Meet Maura Beth Mayhew, a late 20-something red-headed public library director in Cherico, Mississippi, population approximately 5,000 located in northern Mississippi. Maura Beth has three things to accomplish before she is thirty (plus a p.s.).Right this minute, Maura Beth is sick with worry over the rumor that the Cherico’s “leadership” has little use for its public library and wants to use the library’s operating money to make improvements to the industrial park!
The Cherry Cola Book Club is then born to demonstrate to Councilmen Durden Sparks, Chunky Badham, and Gopher Joe Martin just how important a public library – in particular the Cherico Public Library – is to the community it serves.
Local radio personality Becca Broccoli began to advertise the Club on her morning cooking show; Periwinkle Lattimore offered half price desserts or free drinks to patrons showing up at her restaurant, The Twinkle, Twinkle Café, with a library card; and even Mr. Hannigan over at the Cherico Market got into the act with his “Attention, shoppers!” announcements.
Sure enough, the idea of terrific food sprinkled with more than a dash of literary conversation began to take hold in that tiny town. Besides, when folks began to hear that their LIBRARY might be shuttered for good, their good sense turned to smoldering anger.
People poured into the Library, bringing their grandmother’s recipe for tomato aspic with cream cheese or yeast rolls. The Club ate Becca Broccoli’s Easy Peasy Chicken Spaghetti, discussed "Gone with the Wind" and "To Kill a Mockingbird", and then enjoyed Maura Beth’s Chocolate, Cherry Cola sheet cake for dessert. And yes, that sly but single-minded Councilman Sparks was there also – keeping tabs on attendance and trying his best to outwit Maura Beth.
Eventually, more than half of the town’s registered voters signed petitions of protest. A huge crowd of citizens appeared to stand beside Maura Beth as she made her pitch for continued public library funding from the Town.
Would the Cherico Public Library live to serve the Chericoans another day? Would Miss Voncille and the widower Locke Linwood get together? Would Stout Fella survive his heart attack? How do you make Connie McShay’s Frozen Fruit Salad?
These and other mysteries of small town Cherico, Mississippi life will be made known to you as you zip through Ashton Lee’s delightful novel, The Cherry Cola Book Club which is to be published in March of 2013 by Kensington Publishing Corporation of New York. This book is suitable for all libraries and will be enjoyed by patrons of all ages.
Reviewed by Catherine A. Nathan, Director
First Regional Library
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Noooooooooooo!!!!! Don't give me ANOTHER promotional thing to worry about, please!!! 
Once upon a time I felt guilty for not signing up for all my author friends' newsletters. I was pretty sure I'd find out their exciting reports on either Facebook or the ACFW loop--or possibly a Seekerville post! But like most of you, I'm friends with so many awesome authors that my inbox could become permanently jammed with newsletters if I signed up for each and every one.
Next month is Speedbo here in Seekerville, so it’s not too early to start preparing. And one way to prepare is to examine your attitudes about the writing business. Because for the serious writer, that’s what it is--a business. As with any job, if you don’t put in the time, you don’t reap the rewards.
Okay, so many of us go to work in our jammies--and that’s definitely a perk in this business! But we still try to exhibit professionalism in our written communication, presentation materials, telephone manners, and responsiveness to editorial requests, right?
Nothing too exciting. I have a Bachelor's degree in English, which means next to nothing when it comes to writing fiction. Still, I took a bunch of creative writing classes and really enjoyed them. Before that, I dabbled in short stories here and there, but wasn't ready to try and make a career out of it. I wrote one screenplay in 2001 that advanced to the second round at Austin (and I'm about ¼ of the way into its novelization). I've always been a voracious reader, and I got really serious after participating in NaNoWriMo in 2006. Since then, I've published a couple of short stories in e-zines and one non-fiction profile in a local magazine. But I'm really just a guy who loves to read fiction and tell a story from time to time.
