Y'all are getting a break today. I have a new book out--Swan for the Money, latest in the Meg Langslow series, in which Meg copes with competitive rose growing, combative black swans, and belted Tennessee fainting goats. So I was going to devote my blog today to heavy BSP, with a side (buy my book) of subliminal (buy my book!) suggestions (you really need to buy this book!)
But I got the news from the folks at Minotaur, my publishers, that Swans will debut at #34 on the New York Times extended bestseller list, so apparently I need to thank a whole lot of readers who already bought the book! And in celebration, I'm going to skip the heavy BSP and tell you about something cool I saw on the day of my launch party: Oxford picket fences.
Mystery Loves Company, the bookstore that hosted my launch party, is located on the Eastern shore in the town of Oxford, Maryland. I was about to say picturesque--it is--but I wonder if the people of Oxford get a little tired of picturesque, along with quaint and scenic. Oxford is all that, and I was looking forward to having a few hours before my signing to stroll around Oxford and take some pictures. (At right: a typical stretch of Oxford picket fence).
Kathy handed me a little map and suggested that while I was in town, I might want to take a look at the town's newest sight: the Oxford picket fence project. Visitors to many cities around the world have seen the public art projects that were part of or modeled after the Cow Parade, in which local artists and other residents decorate life-sized fiberglass cows that are then displayed throughout the city as public art and, later, auctioned off to benefit various charities. Some cities have adapted the project with a local twist--Washington, D.C. had painted donkeys and elephants, and Baltimore went with crabs.
The Oxford Business Association decided to hold a similar fundraising project, but on a smaller scale—after all, it's a peaceful town with a few hundred people. And the life-sized fiberglass cows are pretty pricy for a small town. So after casting about for a local alternative, someone came up with the idea of using one of Oxford's unique architectural details: the Oxford picket fence. Which looks rather like an ordinary picket fence with the addition on top of each picket of an onion dome with a hole through the center.
No one knows when these charming fences first appeared in Oxford. Some local historians speculate that the first fences were created by seagoing carpenters who saw the onion dome shape during their travels to Russian, India, or the middle east. The earliest known photos of the town, from the mid 1800s, show them already in place, so they've graced the streets of Oxford for at least a century and a half.
The Oxford Business Association recruited a local woodworker to create a number of small stretches of fences, local artists and residents signed up to paint them each with a different locally inspired theme, and if you walk through the streets of Oxford this summer, you can inspect the results. Many of the local businesses can give you a small map showing where the fences are. And on October 10, the association will hold auction off the fences at an event to be held at the Oxford Community Center.
I'm not sure I found all the Oxford picket fences on display, and they might be adding more before October. If you're looking for a great way to spend an afternoon, you could do worse than to head down to Oxford . . . stroll around town seeing the sights, including the fences . . . eat at one of the waterfront restuarants . . . and maybe drop by Mystery Loves Company for a good book.
And in case you can't get to Oxford, the bookstore does mail order, and here's a gallery of my Oxford fence photos.
*does happy dance about new Meg Langslow mystery*
Also, Coeur d'Alene--where my parents live--does something similar. With life sized moose, of course. :-)
Posted by: Miriam Forster | August 02, 2009 at 07:57 PM
Donna,
Congratulations on making the NYT extended list with your new book (it deserves to be there). The book is absolutley wonderful. And I'm glad to see that the characters continue to grow as time progresses. It keeps them from becoming stale. And I love the fainting sheep and the belties.
PS While I love getting to read about Meg's adventures every year, I still miss Turing Hopper.
Posted by: Elaine | August 03, 2009 at 11:24 AM
Donna, huzzah on making the NYT extended list!
And I love the fences; I still have fond memories of discovering the "Taxi Crab" with you in Baltimore!
Posted by: Dana Cameron | August 04, 2009 at 10:03 AM
I'm with you on the happy dance, except that I WAS doing so good about not blowing my budget on books (well, hardcover books) and holding out to go book shopping until right before I left on vacation in two weeks and NOW I HAVE to go buy the new Meg tonight. See, I HAVE to buy the Meg books the SECOND they come out, even if it is in hardback (I have book space issues too) because I read them over and over and over again. It's like hearing from family that you love. I probably wouldn't even go crazy having Meg's family. Except on the puffin island. Maybe.
Posted by: CilleyGirl | August 04, 2009 at 02:46 PM
"Swan for the Money" is great! I ran out and bought it as soon as I found out it was available.
I re-read books too (and also have a space problem with books), and I end up re-reading this series a lot!
I loved the whole black-and-white thing, although I agree with Meg that it would be kind of weird in real life. It was fun to picture, though.
I'm trying to think of what would be easier if you wanted everything to be only in 2 colors. For just nature, brown and green occur a lot (mud and trees). For animals, well, brown would work well for many types of animals. :)
Posted by: Kristina L. | August 04, 2009 at 05:55 PM
Miriam, I guess moose do make more sense than cows on Coeur d'Alene!
And thanks, Elaine. Don't worry; Turing's not gone but sleeping.
Dana, I still love the Taxi Crab! And congrats to you on the Macavity and Anthony noms!
CilleyGirl, sorry about the budget, but I do hope you enjoy the book, and I'm very flattered whenever I find out my books are on someone's must-buy list.
Kristina, during one brief phase of my youth I tried to decorate in black and red. It didn't last long, thank goodness. Extremism of any kind, even if it's only decorating extremism, is very hard to live with--even for the person responsible.
Posted by: Donna Andrews | August 05, 2009 at 06:40 AM
I loved the book! (Still officially have about 30 more pages to go, but I had to skip ahead to skim the ending so that I could go to bed ) But now I'm trying not to anxiously await the next book to find out (I'll try not to spoil here so this may sound weird) about "the bag" and the Princess.
I'm already planning which Meg books to take on my vacation to re-read while I'm with my parents. They (the books) are like a security blanket -- they either reassure me my parents aren't so bad, or let me pretend for a while that I have a big noisy family instead of just being an only child
Posted by: CilleyGirl | August 05, 2009 at 12:01 PM