A Literary Tea with Haywood Smith

There is much to praise about the community in which I live, and one of the qualities I most admire about Coweta County is its commitment to public libraries. In 2008, we celebrated the opening of the brand new Central Library, above. And just last week, a former Carnegie Library downtown (circa 1904) wrapped up months of renovations with a grand re-opening and is now serving as a reading room/library once more thanks to local preservationists. On Wednesday, I had the pleasure of visiting the Central Library for a Literary Tea with Georgia author Haywood Smith, whose books include "Queen Bee of Mimosa Branch," "The Red Hat Club," "The Red Hat Club Rides Again" and "Wedding Belles."

One of Haywood's books was reviewed (favorably) by one of our writers in a recent issue of Newnan-Coweta Magazine, and I purchased her newest book, "Ladies of the Lake," and look forward to reading it. Haywood, shown here, told tales related to her husband of 30 years leaving her for a stripper, as well as the unexpected blessing of getting bitten by a rabid raccoon last year. (The resulting treatment cured her arthritis, and she is pain-free for the first time in years. Imagine!) Since I haven't yet read her books I don't know yet if I'm a fan of her work (although I fully expect to be), but I can definitely say I'm a fan of her!

The Literary Tea is free to the public, believe it or not, so I happily sampled some of the tea they had prepared ...

... and nibbled on finger sandwiches ...

... and tiny little savories ...

... and cream puffs and pecan tassies, all while a most delightful author entertained the audience (and perhaps unknowingly encouraged this aspiring novelist!).

Getting to spend the afternoon at a new library, enjoying some new tea foods, meeting a few new tea friends ... I ask you, does it get any better than that?