{"id":548,"date":"2015-02-10T03:02:23","date_gmt":"2015-02-10T03:02:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=548"},"modified":"2015-02-20T03:16:49","modified_gmt":"2015-02-20T03:16:49","slug":"sweet-roam-alabama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=548","title":{"rendered":"Sweet Roam, Alabama"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"14354_10203319762303666_380448132010716361_n\"<\/a>
photo by Paula Benson<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

They had me at \u201crolling tailgate party.\u201d There it was in plain print in the invite. Please join us down here in Alabama, the organizers said,\u00a0and don\u2019t worry about Friday night icebreakers because Margaret\u2019s rolling tailgate party had things covered. Yes, I admit envisioning some mechanical lovechild of liquor cart meets Bama game, but that only added to the intrigue. Plus there would be talk of books. So it was with much excitement, and a taste for a gin and tonic, that\u00a0last weekend I drove the three hours to Birmingham. No, there wasn\u2019t a liquor cart with grill and sauce attachment.*<\/p>\n

They did way better, Margaret and Tammy and all the volunteers who worked their\u00a0tails off.<\/p>\n

They put on a wonderful weekend.<\/p>\n

FEB. 7: MURDER IN THE MAGIC CITY<\/a><\/h6>\n
HOMEWOOD LIBRARY, Birmingham, AL<\/h6>\n

It is a scientific fact that crime writers–the modern ones, anyway–are wonderful people. Wherever they gather in numbers will be a lively place, and so it was in Birmingham. I was welcomed straight out by big smiles and friendly points toward a normal stock of wine, booze and mixers. Among others, I had a chance to meet my panel chief Ron O\u2019Gorman<\/a>, Larissa Reinhart<\/a>, and Sam Morton<\/a>. This, on top of a Killer Nashville<\/a>\u00a0all-star panel reunion with Paula Benson<\/a>, Warren Bull<\/a>, and Debra Goldstein<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Saturday broke crystal blue, and so mild you expected Sinatra to stroll by crooning \u201cIt Might as Well Be Spring.\u201d<\/a> The panels did a great job walking a full house through craft stuff: voice, location, short vs. long forms, and the like. Michael Guillebeau <\/a>was hilarious–no surprise, having gotten to know him–and Craig Johnson<\/a> might consider a one-man-show career if the writing thing doesn\u2019t work out for him<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Thank you, thank you, Margaret for having me.<\/p>\n

\u00a0FEB. 8: MURDER ON THE MENU<\/a><\/h6>\n
WETUMPKA CIVIC CENTER, Wetumpka, AL<\/h6>\n

Wetumpka loves its crater<\/a>.\u00a0And they\u00a0should–the hundred million year-old impact literally shapes the town, from its horseshoe ridgeline to the scored and jagged rockscape to their communal link of past, present and future.\u00a0The crater\u00a0is there, and it is cool.<\/p>\n

The weekend’s second leg was another beautiful day, another welcoming town, another great talk by Craig Johnson. My panel–led by straight-shot-of-awesome Terry Farley Moran<\/a>\u00a0and starring the brilliant\u00a0Michael Kardos<\/a>–was up first, and we had a weighty topic: the motive for murder. We talked through such dark matters and how to structure a novel (or story) to maintain the mystery. I speculated all various motives might eventually have a common root in the need for control.\u00a0As for\u00a0mystery, I suggested to dribble out the clues and make the protagonist earn each one the hard way, like trading safety for knowledge.<\/p>\n

A big thanks to Mayor Willis, the Wetumpka Library<\/a> and our coordinator\/emcee Tammie Lynn. Y’all nailed the Southern hospitality, and I\u2019m looking forward to\u00a0another visit. And a\u00a0tour of your crater.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

* Honestly,\u00a0no rolling\u00a0bar and grill combo\u00a0is\u00a0for the best. It sounds kind of dangerous.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  They had me at \u201crolling tailgate party.\u201d There it was in plain print in the invite. Please join us down here in Alabama, the organizers said,\u00a0and don\u2019t worry about Friday night icebreakers because Margaret\u2019s rolling tailgate party had things covered. Yes, I admit envisioning some mechanical lovechild of liquor cart meets Bama game, but… Continue reading Sweet Roam, Alabama<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[78,6],"tags":[80,3,79,5],"class_list":["post-548","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-appearances","category-this-whole-writing-thing","tag-magic-city","tag-short-stories","tag-wetumpka","tag-writing","entry"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3CG0W-8Q","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1092,"url":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=1092","url_meta":{"origin":548,"position":0},"title":"I Have No Idea if There Were Communist Go-Go Parties (or, Balancing Research with Creative License)","author":"rtmcontrol","date":"October 23, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"I have written Communist go-go dancers. Not in a comedy, either. Technically, they were recruits among honors-level university students, but they broke into go-go dancing as the Party\u2019s party night deepened and the drinks mounted. The setting was early '70s Budapest, and the Happiest Barracks in the Iron Curtain reveled\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Crime, Mystery & Suspense"","block_context":{"text":"Crime, Mystery & Suspense","link":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?cat=10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/robertmangeot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/10\/1455-004-93B46537-150x150.gif?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2430,"url":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=2430","url_meta":{"origin":548,"position":1},"title":"“Spirits Along the One North Road,” Photo Journal Edition","author":"rtmcontrol","date":"June 23, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"In the fall of 2017, I hopped on an Air Canada flight to Quebec. My sole purpose: to see Quebec. Because I hadn't. Felt a need to go if I was to say I experienced this world. If I got a little writing done, great. \u00a0 I got a little\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Crime, Mystery & Suspense"","block_context":{"text":"Crime, Mystery & Suspense","link":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?cat=10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/robertmangeot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/06\/IMG_3571-1024x768.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1172,"url":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=1172","url_meta":{"origin":548,"position":2},"title":"Mangeot of the Somewhat Nordlands: Among Les Fran\u00e7ais, 2018","author":"rtmcontrol","date":"April 29, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Lately my traveling alter ego Mangeot of the Nordlands has chronicled expeditions through Norway, Quebec, and now France. Try not to judge him too hard. He means well. 13 April -- Tours We arrive among Les Fran\u00e7ais (meaning \u201cThey who put sauces on anything\u201d) at their chief aerodrome of Paris.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "France"","block_context":{"text":"France","link":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/robertmangeot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/IMG_4904-300x225.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":330,"url":"https:\/\/robertmangeot.com\/?p=330","url_meta":{"origin":548,"position":3},"title":"Behind: “Sparks to the Bear’s Hide”","author":"rtmcontrol","date":"April 1, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"JANUARY 2013, CRITIQUE GROUP, NASHVILLE \u201cIf there\u2019s one thing I have no business doing,\u201d I told them, \u201cit\u2019s writing a spy story.\u201d It was\u00a0a sharp winter\u2019s day, and around our pub table the critique group nodded readily. A little too readily. 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Great or small, a lightning coup or decades in the making, needed change or epic tragedy. Revolution, for better\u00a0or worse,\u00a0is essentially human. The idea of a revolution wriggled into my brain some time back. 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