Jim Halley

Kathy and I had a great time at the Bouchercon writers conference in New Orleans. My last visit to a Bouchercon in New Orleans got me started on my journey to write Murder, Well Done and the various panels and discussions with fellow authors is always inspiring. Fun fact — I was eating at Johnny’s Po-Poys in the French Quarter when author Michael Connelly and his entourage walked in. I had a brief discussion with him and he told me that the late great Elmore Leonard had a previously undiscovered novella out, so that made my day. And of course, I could embellish the story by telling Kathy that Connelly and I were eating lunch at Johnny’s Po-Boys, though we weren’t exactly eating together.

Exploring St. Simons Island

Kath and I have been to St. Simons several times, but this trip, there was something new to do — a tree spirit scavenger hunt. It was a lot of fun finding and photographing the various carved tree spirits into the city’s beautiful live oaks. It gave us a chance to explore parts of the island that we haven’t been to, such as Redfern Village and Gascoigne Bluff Park. The city’s many live oaks provide a beautiful canopy. We also took time out to check out the Avenue of the Oaks, formerly the entrance to to Retreat Plantation, now the entrance to Sea Island Golf Club. We also took in the Hamilton Plantation Tabby Slave Cabins.