The Writing Shed with Tommy Tomlinson

Photo by Wes McFee on Unsplash The photo above is the Dolly Parton mural in West Asheville, North Carolina. There’s a story about it that I’ll tell in a minute.

Let’s get straight to the footage: Unboxing videos have become so common that I thought about making a video with a big windup and then going “Oh, sorry, this is just some underwear I bought the other day.” But why would I do that?

šŸ™šŸ¼ A couple of announcements this morning: Excited to reveal that Iā€™ll be part of the Southern Voices Festival in Hoover, Alabama (just outside Birmingham) in February. Iā€™m part of a conference featuring seven authors on Saturday, Feb. 22. That makes two festivals for me in Februaryā€”Iā€™m also doing the Savannah Book Festival earlier that month along with many other incredible authors. February is usually my least favorite month, but this one is shaping up to be great.

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By the time you read this it’s likely that I will be on my flight to beautiful Saint Paul*, Minnesota, for the lovely honor of being one of the speakers at this year’s Opus and Olives, the big fundraising event for the Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library. *By the way: Is it Saint Paul or St. Paul? I have always written it, and seen it in my head, as St. Paul. But I am noticing that all the material I am getting from Opus and Olives refers to it as Saint Paul. Minnesotans, help me out here.

Here’s the flood song that has haunted me since 2016’s golden escalator ride to this circle of hell. It has never been more relevant. Even if you don’t care for Peter Gabriel, the poetry is wonderful “ The jaded underworld is riding high…” And,yes, attending to those with incredible generosity of spirit is a life preserver to our sputtering souls, thrashing about in these high dark waters. Tommy, you are one of those bright creatures helping to keep us afloat! Thank you.

It’s an abbreviated newsletter this morning for three reasons: In just a few hours (at 2 p.m.) I’m in conversation with Wright Thompson at Park Road Books here in Charlotte. We’ll be talking about his stunning book THE BARN, which centers on the spot where Emmett Till was murdered in 1955. I expect a deep and wide-ranging talk on truth, tragedy, history, and light. I stayed up late last night watching one of the best college football games I’ll ever see, and I say that even though my team lost.

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One quick event reminder: We’re now just a week (and a day) away from my appearance with Wright Thompson on Sept. 29 at Park Road Books in Charlotte … we’ll be talking about his stunning book THE BARN, which centers on the place where Emmett Till was murdered in 1955. It’s a 2 p.m. event, which means you won’t have to watch the Panthers game that day! We are looking out for you over here. Sportswriters don’t come to the office much. They do their work at ballparks and stadiums and arenas.

I love that James Earl Jones does that list with a straight face. Yes, yes, yes, amazing voice, stunning stage work for decades, all of that is true and unassailable. He is as much the soul of Field of Dreams as is Ray. I did see him on stage (in NYC and in Charlotte), and he got to visit a theater named for him (the pre-show announcement was to turn off your phones in the only theater named for a Lord of the Sith).