Chicago, Chicago

currently following a chance to participate in the Harlem Book Fair Chicago. That would be fun and some great exposure. I wonder if you-know-who who lives, works and wields her mighty-moving-books-off-the-shelf-power in Chicago would attend. UPDATE:emailing the coordinator while I'm blogging. "We would love to have you on board" his last note says.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111 Got to send some info/work samples. Yay yay yay

Stuff off to the two L.A. events. One looks more promising than the other, but I'm still hoping for both.

Friday, an e-mail about a Virginia festival looking for readers. Oooooh, me, me, me!

A poetry reading series in Vegas. That would be fun. Put that in a "future" folder.

Detroit's this weekend and doing some research, found a possibility for a return to that city.

A reading series in Conneticut. "future" folder.

Another place to possibly read at in Atlanta. Put that in the folder with the black bookstores, the black newspapers, the tv station with the literary program, the name and address of a professor sitting right under my nose whose field is linked to my book and the info on a writer (based in Georgia, near Atlanta) who's just started a publishing company.

Years ago, when I first got this novel idea, I got myself featured in a black publication based in Atlanta (What's Within You)and this writer, who is a literary player, was featured in the same issue. I remember thinking how cool that was. Yes, I know it's a long shot that she would have read the article about me and would remember me, but I could always mention that later;-P

What I find interesting is this: from what I can figure, I end up on this professor's mailing list because of Reb's response to a post he made at a blog and Grisel sends me the information about the writer and her publishing company. Grisel, I met when I went to the reading series she and her husband run in San Antonio; the thing, the date I was given to read was not the date I was shooting for. In fact, I had to do some quick rearranging to make the date and while Grisel was concerned about the low attendance, my thought and what I told her was that there might be something else happening.

Because, too, I didn't meet Reb until I went to a reading coordinated by Didi who invited me to start blogging in the first place and Reb's post was about my blog!!!!

And I met Didi when I submitted a story to her magazine because I hadn't heard from the magazine I originally submitted it to and when Didi accepted the story, I wrote the first magazine to withdraw the work, but the editor wrote back and said it was never received.

I don't believe in "fate" or "destiny." We create our own fates, but I do believe that events that don't appear to be turning out in our favor it's because something better, more important is going to happen instead and those "mishaps" can be worked into the larger cloth of things that create a more beautiful tapestry, if you will.

Sometimes I think I'm going somewhere for *this* reason and actually I'm there for something else. Maybe I was to meet Grisel and Reb (by way of Didi) because I was going to be at this place right now and I was going to need the information they could provide me.

'Cause (yes, the story gets bigger) the novel is the one that agent Nat Sobel says is a "breakout novel" and besides Atlanta, it takes place in South Africa where Liesl lives and she reinvited me to visit and stay there when I met her in person just months ago because she "happened" to attend a writer's conference in Tempe, the very same place Carrie, friend and fellow writer, moved to just years ago and so she had a door nearby that she could open to me when I was packed and Life decided I ready to leave NM but not yet ready for Vermont (if that is the place I'm to be 'cause I'm not setting that in stone).

Hmmm, the dots are really connecting. You think? I do.

Life is funny (and supportive) that way.