AT THE KENTUCKY BOOK FAIR -
Doors open tomorrow. The organizers of the Fair expect perhaps 2,000
readers and book collectors to make their way through Frankfort’s Convention Center before the day ends to view the new work of the 180 authors who are participating. It’s Kentucky’s premiere literary event and one of the oldest and largest book fairs in the country — this year celebrating it’s 30th anniversary in the picturesque capitol city. All profits go to support libraries and reading programs in the state.
One of the big challenges, of course, is to get high enough visibility in all that wealth of offerings to attract attention. Luckily, THEO & The Mouthful of Ashes has a slight head-start. A page one Sunday feature in a recent edition of the Frankfort State Journal, a short piece on Lexington’s WLEX-TV evening newscast, a reading and appearance at a Frankfort Woman’s Club meeting, and a follow-up piece several days ago in the Journal has already generated a fair amount of local interest. Hopefully, word of mouth will amplify that. The story spins off the still unsolved murder of a local widow brutally bludgeoned to death with a flatiron and her mouth stuffed full of ashes. The killer has never been found and no explanation has ever been uncovered for the mouth full of ashes. Unraveling those mysteries is part, but only part, of Theo’s challenge in this new work — with is the prequel to Theo’s Story.
It is a beautiful morning here in the Bluegrass, clear and pleasantly cold and a cloudless sky. I’m off momentarily to check out our placement on the floor of the Fair — a good location being second only to having a really good book on offer, I’m told.
grew up in Kentucky and learned his craft there. He now lives with his wife in Pinehurst, North Carolina. He is the author of 