Five Yea Hurricane Katrina Anniversary

Hard to believe it's the five-year anniversary of Katrina.  The storm that took 1,835 lives and caused an estimated $81 billion in property damage. The city lost New Orleans lost 595,205 people prior to and shortly after Katrina. While much has been done in New Orleans, thanks to the strong spirit of the city and it's inhabitants, there's still so much to be done.  The parishes which were leveled, such as The Lower 9th Ward and even Lakeview, where some of my novel, Shaman Circus, takes place still have a long way to go.  For every house that's been built since the hurricane, thanks to people like Habitat for Humanity and Brad Pitt's Make it Right foundation, five houses are either demolished or left standing  in lots full of six foot weeds.  Thee are few local businesses in the area, no food stores, no restaurants.  The idea of a community is gone, although those who loved their neighborhood and had the courage to return hang in there. 
A lot of grassroots councils have been established as well to rebuild areas such as one near Lake Pontchartrain, where recovery has come a long way due to survivor's efforts.
Treme has seen some improvement, thanks to its musical heritage, but even there, houses still remain abandoned, the markings left behind by search and rescue faded, but still there to tell the story every time someone walks by.
The schools are fewer but better - same with the hospitals.  And while New Orleans resilience is amazing, the fact that we haven't come much further in the government's role of handling such tragedies, is unacceptable.  No one has been held accountable for the lack of support and mismanagement of funds and equipment, necessary for survival, which never reached the Gulf Coast.  Two years after Katrina, I saw for myself in Lumberton, Miss., thousands and thousands of FEMA purchased trailers which were just dumped on acres of land, never reaching those needing homes, even though they were only an hour and a half away.  People were still living in tents in their drive ways.  I'll never get over my anger at that sight, knowing how people were suffering, let alone the waste of taxpayer's money where what we paid for some trailers would have been enough to rebuild a small house.
So it, was with a heavy heart, and tears that I watched some of the newscasts this weekend.  Wishing we had wised up on a national level. Especially since the area is being hit with another massive blow form the oil spill, when recovery form the first tragedy isn't anywhere near complete. For tourists, life is good in New Orleans.  The French Quarter is intact, the Saints are bringing hope to the city, but for many families, it's still a nightmare to get beyond.  I give credit to the people of the area - they have pushed on through the miles of red tape and the years of struggling.  I hope they can continue on setting an example for the rest of the country, teaching us, we can't take anything for granted.  Everyday is a pivotal day we should cherish, a day which could change in a matter of hours - as it did for them.  

Shaman Circus now $3.19 on Kindle

I just received this notice from my publisher: 

"All Things That Matter Press is so confident that you will love our authors and their books we lowered the price of all of our Kindle Editions and E-Books to just $3.99. Don't have a Kindle? You can download a free PC, Mac, IPhone, BlackBerry, or IPad version from Amazon.com. Want to see all of our Kindle titles? You can go to Amazon.com; under SEARCH, find Kindle; then, where it says GO, type in All Things That Matter Press.

Or go and check out my magical realism novel, Shaman Circus,  set in New Orleans, post Katrina.

Shaman Circus book signing at Milagro Studios

I've been invited to do a book signing for my magical realism novel, Shaman Circus, at Fais do do, A Celebration of All Things New Orleans to be held at Milagro Studios during the First Friday Gallery Crawl on June 4, 2010.  I'm very excited as Milagro Studios (previously Vitti Tile and Pottery Gallery) is one of the places where I've shown my art in the Pendleton Arts District in Greenville,SC.
Milagro is located centrally in the Pendleton Street Arts District at 1263 Pendleton St.  It's a delightful gallery with a stunning courtyard and offers a selection of mosaics, art, jewelry, pottery,tile and ironwork by resident artists: Suzanne Vitti, Kay Larch, Eric Benjamin and Ryan Calloway.
 Stop by! There are many events planned for the evening.
I'll have copies of Shaman Circus for sale and for those who already own a copy, please bring them so I can sign them for you. I'll also have some of my poetry chap books and prints available and may even display a selection of the oil paintings I created of scenes from Shaman Circus.
Shaman Circus was published by a great small press in Maine at All Things That Matter Press (ATTMP). Thanks to the hard work of  publisher and editor Phil and Deb Harris, Shaman Circus is now available from their website or in print or kindle from Amazon.com.

