Regal and Raw

I spent yesterday afternoon practicing at the church where I'll be performing with Rose Lindsay Pfaff ... Southern Fried Women, the musical ... IF AT ALL POSSIBLE, YOU MUST COME HEAR THIS! An amazingly beautiful presentation, Rose brings absolute tears to my eyes each time her fingers float across the piano. My rough, raw, Southern stories mixed with the elegant and regal music of Rose Lindsay Pfaff is nothing short of ... magic.

I cannot describe to you the overwhelming gratitude I possess for people who have come together to make this coming Thursday night's performance a success! The list is endless. So many have donated, time, money, food, and endless hours of preparation.

I'm convinced it's not their love for the arts, but because so many of them know and love Rose Lindsay Pfaff. It seems, all Rose needs to do is ask and people respond! Therefore, my thanks to her for picking up the book and reading these stories ... I cannot thank her in a simple email, thank-you card, or blog. All I can do is my best work for her. She directed and choreographed this production. She, along with the Books and Arts committee of the Women's Professional Forum, produced it. And it's amazing.

I feel myself entering a new realm ... and I wonder if other authors ever feel that way. I don't always know where this life is taking me, this life of writer, speaker, author ... Most of the time it's grueling work, nose to the grindstone, days and nights alone at the computer ... for months at a time. But occasionally, the sun comes out and we see the fruits of our labor.

This Thursday evening, I am but a small part of a beautiful presentation that bears the title of my book. Of course, I read clips, bits, and pieces throughout, but it's the music ... the glorious music that's been lovingly placed around the words that has made me proud to be a part of such a production.

I'm realizing the vast congregation that love the Southern culture and it's unique speech, music, and the lives of their ancestors. I watch folks cling to it as I speak to them about the Southern woman and those she loves. I observe it in their eyes, and the more I speak it is the one thing that's confirmed to me over and over again. The South is not only a place to live; it's an art form, a culture unto itself, a way of life that will never die.

It will never die, because of the writers who write about it. And because of the musicians, like Rose, who keep the old songs of the South alive. A blend of regal and raw, like nothing you've ever seen.

October 5th, at 6:30 p.m. promises to be another page in my memory book. I hope you'll make it out to Holy Episcopal Church on Greene Street in Greensboro for this event ... but if not ... stay tuned ... because there will be a DVD in the future!

"Lord, Lord ... who'da ever thought, this ole' barefoot, poor, hillbilly gal would end up readin' her stories center stage? mmm-mmm."

Blessings to you and yours.