part of the Heart of Louisiana Romance Writers annual author luncheon, with best-selling author Diana Crosby as the keynote speaker. Participating authors — and ones you will not want to miss — included Christa Allen, Nancy and Steve Brandt, Donna Caubarreaux, James Buddy Estes, Shana Galen, Lori Leger, Trish Leger, Anne Clarye Mason, Shirlee McCoy, Judy McDonogh, Rhonda McKey, Farrah Rochon, Wendy Russo, Lynn Shurr, T.S. Tate and Jo Templeton. For more information on these authors and a list of their books, visit my blog post at http://louisianabooknews.blogspot.com/2014/11/heartla-author-luncheon-celebrates.html.

            The Heart of Louisiana RWA chapter meets at 10 a.m. the fourth Saturday of every month in Baton Rouge. For more information, visit www.HeartLa.com.

Book news

            Authors Stacey Judice, Kathy Higginbotham and Donna Latiolais will discuss and sign their new book “Images of America: Carencro” from 10:30 a.m. to noon Saturday at the North Regional Library in Carencro.

            Carol Stubbs and Nancy Rust of Lafayette created a delightful combination Louisiana holiday celebration-cookbook with “A Louisiana Christmas: Heritage Recipes and Hometown Celebrations.” The book sold well for the duo but now that Pelican Publishing of New Orleans has picked it up, the title will be available everywhere. Don’t miss this charming blend of Louisiana travel with holiday recipes, perfect for holiday giving.

            I’ll be signing copies of my latest book, “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday at Wild Birds Unlimited.

Cheré Coen is the author of “Forest Hill, Louisiana: A Bloom Town History,” “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana” and “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and co-author of “Magic’s in the Bag: Creating Spellbinding Gris Gris Bags and Sachets.” Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com.

SIBA Awards announced, Louisiana books among the honors

            I’m ashamed to admit I miss the announcements of the 2013 SIBA Awards, book honors voted on by Southern independent booksellers for great examples of Southern literature over the past year.

            Shreveport’s own William Joyce was the children’s SIBA winner for “The Fantastic FlyingBooks of Mr. Morris Lessmore” (Atheneum Books for Young Readers). LSU Press was the publisher for the poetry award, “Descent” by Kathryn Stripling Byer.

            Other winners included: 

            “TheBack in the Day Bakery Cookbook” by Cheryl and Griffith Day (Artisan Publishers), cooking;
            “ALand More Kind Than Home” by Wiley Cash (William Morrow), fiction;
            “StandUp That Mountain” by Jay Erskine Leutze (Scribner Book Company), nonfiction;
            “ThreeTimes Lucky” by Sheila Turnage” (Dial Books for Young Readers), young adult.

            A few of the nominees that I would also recommend reading are “Fred Thompson’sSouthern Sides: 250 Dishes That Really Make the Plate” by Fred Thompson (University of North Carolina Press), “The Accidental City: Improvising NewOrleans” by Lawrence N. Powell (Harvard University Press), “Mastering theArt of Southern Cooking” by Nathalie Dupree and Cynthia Graubart (Gibbs Smith Publishers) and “Around the Southern Table: Coming Home to ComfortingMeals and Treasured Memories” by Rebecca Lang (Oxmoor House).           

            For more information, visit http://www.sibaweb.com/siba-book-award.

           

New releases

            The life, loves and battles of a young U.S. naval officer from the Barbary War of 1803 through the War of 1812 and the super frigate he designed and sails into combat against the world’s greatest navy is the basis of O’Neil de Noux’s latest book, “USS Relentless.” The saga is available as a trade paperback at amazon.com or smashwords.com or at the author’s web site at www.oneildenoux.net.

            Rick Koster, author of two books about Southern music, “Texas Music” and “Louisiana Music,” has published a horror e-book titled “Poppin’ a Cold One” by eKensington. The story revolves around a funeral home embalmer who discovers that a co-worker is doing more to the bodies than dressing them for burial. The ensuing adventure involves a New Orleans detective and a former rock musician turned casino mogul.

Writing workshops

            The Walter Anderson Museum of Art in Ocean Springs, Miss., has chosen a new Artist in Residence program featuring writer and poet, Benjamin Morris. Morris will lead a week-long series of events to include a five-day residency, a public reading and a full-day writer’s workshop incorporating the permanent collections and new exhibitions at WAMA. There will be an Inter-Arts Panel Discussion on Aug. 9, moderated by Dr. Philip Levin, president of the Gulf Coast Writers Association; a Writing Workshop Aug. 10, and a Reception and Public Reading, Aug. 11 in the Ocean Springs Community Center. For information on the writing workshop or to reserve a spot in the class, email Amelia Halstead at development@walterandersonmuseum.org.

            The Heart of Louisiana chapter of Romance Writers of America has announced its fall reader luncheon as Nov. 16 in Baton Rouge with best-selling author Maya Banks as the keynote speaker. For information, visit http://www.heartla.com/luncheon/index.htm.

Book events

            Chuck Hustmyre will read from “The Axman of New Orleans” today at the literary reading series in the patio of the Maple Leaf Bar, 8316 Oak St. in New Orleans.

            Lolis Eric Elie signs “Treme: Stories and Recipes from the Heart of New Orleans” from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. today at Pirate’s Alley Words and Music on the second floor gallery of the Cabildo at Jackson Square, New Orleans. The event is free with RSVP by email to Faulkhouse@aol.com. Elie will also sign from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday at a cocktail and author dinner at Susan Spicer’s Bayona Restaurant in New Orleans ($40 plus tax, drinks and gratuity). For information and to RSVP to the dinner, call (504) 525-4455.

            The Northshore Literary Society will host a “Sunday Salon” from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. today at St. John’s Coffee House in Covington. Local author Pamela Binnings Ewen will speak about the changes in publishing and how these changes affect both readers and writers. There will be light refreshments, wine and soft drinks for a $10 fee but free to Society members. For information, visit www.NorthshoreLiterarySociety.com.           

            George Bishop discusses and signs his latest book, “The Night of the Comet,” at 5:30 p.m. Monday at Garden District Book Shop in New Orleans.

           

Cheré Coen is the author of “Exploring Cajun Country: A Historic Guide to Acadiana” and the upcoming “Haunted Lafayette, Louisiana.” She teaches writing at UL-Lafayette’s Continuing Education. Write her at cherecoen@gmail.com. Visit her web site.