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Tomorrow my husband and I are flying to Philadelphia to attend the 16th Annual African-American Children’s Book Fair. It’ll be a reunion for me and my co-authors Felicia Pride and Karen Valentin. The weekend will also be about touring Phili. My husband is a former resident so he’s planning to show me around. Between hitting the eateries and visiting cool neighborhoods, I’ve got to find time to run up those famous art museum steps, Rocky-style.
I know it’s a cheesy thing all corny tourists do, but I must. I embarrass easily, yes–but corny doesn’t embarrass me. Now as for my husband…he’ll be the guy standing at the foot of those steps pretending not to know me.
If you’re going to be in town, stop by and say hello to me at the book fair. I’m excited to meet all of the cool children’s author slated to be there. Here are the deets:
SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2008- COMMUNITY COLLEGE OF PHILADELPHIA - THE GYMNASIUM - 17TH SPRINGGARDEN STREET, PHILADELPHIA, PA. 1:00-3:00PM - (215) 878-BOOK

Today is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day back home in the States, but it’s an ordinary working day here in Bermuda. Still, my husband and I benefit from the holiday because it afforded a friend from home to spend an extra day with us. It was a quick holiday weekend visit, but we got in a lot of quality time. Thank goodness we got the car just in time. I was behind the wheel hitting the roads all weekend. We took our guest out to dinner and over to the beach among other places. Thanks to these past three days, I’m feeling more comfortable driving here. Not once did I stray from the left side of the road. Only a few times did I drive too close to shrubbery lining the narrow roads (my poor husband in the passenger seat got smacked by a few palm leaves in the process). No harm, no foul. I learned to drive near the center of the roaad…and hubby learned to keep his passenger window up.
Now that our guest is gone, I’m settling back into my to-do list. It’s an exciting time. On Thursday, I was featured in the “Book Worm” section of Bermuda’s daily paper, The Royal Gazette. The paper fetaured my photo on its cover, so that made for an interesting day getting recognized by strangers on the street.

It felt great hearing such positive feedback and encouragement from Bermudians and other residents. The people of this island have been so welcoming and kind to my husband and me. We’re proud to be residents.
And in less than two weeks (on Feb. 2nd), I’ll be signing copies of HALLWAY DIARIES at the African-American Children’s Book Fair in Philadelphia (215-878-BOOK). I hope to meet you there.
Well, that’s enough babbling for today. Time for some listening…and some reflection. On the play list is none other than Dr. King. Head to youtube.com for great speeches by the great Dr. King. A few favorites: the “Mountaintop” speech, and the “Drum Major” speech. Truly stirring and inspiring.
Thank you for your legacy, Dr. King.

My days of catching the bus are numbered. This week we’re getting a 4-door hatchback—one that’s tiny enough to handle the narrow, winding roads here in Bermuda.
I won’t be giving up the bus entirely—I’m sure it’ll be the convenient choice now and then. We live right across from the last stop of one of Bermuda’s bus lines. I usually find the bus sitting idle when I walk down the steep hill from our place. When I’m behind schedule (which is most days) I have to run down that hill (sometimes in heels) to catch it. Same M.O., different location. I’m sure my old neighbors in Englewood, NJ aren’t missing the sight of me running clippety-clop to catch the bus to NYC.
Anyhow, with my new wheels I plan on exploring more of the island—starting with the supermarkets. My husband returned his rental scooter and purchased his own. Too bad the new bike has even less room for our groceries. In the rental we could squeeze in four or five bags. Now we’ll be lucky to get one in its mini trunk space. Plus, I’m excited to drive to the airport to pick up any future house guests. (BTW, my husband’s good friend is flying in from DC for the MLK weekend and then a week later, my gurl Naomi is flying in from the ATL!)
But let me not get ahead of myself. I’ll leave you with one of my favorite Bermuda bus memories:

A few weeks ago, a group of teenage guys got on the bus with a boy who looked to be about 9. The iPod-plugged teens got on first and then swaggered to the back of the bus. The little boy then stepped on and attempted to give the bus driver a paper bill to pay for his fare. “No bills,” the female driver told him. The boy looked to the teens for help but they were slow to respond. I think they were embarrassed that the boy cost them cool points. Not getting any help from his older companions, the kid turned and stepped off the bus. “Wait,” the bus driver said, reaching for her purse under her seat. “You know we don’t take bills and your Momma knows that, too!” (It’s a small island—everyone practically knows everyone).
It was my first time ever witnessing a bus driver do this.
Also searching for coins for the boy were the bus’ seven passengers (not including the teen guys)—including the dude with the Elton John shades, a middle-aged woman with the low-cropped gray ‘do, the thirtysomething mom of a staring toddler, and my bespectacled new-comer self. No one shouted, “I’m late—let’s get the bus moving!” or “Go buy a stick of gum and then catch the next bus!” like I’ve heard many times on my NYC-bound bus to work. But then again, I actually was running a bit late, so…I was glad when the matter was resolved and the boy was granted entry onto the bus. How’s that for a warm, fuzzy story?
Still, I can’t wait to hop into our new car!

Happy New Year to you all. Let’s get this party started right.
I haven’t made any resolutions, because I’ve found that those don’t work for me. But I do want to start off 2008 expressing my gratitude. Thank you to all who supported HALLWAY DIARIES and thanks also for the feedback. My dear friend Jocelyn generously donated mutiple copies of HALLWAY DIARIES to the Central Rappahannock Regional Library’s seven branches in Virgina in memory of my beloved mom Viviane Rigaud. The donated books have affixed bookplates with my mom’s name on each of them. A heartfelt thank you to both Jocelyn and her husband Cliff. I also want to thank Lydia who hooked up my website and blog. She’s a talented designer/writer/business woman/human being. And an extra special thank you to my wonderful husband for all of his help and encouragement.
In this new year, look out for good news about my upcoming book/TV projects. For starters, I’ll be headed to Phili in a few weeks (Feb. 2nd) to attend the 16th Annual African-American Children’s Book Fair (215-878-BOOK). You can catch me there signing copies of HALLWAY DIARIES along with my fabulous co-authors, Felicia Pride and Karen Valentin. If you’ll be in the Phili area during the first weekend in February, do stop by. I’ll be sticking around all weekend to tour the city of brotherly love. My husband is a former resident so he’s excited to show me around.
Hope to see you there!