Books in Bloom

I went to the Books in Bloom festival at the historic Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs out of curiosity (and to cover it for the City Wire), not thinking I'd find anything in particular that I'd want to read. My book wish-list and must-read list from friends is already out of hand, but the event was so diverse, it was difficult to choose which author to talk to at which times. There were five hour-long premiere presentations by the most well known authors, a reading tent that constantly housed an author reading snipets of their works and booths for each author to talk with readers informally.

So much to do, see, read! So little time!

Crescent Dragonwagon spoke dynamically about the role of food in life, a world of sensory memories and coming to terms with the death of friends and of ourselves.

You don't exactly hear Crescent speak, so much as experience her speaking- her wild and quick movements, the sweeping of arms, the clanking of bracelets, swishing of her long print skirt against her striped blazer, the brilliance of her smile against her fiery red hair. She has an amzingly adept form of storytelling, not just on paper in any of her 50 books, but in person, in acting it out.

I sat too close to the front of the room, so during one of these acted out stories, I was inadvertenly grabbed by the elbow and became a character in the story, in front of a full room of 70+ people. Gotta keep an eye on those authors and reporters.

The author of this book is a psychic, who claimed to have seen the stories appear on her windshield while driving along I-40 past Eureka Springs. When her blackout ended, she said she was in New Mexico (even though she wasn't planning on going to New Mexico.) Logistical problems aside (How did running out of gas not bother her trance? Didn't she get hungry? Didn't she go above or severely below the speed limit at some point?) it's an interesting story. Really hope I never have to pump out a novel based on such a strong mental intervention...

These two ladies have a great arrangement as co-authors. Day after day, they meet in the same coffeeshop for scones and coffee, while one relates to the other what she'd like to say. Since her sight is so poor, she can't do any of the writing or typing herself. How awesome is it that she can continue to relate her stories? As a historian and deep family roots in Eureka, I'm sure they're invaluable to the town.

After the event, I took a break to stroll around Eureka. For now, I'm just redecorating, but I'm having plenty of daydreams of living in a place that doesn't have a stranger constantly singing karoke upstairs; somewhere with a patio and enough space to entertain.

I love these little splashes of red here and there.