You are traveling through another dimension — a dimension not only of sight and sound, but of mind. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That’s a signpost up ahead: your next stop: Newnan, Georgia. Our story begins with a montage of a scenic southern town. We see locals eating at the Redneck Café, kids playing football outside the local high school (Lewis Grizzard’s alma mater), and finally come to rest at the Heritage School. It’s a pretty campus, but the community within harbors a dark secret. Everyone is talented. Everyone. There’s the jazz musician, the illustrators and painters, the political cartoonist, the writer who’s daughter just became creative director at a major network. It’s humbling indeed.

But you know what’s even more humbling? When you give a bunch of high school design students a couple hours to come up with cover designs for one of your books, and their designs turn out better than the ones you spent a month on. I’m never doing that project again.

But in spite of everything, it was a fine trip. I ate home-made grits and biscuits and got a chance to hang out with some really cool students. My sincere thanks to all the kind folks at the Heritage School for showing me the true meaning of southern hospitality.