News From the Author

States that are considering mandating the cervical cancer vaccine are starting to reconsider, thanks to the public outcry. And more surprising, national representatives have ‘clarified’ their original statements supporting the vaccine by adding that they do not agree with mandating it. Is this enough or should parents be contacting their representatives to vote against the pending legislation? Let me know what you think so I can incorporate parents’ concerns in my author presentations across Georgia and Florida.

Talked today about carving fiction out of history with Joanna Cook and J.L.Miles, one of the Dixie Divas, four traveling women authors who tour together. Great questions from audience about truth in fiction and how you use it to make the story interesting enough to make readers turn the page. I sat next to Rosemary Wells, the very famous children’s book author, creator of Max and Ruby stories. Every mother in line with books for their children also received a White Lies postcard and proviso that here is a book for ‘mom.’ This book festival has a huge room of exhibitors, antiquarian booksellers and a wonderful independent bookstore called The Happy Bookseller who has a stack of White Lies, dwindling as new readers come along. Many new friends, including a Wm & Mary professor who wrote Man of Steel about John Henry. God bless readers.

We start tomorrow for South Carolina Book Festival. My panel is Sunday at 12:45 and book signing afterwards from an independent bookstore called The Happy Bookseller in the Columbia Convention Center. More than ever vaccine questions come up at my author events. Last night at B & N we had a pharmacist and a physiologist with great comments. “It’s the fever from the shot.” And “Our genes haven’t changed, so it’s got to be something in the environment.” BINGO. Hope Merck is listening.

Finally one Barnes & Noble simply ignored their own internal warehousing mistake that shows the books as not returnable to the distributor BCH when they are in fact returnable. Even the Ingram warehouse website shows them as returnable. The books are sitting in Pennsylvania at the Ingram warehouse, not being sent out to the B&N stores because of this error. Hoorah for stubborn community service reps who won’t take no for an answer and who simply order the books anyway (they sold out at the Charlottesville event last night and are ordering more).
But what a waste? Can’t someone at B&N Central correct the mistake so their readers can get the books??? Anybody at B & N listening?

Today Show and Washington Post have covered the chain of states where Merck is trying to legislate mandatory vaccination of 12 year old girls with new barely tested vaccine. This is the kind of power that drug companies use to take away from parents their right to decide. More White Lies.