Synopsis of Shaman Circus:
In New Orleans following Katrina all bets are of; all masks dissolved. "Don't forget the sham in shaman," Jacob Laguerre lies to his new apprentice, Alex Hampton. When Alex, a twenty-eight year-old anthropology professor goes on field-study to post-Katrina New Orleans, he enters a chaotic and altered landscape where he's psychologically, physically and spiritually challenged by the sarcastic mentoring of the mulatto, Laguerre, a current day voudou shaman. Both Laguerre's and Alex's psyches struggle through stages of transition and rebirth as their lives are enmeshed with a group of quirky fringe-dwellers, as colorful and eccentric as the New Orleans itself. Lily Hampton, a sculptor, torn between her love for both men; Mavis, an artist who spent nights in her attic, but survived the floods; Perry Laguerre, Jacob's hermaphroditic twin, and Bad Jacqui, lesbian owner of a French Quarter bar: are pulled together to form the cynical but ultimately idealistic team who vow to stay in post-Katrina New Orleans. They all follow a taut path between madness and redemption in the no man's land of Refrigerator Town as they assist in the aftermath and healing of both the city and those who remain.

In addition, my author page is now up on Amazon.

Review of Shaman Circus from Jen Knox, author of Musical Chairs

Jen Knox, author of Musical Chairs,  recently reviewed Shaman Circus on Goodreads and Amazon

rated it:  5 stars

Read in March, 2010

Plot-wise, Gray's book is unique and believably unbelievable (am I making sense here?). The setting is New Orleans, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The characters are desperate and emotionally fragile, and yet their culture is so incredibly strong that they are never hopeless or weak. What I'm trying to say here is that the book's plot is out there, filled with magic and voodoo, otherworldly things, and yet it's centered on spiritual questions, questions that seem a commonality in the characters' minds. Perhaps in the readers'?

Shaman Circus released!

I recevied word from my publisher on January 29, 2010 that Shaman Circus has now been released.  You can read more about it at the ATTM Press website.  I'm very excited!  Due to being iced in here in south Carolina, I haven't had a chance to  celebrate this yet. It's  been a hectic weekend with family birthdays, new job, lots of sledding, cookies and cocoa.  There's an ice storm in the book, so I guess this is appropriate.  

Now there's much work to do and fun things to  plan. I'm building my schedule with plans to attend the World Horror Con in May 2011.
 The World Fantasy Con is under consideration, but since its backed up to two nearby cons, I'm not sure. The SCWW Conference in South Carolina and Dragon Con in Atlanta,GA are within 2-4 hours drive.

About Shaman Circus:
In New Orleans following Katrina all bets are off; all masks dissolved. "Don't forget the sham in shaman," Jacob Laguerre lies to his new apprentice, Alex Hampton. When Alex, a twenty-eight year-old anthropology professor goes on field-study to post-Katrina New Orleans, he enters a chaotic and altered landscape where he's psychologically, physically and spiritually challenged by the sarcastic mentoring of the mulatto, Laguerre, a current day voudou shaman.



Both Laquerre's and Alex's psyches struggle through stages of transition and rebirth as their lives are enmeshed with a group of quirky fringe-dwellers, as colorful and eccentric as New Orleans itself. Lily Hampton, a sculptor, torn between her love for both men; Mavis, an artist who spent nights in her attic, but survived the floods; Perry Laguerre, Jacob's hermaphroditic twin, and Bad Jacqui, lesbian owner of a French Quarter bar: are pulled together to form the cynical but ultimately idealistic team who vow to stay in post-Katrina New Orleans.
They all follow a taut path between madness and redemption in the no man's land of Refrigerator Town as they assist in the aftermath and healing of both the city and those who remain.

I'll start planning some regional readings and book signings as well, at various venues: bookstores, art galleries, coffee shops.  I'm pretty bummed out that The Open Book, one of our longest running locally owned book stores will be closing. The Open Book supported indie small presses, local authors and sponsored SCWW writer's meetings.They often hosted frequent signings, and served the book lovers of Greenville for over 40 years. It's a cruel blow to our community to lose another local bookstore where we knew the owners by name. The Open Book now joins another favorite bookstore, Bentley's, in closing its doors. Sad tidings for sure.  Many of book lovers in Greenville are grieving. That leaves only three locally owned bookstores in  Greenville and those aren't quite the same as The Open Book. 

But on a brighter note, I've been overhwelmed with the support and community of the ATTM Press and its authors.We have a very active online group and the consistent efforts of Phill Harris at ATTM to support authors as their books go to market.  I've met a wide range of authors online through the press who offer tips and ideas it would take me many months to research. What a serendipitous gift I never expected when I first found ATTM and knew they were the right home for Shaman Circus. I was fortunate enough they thought so too.