Southern Festival of Books

Do you know who Kate Dicamillo is? She spoke at The Southern Festival of Books last weekend in Nashville, TN. I didn't recognize her name when I saw it in the Calendar of Events because I stink at remembering names in general, but I did recognize one of the books she wrote-- Because of Winn-Dixie. It is a wonderful book for kids about a lovable dog; a book that will make you both laugh and cry. I read it out loud to my daughter when she was ten and we did dip into the tissues from the kleenex box next to her bed. Kate's more recent book The Magician's Elephant is what brought her to the Festival. She spoke to an auditorium full of people and then took the time to answer questions from the audience. I have to tell ya, she's a funny person. I can see why her books do well. One thing she said that made sense to me is she writes at about 4:00 am because the critical part of her nature doesn't wake up until later.