“The ramblings and grumblings of author Ad Hudler”

Girlfriends' Weekend
Saturday, January 2, 2010

When I presented at a book festival in Atlanta this past year I was lucky to meet a celebrity of sorts that I'd heard much about: Kathy "Kat" Patrick. Kat owns the world's only bookstore/beauty salon, located in the little town of Jefferson, Texas. Over the years she's become the hair stylist of choice for southern female authors and also has created a network of book clubs so vast that she's been featured on Oprah and in The New York Times. She's also very funny.

In Atlanta, she said, after watching me present, "You are officially invited to the Girlfriend Weekend this year."

At first, I thought she was hitting on me ... I mean, after all, I was wearing my very nicest straw cowboy hat and female-friendly purple shirt. But then she and fellow southern authors River Jordan and Shellie Rushing Tomlinson filled me in on the weekend: It's a huge celebration of authors putting on skits and talent shows and such ... all attended by members of book clubs from throughout the south.

So, I'm off in my truck to east Texas for The Girlfriend Weekend, Jan. 13-17...as a token male. (Details at this clever link) And after that, I'm going to do some exploring in Texas and parts of Oklahoma, with another writer friend, Nancy Zafris, editor of the Flannery O'Connor award for short fiction. I'm going to be gone a month, rambling about the west in my truck. I'll keep you posted on my travels as I work on my VERY SECRET NON-FICTION PROJECT...which I am not talking about in fear of jinxing the works.