Great Opportunities for all at NCWN-West Bookfest

NCWN-West is holding a Bookfest

Where: Moss Memorial Library   26 Anderson St, Hayesville, NC 28904

When: Saturday, March 24, noon until 4:00 PM.

Who is invited: Everyone!!

ADMISSION: FREE TO ALL

Ten or more authors, members of NCWN-West, will be on hand to sign books, to talk with the public about publishing and marketing, and to give tips and advice based on their own experiences in the literary world.

Participating authors are eligible for drawing for one year's paid dues to North Carolina Writers' Network.

Drawings for door prizes will be held  throughout the afternoon including a free writing class at Writers Circle around the Table in Hayesville, NC and free editing by Carol Crawford of up to thirty pages of your writing.

Refreshments will be offered.

Speakers include:
 Deanna K. Klingel: author of  books for young and young-at-heart readers. Deanna’s first published book, Just for the Moment: The Remarkable Gift of the Therapy Dog, 2010, was inspired by her own golden retriever therapy dogs and is a collection of moments that the dogs made a difference in other people’s lives.

Carol Crawford: Poet and author of Habits of Mercy, Poems about Daughters and Mothers. She is owner of Carol Crawford Editing,

 Polly Davis: Writer, author, college professor, mother of two, and world traveler. Her recent memoir is Stumbling Toward Enlightenment: A Wife's Thirty-year Journey with Her Green Beret

 Tom Davis: A writer, publisher of the Old Mountain Press, and 30 year military veteran. Tom’s memoir covers it all!.The Most Fun I Ever Had with My Clothes On.

Lisa Turner: Newspaper columnist and author of House Keys: Tips & Tricks from a Female Home Inspector. This book won Writers' Digest award for best self-published eBook.

Carol Crawford, editor and writer

Lisa Turner, award winning author

Polly Davis, author

Tom Davis, writer and publisher

Deanna Klingel, award winning author

Contact Glenda Beall, glendabeall@msn.com with any questions or for more information.

Local Author Deanna Klingel publishes new book, Spirit the Tiny White Reindeer, with Progressive Rising Phoenix Press

Progressive Rising Phoenix Press is proud to announce that Spirit the Tiny White Reindeer was released August 5th, 2017. This charming Christmas book, suitable for children of all ages, is filled with delightful illustrations by the talented Steve Daniels and rhyming text by award-winning author Deanna Klingel.

The book is a new holiday classic to be enjoyed season after season by children, parents, grandparents, teachers, and caregivers. Targeting the real meaning of the Christmas, the Christmas Spirit, the theme teaches the importance of keeping the Christmas spirit alive year round. The message is easy to grasp, and the lilting rhyme is one that children can recite and memorize on their own. It is the perfect seasonal or gift for any occasion and can be passed down from generation to generation.

"The world needs the gift that talented author, Deanna Klingel, brings us in this refreshing visit to Santa's workshop where virtues are valued, and a tiny misfit reindeer is welcome. This adorable reindeer, who personifies true Christmas Spirit, is a charming addition to each family's holiday traditions."-- Cathy Gilmore, award-winning children's author and ministry founder of Virtue Work Media.com.


Deanna Klingel, award-winning author of children's books, YA novels, and short stories, has lived many places with her childhood sweetheart husband Dave, but they now call the North Carolina mountains their home. The couple enjoys visiting their seven grown children and their families. Deanna K. Klingel often visits schools, libraries, and book stores. She is a member of NCWN-West.

It was a great "Day for Writers", a NCWN-West event, at Sylva, NC, May 6, 2017

North Carolina Writers' Network-West's "Day for Writers", at the Jackson County Library, Sylva, NC, on May 6, 2017, proved to be a success. The conference was well attended, and many members and non-members of NCWN-West enjoyed the professional writing workshops.

Program Coordinator Glenda Beall

NCWN-West's Program Coordinator Glenda Council Beall, and professor/writer/and NCWN-West's representative for Jackson County, Catherine Carter kicked off the event. There were seven workshops offered at this conference. Presenters included, Katherine Stripling Byer, Terry Kay, Catherine Carter, Tara Lynne Groth, Deanna Klingel, and Gary Carden.

Katherine Stripling Byer

Katherine Stripling Byer's workshop was entitled, "Lifelines: letting another poet's work help revitalize ours". In this workshop, participants brought a copy of a poem by a poet whose work they admired and went to time and time again, and held clues for that person, Students then used these clues to modify a poem of theirs that needed to be energized, and re-evaluated in terms of its poetic elements.

