I hope you’ll pardon the brief, personal, and therefore, uninteresting post today.

Last night, in addition to meeting with contacts and a small informal signing, I went to House of Shock in New Orleans. What an experience! You can see and read all about the House of Shock here: It has to be the largest, the best, and the most frightening haunted house attraction I’ve ever been to. It is so frightening that one customer actually died from fright. I kid you not. The staff is numerous and well-costumed, the lines are long, and after attending this, no haunted house could hope to compare.

During my return drive today, I met with several teachers, librarians, and a principal in Brookhaven and in McComb. The good news on that as a result of these visits is that I’m going to present a program at the Mississippi School of the Arts in the future, as well as the McComb, MS Public Library. There are a few other programs in the works as a result of my queries, but I’ll let you know about those as they are confirmed.

I was so impressed with the students at the School of the Arts. THOSE are my kind of people. And after viewing a dance class, talking to some creative writers, and seeing visual artists hard at work (the artists are taught by my good friend, Tito) I’d have to say that the brightest and most creative kids in Mississippi are likely to be at this school. I was most impressed! And three of my books are now in the school’s library! I wish Louisiana would have been bold and loved the arts as much as Mississippi did when it created this school. You can see and read all about the school here:

I just arrived home from my two-day trip, and I did not make plans for tonight. I’m overloaded with work anyway. Perhaps I’ll watch a movie or two, but whatever I do, I know my thoughts will be on Halloween–one of my favorite nights of the year.