Decatur Book Festival Highlight: Joshilyn Jackson

It's time for another DBF feature!  In case you were not already aware, the schedule for Decatur Book Festival was posted this week.   This meant a good two hours spent making meticulous notes and planning my every move at DBF.  I only exaggerate a little.  I did take notes and I do have my own festival schedule planned out.  Thankfully I will have Luke with me this year as my pack mule dedicated and loving spouse, and he can go to signings I'll miss.  One author I will be sure to see, after missing her last year, is Joshilyn Jackson. 

Jackson is one of my all time favorite contemporary Southern authors.  She writes about Georgia and Alabama and small town life in a way that brings out all my bittersweet Southern nostalgia.  Jackson's South is full of small towns and people who know everything about you - except the few skeletons you and your family have hiding in the closets.  Her themes revolve around those secrets and around growing up and leaving and growing up and staying.  I would also say that Jackson's most successful theme, and the theme that draws me back to her books again and again is home: particularly the roots and connections that come with home - both good and bad.  I don't think you need to love the small-town South the way I do to enjoy her books, though.  Everyone can identify with what it means to be home, how we are always connected to our families, and the things in the past that can come back to haunt us or help us as we grow up.

As you can probably guess, Between, Georgia is my personal favorite, but I highly recommend all of Jackson's other books as well.  She's scheduled to appear Saturday morning at 10:00 and I will be there with bells on (I'll be the one who is grinning like a maniac standing next to a grouchy-but-incredibly-gorgeous man with wild hair who just rolled out of bed).  Oh wait, unless you are a crazy stalker and in that case, I'll be in Delaware and you should look for me there.

If you want to follow Joshilyn Jackson or check out any of her social media sites they are as follows:

Website and Blog (that I can personal certify as hilarious)

Facebook

Twitter