I had the honor and privilege of being one of the many authors to participate in Kathy L. Patrick’s Pulpwood Queen’s Girlfriend weekend (http://www.pulpwoodqueen.com). For those of you not familiar with the Kathy or her work, she’s promoted literacy through her book club chapters, not only in the U.S., but in at least five other countries. She’s a vibrant, wonderful lady who happens to love Tarzan and Africa, and this weekend looked to be exciting, fun, and very unusual - with a chance to meet new readers and authors.

The problem is that I’m a hermit at heart ... I’m not even on Facebook. I’d be more comfortable with being on "GetOutaMyFacebook". I always flashback to when I taught junior high and high school and expect a parent-teacher conference. (“Hello,” I say, “my name is Suzanne Arruda.” “Oh,” says the lovely other person. “Oh, I love your mystery books in Africa, but I was wondering why you gave my daughter a B on that last test.”) You get the idea. I needed to do something to bolster my courage, so I brought Mr. YumYum, a stuffed zebra along.

Mr. YumYum promised to be my best friend and help me out at the “Come as a Barbie Fashion Show” event. I came as Safari Barbie and Mr. YumYum graciously let me take not one, but two shots at him with my cap rifle. Yes, I carried a real knife and a toy rifle to this event – but it was in Texas! They know how to deal with it! In the image, you can see that Mr. YumYum and me in Safari Barbi garb were ready for action. Mr. Yum Yum was a great hit, the weekend was wonderful, and my greatest thrill came when N.Y. Times bestselling author Mr. Pat Conroy actually bought my latest book, Treasure of the Golden Cheetah. How cool is that?