Suddenly St. Charles...

St Charles Avenue, originally uploaded by kfoz.

A few weeks ago, I was in NYC presenting at the AWP conference. I've actually been so busy--and sick--that I haven't had a chance to mention it. While I was there I got a call from the PRC asking if I would be okay with a photo shoot on my porch for Preservation in Print, their publication. Since they did the renovation work on my house, I said yes, but I must have sounded hesitant, because the woman who called said that it would be easy, and also that I'd be interviewed, and so it would be a good thing. The last thing I wanted was to be interviewed, but I said yes because it seemed like the right thing to do

A week later, the photo shoot arrived and I discovered, as people descended on my porch in the lower Ninth Ward, that the photo was actually for St. Charles Avenue magazine, an upscale publication for people on the opposite side of town. Again, I didn't really care, but it also seemed clear that there would be no interview, whether I wanted one or not.

So I decided that I wanted them to include my pit bull Sula on the cover. I knew that this was unlikely to make the cut, but I mentioned that the person who'd called me said that I'd be included. And so they humored me, and sat Sula and I in the shade on the opposite side of the porch from everyone else. And Sula and I posed, pretending we didn't know we were going to be cropped out.

So here we aren't. Although, I'm pretty sure they included us in the full shot on the inside of the magazine.