A Holiday Treat!

I'm still not believing this. Today, I met one of my all-time favorite authors, Jan Karon. I had no idea that she was visiting Atlanta.  Yesterday afternoon while reading the AJC (Atlanta Journal & Constitution) I saw a note under Literacy Activities that Jan Karon would be at the Barnes & Noble Bookstore on Peachtree (about 30 miles from my home). I had a dilemna. I had a dental appointment scheduled for the same time as her visit, but I really, really love her books especially the Mitford series. My friend Kathy (of the quilted tote bag) is also a big Mitford fan. She calls us Mitford nerds. I gave Kathy a call. It didn't take any convincing for her to also drop her to-do list and head to Buckhead with me. I called the dentist this morning and rescheduled my cleaning. 

We arrived about an hour before the event. We were afraid there would be a line. Well, I guess everyone else was shopping because there were only a handful of die-hard fans there. We had plenty of time to chat with Ms. Karon. She is a delightful, gracious lady. She autographed our copies of Shepherd's Abiding (the Mitford Christmas book) even though she normally doesn't autograph at her book tours because of problems with carpal tunnel syndrome. The first photo is me with Ms. Karon (I wore my Christmas vest with snowmen like The Mitford Snowmen book) She is currently working on the second book in the Fr. Tim series. It will be set in Ireland. She told us the working title, but of course I don't remember it.

The second shot includes my friend Kathy. Ms. Karon's sister Brenda Furman lives in Atlanta. She compiled The Mitford Bedside Companion. Last night at her house, they read The Cajun Night Before Christmas. Well, both Kathy and I are Cajuns and read that to our students. Kathy even dresses as an old Cajun woman to read to students at her school. Ms. Karon and her sister convinced Kathy to read it aloud to them with her Cajun accent. Brenda had Kathy sign her copy. How much fun! This was truly a special time for me. A wonderful holiday memory!