Whether it’s twirling a sparkly baton, making a plate of deviled eggs for dinner on the grounds, releasing a pig onto the field during the rival school’s halftime show or clipping a giant bow in a little girl’s hair, writer Leslie Anne Tarabella knows how to celebrate life in the South.
Now, she has a new book “The Majorettes are Back in Town” that has hit the shelves and she’s sharing her stories with folks across the country.
Tarabella was born in Florala and raised in Pensacola, Florida. She currently lives in Fairhope with her husband and two sons.
She began writing her blog, the Fairhope Supply Company, and was quickly named a columnist in Gulf Coast Media’s papers before moving to AL.com, where her columns now appear in the Sunday editions of the Mobile Press-Register, the Birmingham News and the Huntsville Times.
Tarabella said she had been approached by several readers to consider putting a book together, so she started going about the process of trying to find a publisher.
“You send the book in and have to wait for weeks until they call you, which I was dreading,” Tarabella said. “Jan Karon had come to Fairhope a few years ago, and I got to emcee the event with her. She gave some great advice, which was ‘You go before the throne and you just ask for it.’ So, I thought maybe I should be bold and just go for it.”
Tarabella partnered with River Road Press LLC, a boutique publisher from New Orleans, to publish the book.
Tarabella said she’s overjoyed to be able to put a collection of her stories together as a book that she hopes her readers will enjoy.
“I think there’s something in it for everyone,” Tarabella said. “There’s stories about loving your family, your church, your life in a Southern town - but there are funny stories, too. There are stories about schools and about adults. I think it just touches on our lifestyles in the South, not just Alabama but things all over the South.”
Tarabella said she wants her book to be a reminder of the values and ideals that Southern families hold dear.
“There are things in this world that we need to remember are precious to us besides the nightly news,” Tarabella said. “There’s always a better tomorrow, and I think that’s what Southerners stand for. We are a people of hope, we are people who work hard and try hard to make a better way for our families, and even thought the news and the world may be negative and full of scandal, we focus on home and it fills us with joy and hope.”
The book is available at Tarabella’s website, leslieannetarabella.com, at Page and Palette in Fairhope and will soon be available on amazon.com for purchase.
