Me with Dean Henry Strickland and Cassandra Adams
I am sorry I have been away from the website for so long! The last few months have been a crazy and exciting time for me. First of all, I have now (finally!) finished the first draft of Between Black and White, the sequel to The Professor. I am currently working on revisions to this story, which will take Tom and Rick to Pulaski , Tennessee to help out their old friend, Bocephus Haynes. I am very excited about this story, and can’t wait to see what it looks like after the revisions are finished.
As always, I enjoyed talking about The Professor with new people.
Anyway, a lot of great things have been happening with The Professor and I hope to udpdate everyone in the next few days, starting with today’s entry about my fantastic trip to Cumberland Law School on January 22, 2015 to speak to the Cumberland Book Club. This event actually hatched during my signing at the Alabama State Bar Annual Meeting in Destin back in July. During that great event, I had the pleasure of meeting Cassandra Adams, the director of the Cummunity Mediation Center and Public Service Program at the Cumberland School of Law. Cassandra purchased a signed copy of The Professor, and emailed me a few days later, telling me how much she enjoyed the story. Then, a few weeks after that, Cassandra told me about the Cumberland Book Clubs program, where faculty members at Cumberland choose several books to read each year and students and faculty get together for a discussion of that book. Much to my delight, Cassandra indicated that she had chosen The Professor as her selection! Even better, she asked that I speak to the book club after time had been allotted for them to read the book.
While Daddy gave his talk, Allie had to re-charge with her favorite snack!
On January 22, 2015, my wife Dixie and I (and our four year old daughter Allie) came to Birmingham for this event, which was held in the Friendship room at the Cumberland School of Law library. This event had special significance for Dixie, as Cumberland School of Law is located on the campus of Samford University, where Dixie graduated from college.
Anyway, there were approximately twenty to thirty people in attendance, including the Dean of the law school, Dean Henry Strickland. I had a wonderful time discussing the story of how The Professor came to be published, and also giving a few sneak previews about Between Black and White. I especially enjoyed the question and answer session.
Cassandra gives me a plaque commemorating The Professor’s selection for the book club.
After the talk, I signed copies of The Professor and was delighted to receive a signed copy of “From Maverick to Mainstream, Cumberland School of Law, 1847–1997″ by Cumberland law professors
Lastly, I can’t help but add that Cassandra actually brought Professor cupcakes to this event, which were out of this world. We could not have asked for a better day!
Professor cupcakes!