Peachtree Street, NYC (aka Atlanta) photo courtesy of DW

Terra Elan McVoy, author, former Program Director for the Decatur Book Festival, and all-around geeky cool person, will be holding a Book Release Party at 7pm this Friday at Little Shop of Stories for her fifth novel, Criminal. This is a tough young adult story of a young woman who falls in love with the wrong guy, gets in over her head, and pays a heavy price. Criminal received deservedly superb notices, including a coveted starred review from Publishers Weekly, glowing comments from Creative Loafing, and excellent write-ups from bloggers (including here, here, and here). Terra hopes to see you all there!

This Week:

Lauren Myracle, author of Life of Ty: Penguin Problems, Sarah Mlynowski, author of Whatever After: Sing or Swim, and Leslie Margolis, author of One Tough Chick and Vanishing Acts: A Maggie Brooklyn Mystery, Wednesday, May 8th at 4:30pm, Little Shop of Stories, free.

Josh Hanagarne, author of The World’s Strongest Librarian: A Memoir of Tourette’s, Faith, Strength, and the Power of Family, Thursday, May 9th at 7:15pm, Decatur Library, sponsored by Georgia Center for the Book, free.

Terra Elan McVoy, author of Criminal, Friday, May 10th at 7pm, Little Shop of Stories, free.

Art Smith, author of Art Smith’s Healthy Comfort: How America’s Favorite Celebrity Chef Got it Together, Lost Weight, and Reclaimed His Health!, Sunday, May 12th at 1pm, Southern Art restaurant, free.

Rhonda Riley, author of The Enchanted Life of Adam Hope, Monday, May 13th at 7:15pm, Decatur Library, sponsored by Georgia Center for the Book, free.

Life Happens: YA Tour with Lurlene McDaniel, author of The Year of Luminous Love, Elizabeth Laban, author of The Tragedy Paper, and Lauren Morrill, author of Meant to Be, Tuesday, May 14th at 7pm, Little Shop of Stories, free.

I love this idea!  FM Fats points to this article in the New York Times about the growing number of growing municipalities that have their own poet laureate.  Here’s a blurb…

Fresno joins a rapidly growing list of cities and towns across the nation with their own official bards; in just the past few months, not only have Houston and Los Angeles established poet laureateships but so have Boise, Idaho; Key West, Fla.; McAllen, Tex.; and San Mateo County, near San Francisco.

For many poets, and those in the poetry business, the popularity of poets laureate — those who labor over words to sing a community’s virtues or plumb its psyche in an age defined by Twitter messages — is a pleasant surprise. Why now, though, remains something of a mystery.

Come on.  Decatur is home to the current U.S. Poet Laureate.  We have a whole dang festival that would serve as the perfect backdrop for the annual announcement.

What do you all think?

Dear Daren Wang…

LBJ writes in…

Could you please help this puppy find a home?

We found him in Decatur Heights yesterday. He’s a friendly puppy with tags that say he has his shots, but no identification information. No microchip. We cannot keep him for more than a day, if that, but he’s a keeper if anybody can claim him or can take him in. 404/862-3234

I had noticed a sizable backup on Church Street the other morning, but didn’t know the cause – because I had high-tailed it in another direction!

But yesterday Scott F wrote in…

What is going on with the traffic light at Church & Lucerne (at the entrance to Glenlake Park)? Traffic was backed up to North Decatur yesterday morning and this morning, and was backed up almost to Commerce yesterday afternoon. It looks like either the green for Church has been shortened or the green for Lucerne is being triggered for no reason.

I passed the note along to the City Manager Peggy Merriss and Asst. Manager David Junger.  Ms. Merriss replied hat Mr. Junger would contact the city’s traffic consultant and look into the timing.  (The city doesn’t currently have control of traffic lights in Decatur – DeKalb does.  That could all soon change, but for now, we’re still at the mercy of the county to an extent.)