This is a public service announcement

I have news. Big news. (No, it does not involve gestation.)

Many of you may already know, but hubster and I are Bama bound and this time, not just for a brief vacation. Edd and I are leaving Louisville, Ky., at the end of the month and moving to my hometown of Birmingham, Ala.

Oddly enough, even though he’s from Virginia, searching for a new gig in Birmingham was actually music guru’s idea. I guess he just couldn’t get enough of that Southern sweet tea.

So I’m leaving my fancy schmancy job as an arts and entertainment journalist to teach high school English.

I know what you’re thinking: WTF? Is she crazy? Maybe. But let me explain a few things.

I won’t be teaching at some school where students have to go through metal detectors every morning. May God bless teachers who do take on those types of jobs, but I for one am no Joe Clark. Instead I’ll be teaching at a school for the best and brightest students of the state, students with great talents in fine arts and math and sciences, students who actually want to learn.

It’s the school I attended during my high school years. I know I am the woman and the writer I am today largely because of that school so I’m excited to have the opportunity to give back to an institution that changed my life.

I’ll be teaching American literature and, fortunately, this is a school that encourages its English teachers to go beyond vocabulary words and grammar rules and show students just how empowering a command of the English language can be and how inspiring literature has been for centuries.

Don’t worry. My days as a writer are far from over. I will continue to freelance and I hope this change will allow me to make GeorgiaMae.com even better.

I even see GeorgiaMae happy hours and other events on the horizon. So Birmingham readers, get ready to party.