{"id":8276,"date":"2018-12-21T10:00:32","date_gmt":"2018-12-21T16:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/?p=8276"},"modified":"2018-12-21T09:34:29","modified_gmt":"2018-12-21T15:34:29","slug":"the-making-of-a-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/2018\/12\/21\/the-making-of-a-book\/","title":{"rendered":"The Making Of A Book"},"content":{"rendered":"

Years ago, a nephew\u2019s high school graduation, I\u2019m up in the nosebleed section of the Civic Center, numbed with boredom.\u00a0 <\/span>The caps, the gowns, the ritual, the same speeches that I heard, Future of America, Aim for the Stars, Seize the American Dream, all that stuff.\u00a0 <\/span>I go home, open a blank page, title it Advice To Seniors, what-I-wish-I\u2019d-have-been-told, and then waited, for the first thought\u2026<\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t Chase Money.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>I meant it then, I mean it now.<\/p>\n

A few paragraphs later was this line, preaching to strangers, preaching to me, \u201cAt the end of life the question of merit is, \u201cDid I ever know who I was, and did I live a true-to-me life?\u201d<\/p>\n

Who am I?\u00a0 <\/span>I am thinker, who happens to be a writer.<\/p>\n

The thinking, the writing, it feels like a fluid, makes perfect sense, that God\u2019s gifts build up a hydraulic pressure if we don\u2019t release them.\u00a0 <\/span>For years, I wrote three Bedtime Stories a week, an easy 150 a year, part pleasure, part or-else.<\/p>\n

When Are You Gonna Do\u00a0<\/span>A Book, They\u2019d Ask \u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Compiling these stories into book form is INTENSE.\u00a0 <\/span>Written over years, ebb \u2018n flow, it all gets condensed when you dine upon them, one after the other.\u00a0 <\/span>One sentence in one story, my father talking, \u201cI feel good, but you never know what lil thing is growing inside you.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>His hand touched the spot.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

There are plenty light ones\u2026 a stinging caterpillar falling into my mother\u2019s bosom as she is singing a hymn at an outdoor church function\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2026hoping we\u2019ll still be hungry in heaven, because I\u2019m hoping my little grandmother will meet me, peck my cheek, and whisper, \u201cI knew you were coming.\u00a0 <\/span>Let me fix you a plate.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>A plate of what?\u00a0 <\/span>My last name is Fontenot.\u00a0 <\/span>Rice \u2018n gravy! \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Four Sections<\/strong><\/p>\n

The book starts with Essays.\u00a0 <\/span>First one, Ain\u2019t In The Bible But Should Be, me wondering why \u201cGod grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference,\u201d didn\u2019t make it into the Black Book. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How \u2018bout a few less Bob begat Bob Jr, and replace it with some common sense, \u201cDon\u2019t borrow money to buy a wallet,\u201d and \u201cBe yourself; everyone else is already taken.\u201d<\/p>\n

The second section is called Riffs.\u00a0 <\/span>For many years I wrote a story on Sunday, Wednesday and Friday nights, due at \u201cpillow time,\u201d 10ish.\u00a0 <\/span>Some nights it was easy.\u00a0 <\/span>Others\u2026sometimes I\u2019d have five documents open and none worthy.\u00a0 <\/span>Many times, it\u2019s 8:45, 9:00, got nothing, and I\u2019d open up one more document, type the first word that came to mind, and let it riff.<\/p>\n

One story like that was \u201cLess\u201d, just put that at the top and here they came, one after the other, \u201cPut me down for Less expectations, which might lead towards being Less judgmental.\u201d<\/p>\n

Writers tend to write about what they know.\u00a0 <\/span>The third section of the book is titled My Louisiana, some sentiment, some humor, everything from work ethic to hug ethic.\u00a0 <\/span>One favorite is The Ceremony Of Coffee:<\/p>\n

\u201cMy grandmother had a big serving tray.\u00a0 <\/span>For every guest there was a cup of black coffee, already poured.\u00a0 <\/span>In the center of the tray was a bowl of sugar and milk, and one stirring spoon, resting in a cup of water.\u00a0 <\/span>Each guest picked among the mismatched coffee cups, added sugar, cream, the stir, the first sip, the ummm, all while my grandmother held the tray before them.\u201d<\/p>\n

In The Lullaby of Cajun French I wrote about being part of the generational cutoff line, our elders thinking French was obsolete, why waste time teaching it, and so it was the secret language of adults.\u00a0 <\/span>Tender as the years pass, the ones-who-could dying off, and our ears perked for the rare hearing, and here\u00a0 <\/span>I am, at the edge of my father\u2019s hospice bed, \u201cOoooh what I\u2019d give, when the mind retreated from adult English to the safety of childhood French\u2026the nurse tells us, hearing-is-the-last-to-go, to have been able to speak French to my father, tell him, Go on Dad, we\u2019ll be okay\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n

The Padre Section \u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the most honorable things I\u2019ve ever done is to be the voice of my father\u2019s end.\u00a0 <\/span>The Padre section begins with We May Never Pass This Way Again, driving down Maplewood Avenue, cars this way, cars that way, but coming toward me, could-it-be, could-it-be, yes it was, my father in his little car, beaming at me with love on his face, going the other way, both of us watching the brake lights in our rear view mirrors.\u00a0 <\/span>It had been so long since that happened.\u00a0 <\/span>Would it be the last?<\/p>\n

It was.\u00a0 <\/span>Many stories later, comes I Guess This Makes It Official, my return to the cemetery, a week later, dressed in blue jeans, with a red handkerchief in my back pocket, just in case, standing at the foot of his grave, the dates all done, thinking, \u2018I guess this makes it official\u2019\u2026<\/p>\n

Dedications\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The first page of Uncle P\u2019s Bedtime Stories, Volume 1, is titled With Gratitude.\u00a0 <\/span>Who to thank first?<\/p>\n

\u201cThanks to God.\u00a0 <\/span>For life, for still living, for putting some tools in the toolbox.\u00a0 <\/span>Everything is Yours.\u00a0 <\/span>I present my words and thoughts and labor into Your hands.\u00a0 <\/span>Thy will be done.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Years ago, a nephew\u2019s high school graduation, I\u2019m up in the nosebleed section of the Civic Center, numbed with boredom.\u00a0 The caps, the gowns, the ritual, the same speeches that I heard, Future of America, Aim for the Stars, Seize the American Dream, all that stuff.\u00a0 I go home, open a blank page, title it [&hellip<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":279,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[58],"tags":[59,894],"yoast_head":"\nThe Making Of A Book - BestOfSwla<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/2018\/12\/21\/the-making-of-a-book\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Making Of A Book - BestOfSwla\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Years ago, a nephew\u2019s high school graduation, I\u2019m up in the nosebleed section of the Civic Center, numbed with boredom.\u00a0 The caps, the gowns, the ritual, the same speeches that I heard, Future of America, Aim for the Stars, Seize the American Dream, all that stuff.\u00a0 I go home, open a blank page, title it [&hellip\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/2018\/12\/21\/the-making-of-a-book\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"BestOfSwla\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/bestofswla\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-12-21T16:00:32+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-12-21T15:34:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/uncle-p-inet.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"610\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"250\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Pierre Fontenot\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Pierre Fontenot\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/2018\/12\/21\/the-making-of-a-book\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/2018\/12\/21\/the-making-of-a-book\/\",\"name\":\"The Making Of A Book - 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