I'm thrilled to share that my picture book biography of Delta blues legend CeDell Davis will become...well, a book!
Astra/Calkins Creek is a perfect home, as they've released some of my favorite recent PB bios, especially focused on musicians. I'm so excited to work with Carolyn Yoder and the Calkins Creek team on this project.
My hope with this book is to celebrate and honor the music and life of CeDell Davis, who upended (in the best way) how I and many others listen to and play music.
A special thanks to the many people who knew, played with, and loved Mr. Davis (and Robert Nighthawk and Isiah Ross) for being so kind and helpful to me while researching this book. I'll go into more depth later, but for now - a huge and heartfelt thank you!
And a big thank you to my agent, Stephen Fraser, for his encouragement.
Here's a few photos as well I took while visiting this past year's King Biscuit Blues Festival in Helena-West Helena, AR, where the spirit of Mr. Davis is alive and well.
Cedell Davis mural in downtown Helena-West Helena
Entry at the Delta Cultural Museum - a must-visit!
Mr. Davis's headstone at the Magnolia Cemetery, next to Robert Nighthawk's
Robert Nighthawk display at the Delta Cultural Museum
Jimbo Mathus's killer blues band
Greg and Zakk Binns' band - incredible
Jimmy Burns and his band
L-R: Kent Burnside, Jimmy Burns, Roger Stolle, Jimbo Mathus, and Charlie Musselwhite Illuminating talk, hosted by Roger Stolle from Cat Head Records
And here's Mr. Davis in fine form, playing for a classroom in the 1980s:
Excited to share that my MG fantasy manuscript, THE BOOK CRAWLERS, won the 2023 SCBWI Work-In-Progress award for Middle Grade!
THE BOOK CRAWLERS pitch:
When outcast seventh grader Bartleby Goode discovers he’s a book crawler - a protector of the written word who can magically travel into books to help save them - he must use his newfound gift to battle an ancient, evil destroyer of words named Lexiconis, who has been summoned by her remaining followers to rule over a bleak, story-less world - unless Bartleby and his misfit crew of fellow crawlers can stop her first.
About the SCBWI Work-In-Progress (WIP) award:
The SCBWI Work-In-Progress (WIP) Award assists children’s book writers and illustrators in the publication of a specific project currently not under contract. One winner per category will be selected.
Congrats to all the winners and everyone who submitted!
For Performer Magazine, I wrote about Jeff Tweedy's new book: World Within a Song.
Give the review a read here, and check out the new book too - it's a breezy read with great anecdotes with a love of music shining through.
The incredible team at Books for Maui have put together an auction to raise funds for those impacted by the wildfires, and it's an honor to offer an auction item to support it.
Check it out (along with many other amazing items!), or support the relief efforts directly
*Update that the winners were recently posted on Vivian's blog, and my story placed 16th out of 756 entries - pretty neat! The entries were really incredible - amazing to see the stories that can be told in only 50 words.
Here's my #50PreciousWords story - dedicated to the middle-school student I saw bravely speak up at a recent library board meeting.
Thank you to Vivian Kirkfield for hosting such a vibrant, inspiring event - can't wait to read everyone's 50 words!
Library Board Meeting, Monday, 7:04 PM
by Jason Peterson
(50 words)
Nails bitten down.
Foot jackhammering.
Last in line to speak.
Fight or flight.
Ahead, words explode:
“Censor!”
“Ban!”
Pushback, too.
Tension.
Recognizing classmates’ parents.
Been to their homes -
birthdays;
trick-or-treating.
Now - they avoid my eyes.
Finally, my turn.
Lowering the mic.
Lower.
Breathe.
Shaky - but strong.
“I need these books.”
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