Friday's Odds and Ends

As the political race heats up in Texas most of the candidates are waging war on Obama or fighting to stop his war on Texas. Ahem... I will repeat what I said a few weeks ago. Tell me what you are for, not what you are against, be respectful of the office of the president, and, please, could we make this a campaign, not a war?

I am proud of my home state of Texas for many things, but ugly rhetoric is not one of them.

While you are reading this, I will be heading to Killeen, Texas for the Take 190 West Art Festival, one thing in Texas of which I am very proud. This is the fourth year I will take part, and it is always such a great opportunity to be immersed in creativity for a whole day. The annual event is part of the Killeen Salutes the Arts program and it is all about the art of painting, sculpting, writing, firing, molding, and many other artistic expressions.

Take 190 West is Killeen’s week-long salute to the arts and is a partnership between the Killeen Convention and Visitors Bureau, the City of Killeen, and the Killeen Independent School District.
Planned events for 2014 include:

• The Artists’ Preview Party - On Friday Evening
• Book signings by local, state and nationally-known authors - On Saturday, March 1
• A sculpture contest featuring professional sculptors from Texas and beyond - March 1
• The KISD student Art Show. An invitation-only preview party will be held on Friday, February 28,2014 from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.

The Saturday event will be open to the public free of charge.

This photo is from last year's KISD student Art Show, which is one of the best things about the fair. There are some incredibly talented young folks in the district and the work is fantastic.

One half of the exhibit hall is dedicated to the students, and the professional artists have booths set up in the other half. I am always glad that my daughter comes with me to take care of my book table, so I can go see all the wonderful art.

The Killeen Convention Center is a beautiful venue for the festival, and the authors are set up in the entry hall. There will be lots of writers there with a great variety of books for young readers, and not so young readers.

If you live close enough to Killeen to come by on Saturday, I know you would enjoy this festival, and I would love to meet you.

My other big news is that the e-book for Stalking Season, the second book in the Seasons Mystery Series is now live at Amazon. As soon as I have time, when I am not busy rehearsing for a play, I will get it up for all reading devices. I will have the good folks at Untreed Reads do that, but I have to do some formatting before sending it on to them. Meanwhile Stalking Season is available for Kindle and all Kindle apps. Thanks to Dany Russell for another wonderful cover.

Now to end on some fun. The following was taken from Great Clean Jokes. Please do click on the link to see a picture of Mildred and her friend. They are a delight.

“My memory is gone Mildred, so I changed my password to 'Incorrect.' That way when I log in with the wrong password, the computer will tell me… 'Your password is incorrect.'"

I'm getting ready to go to the "Take 190 West Art Festival" in Killeen, Texas this weekend. I have never been to the event before, but I've heard it is terrific and I'm really looking forward to it. The festival is free to the public and runs on Saturday, Feb 27th from 10 to 4. I will be signing copies of One Small Victory. Other authors will be there, too, and you can check the Festival Web site for a full list of participants.

In addition, there are lot of talented artists who will be exhibiting their work, and it is always fun to spend time with others in the creative arts. Some people believe that all artists: performers, painters, musicians, writers, sculptors, photographers -- share in one creative consciousness. There is no scientific data to support that theory, but I do know that I am much more productive in my work after I have spent a weekend with others of the creative bent.

If you are near Killeen on February 27th, stop by the Killeen Civic and Conference Center and meet all the artists and authors.