Sorry I'm late in posting this and I'm even sorrier to say that this will be an abbreviated version--computer problems, deadlines and life have interfered--but come right back because we have a special guest, fellow St. Martin's Press author Toni McGee Causey coming by soon!

 Okay, and now, back to boiled peanuts...

So I recently  got back from an amazing trip down South.  In a little under a week, I hit Nashville, Decatur, Atlanta and  Nashville again. And in the words of my dear friend, Tasha Alexander, this journey is blog worthy. 

I touched down in Nashville and Tasha gave me the grand tour, pointing out places of interest, including the big recording companies.  an amazing bookstore named Davis Kidd  and of course we had to see where Faith Hill does her grocery shopping.

The plan was to hang out in Nashville for the day and then Tasha and I would drive down to Atlanta for the Decatur Book Festival, however, when we got out to the car, we saw that weren't going anywhere fast. Tasha's front tire--flat as a pancake! Pulling a bit of the damsel in distress card, we luckily found a service station and a mechanic nearby who liked us well enough to fix us up in no time flat (sorry, couldn't resist!) and get us back on the road.

The drive from Nashville to Decatur is a pretty one, right along the foothills of the Smoky Mountains.  And of course there are temptations all along to the way, things like the Jack Daniels Distillery  (which of course made us think of J.A. Konrath's novels) and wholesale fireworks from  a place called Big Daddy's Bang-Bang or something like that. And then, (technically this happened on the drive back) we just couldn't resist  the  roadside peaches and pecans, all tucked inside a little shack that also sells moonshine jelly which  I haven't  figured out an application for just yet. And of course, being a northerner, I had never  before experienced Chick-Fil-A which for some reason I kept calling Chick-a-dees and Chick-a-delites but Tash got the idea--food, I needed food!

So after a chick-a-something,  there we were, driving along and of course, Tasha and I didn't take into account the hour time difference which put us into Atlanta just in time to experience their infamous rush hour traffic. 

Finally, a little cranky and thirsty, we arrived in Decatur where we got together with my best buddy, Mindy for some refreshments before the three of us met up with Karen Abbott  and her hubby, Chuck, and my hostess, the fabulous Janet  and headed over to  The Colonnade for dinner.  I said I wanted a real southern meal and I got one.  When they said I got two sides, with my chopped steak, I splurged for a third just because I couldn't decide what was more authentic southern cuisine: blackeyed peas, mustard greens or fried okra. I'm still not sure which is more authentic, but I do know that of all the sides, I seemed to have liked Mindy's sweet potato fries the best--yes, I had a case of food envy! 

The next day, Mindy and I headed over to the Book Festival where we caught part of Tasha's panel discussion and from there, we caught  Joshilyn Jackson's charming and witty discussion with Frank Turner Hollon.  Also had the fastest ever face-to-face meeting with author Sheila Curran, before we dashed off to see Jon Clinch over at Twain's where he was reading from his novel, FINN.

That night, Janet, Mindy and their friend Nita took me to a fabulous restaurant called Two Urban Licks which, if you're ever in Atlanta, you must go--this one is a run, don't walk! Then we were back to Janet's castle--I mean, staying at her home was a like staying at a luxury resort. Plus, Janet's place is home to "The Chair" which became my lucky writing spot. In one day I trashed about 7,600 words but picked up another 2,600 and all those were keepers! I made more progress on my new novel in "the chair" than I had in weeks. 

So very happy and inspired, the next day a carload of women headed to Marietta for a street fair and along the way, I learned that there was such a thing as boiled peanuts only I thought they came in a bag. I didn't realize that they are literally cooking away in a vat of peanut soup.  Since I'd already tried my mustard greens and fried okra, I was all prepared to try a boiled peanut, but when we finally tracked one down--in some hole in the wall halfway back to Nashville--I'm afraid my O.C.D. kicked in big time. I took one look and thought, there's just no way I can ingest that.

Pulling into Nashville on a Monday evening, all Tasha and I wanted to do was have a nice glass of wine and relax. But turns out you can't purchase wine on Labor Day,  but you can however illogical it may sound, purchase a buttload of  beer instead.  Wasn't exactly what we had our hearts set on, but it apparently did the trick, because one or two bottles later, I became a Wii boxing champ and a Wii tennis star. I'm telling you if I had one of these gadgets, I'd never write another word. It is addictive--proceed with caution!

And so, there you have my trip--in a boiled peanut nutshell!  Sorry I had to leave you the abbreviated version but do come back soon and meet Toni McGee Causey!