Terry Kay

Terry Kay's workshops were: “The Things Dr. Epps Didn’t Teach Me”, which addressed basic writing techniques Kay described as the DNA of writing and, "Questions and Considerations, Issues that Writers might have that go beyond the typing of words".  Kay discussed the practical application of writing, such as the value of rhythm, the imperative power of verbs, the sense of voice, and some smoke and mirror tricks that work.

Catherine Carter

Catherine Carter's workshop was:  “ Free Verse Isn’t’: Sound and Structure in Free Forms”,  as in writing free verse, writers still have to make choices, as there are decisions to make regarding structure. Carter and her classroom participants explored some tightly crafted free verse poems, then wrote and shared some of their own, using devices that were discussed in this workshop.

Tara Lynne Groth

Tara Lynne Groth's topic was: "Why Authors need bylines in magazines and how to make that happen". This workshop focused on how an author's bylines in magazines and newspapers could help attract literary agents, grow their writer platform, aid in book marketing, craft a perfect query letter, build authority, and produce income. 

Deanna Klingel

Deanna Klingel's workshop was: "The Merry Go Round of Children's Literature". Klingel discussed how to recognize the types of children's literature, the myths about writing for children, and the writing process for Child Lit and how it differed for each kind of Child Lit. She also went over questions to ask your publisher before signing a contract and addressed how to market Child Lit.

Gary Carden

Gary Carden's topic was "Folk Drama", its origin at Chapel Hill, NC. and his exposure to folk drama at Western Carolina Teacher's College classes. He ended his presentation with a discussion of how his work defines the purpose of folk drama as exemplified by Paul Green and Fred Koch. 

Tom Davis

There was a Marketing and Publishing panel, at the end of the day at the conference. Participants were: Tom Davis, publisher (Old Mountain Press), Deanna Klingel, author, Tara Lynne Groth, marketing expert, and Glenda Beall, author and teacher.  The panel was moderated by Staci Lynn Bell, poet and former radio personality.




This event was planned by Glenda Council Beall, program coordinator for NCWN-West, with the help of several volunteers. The volunteers were: Marcia Barnes, Catherine Carter, Merry Elrick, Joan Howard, Kathleen Knapp, and Joan Ellen Gage. A special thanks goes out to Newton Smith, NCWN-West's treasurer for managing the business end of the conference.

Karen Paul Holmes, Deanna Klingel, and Janice Moore were influential with marketing this conference.

Jessica

We want to express our appreciation  to the Jackson County Library staff for all of their wonderful help in planning, setting up and tearing down.If we had need of anything, they were right there with it.

Thanks, Jessica!







Here are some photographs of the volunteers, our marketing team, and our treasurer:

Kathleen Knapp and Joan M. Howard

Glenda Council Beall and Marcia Barnes

Staci Lynn Bell (right) with Tara Lynne Groth

Merry Elrick

Catherine Carter

Janice Townley Moore

Deanna Klingel

Karen Paul Holmes

Newton Smith

Photos by Joan Ellen Gage.

Progressive Rising Phoenix Press announces the release of SPOKES, a novel by Deanna K. Klingel

Progressive Rising Phoenix Press has released Deanna K. Klingel's YA novel, Spokes. Spokes is about  a Catholic girl and a Jewish boy training for a triathlon, who search for clues to solve the mystery of a hit and run killer. Along the way they discover the importance of truth, friendship, and faith. 

Klingel writes primarily, not exclusively, for young adult readers. She has thirteen books published and others in the que. In addition, one of the picture books is also in Spanish, and there are teacher/classroom study guides for two historical fictions. Many of the books have received recognition and awards. Two of her short stories were contest winners. She's a member of SCBWI, ACFW, Catholic Writers Guild, and NCWN. She blogs twice a week at booksbydeanna.com, and travels with her books across the South and beyond, appearing at schools, museums, and events. Her books are widely distributed and are available wherever books are sold.

Klingel is a member of North Carolina Writer's Network-West. She will be hosting a workshop at the NCWN-West's A Day for Writers, at Sylva, NC, on May 6, 2017. Ms. Klingel's topic will be: "The Merry Go Round of Children's Literature". She will discuss how to recognize the types of children's literature, the myths about writing for children, and the writing process for Child Lit and how it differs for each kind of Child Lit. She will also cover working with illustrators and finding the proper publisher for your work. Klingel will go over questions to ask your publisher before signing the contract , and will address how to market Child Lit.

Links for registration and the schedule for A Day for Writers, are here:
http://netwestwriters.blogspot.com/p/blog-page_13.html
http://netwestwriters.blogspot.com/p/v-behaviorurldefaultvmlo.html

Writers and poets seem to have one question these days. NCWN-West will answer on December 12, 2015 at a Panel Discussion in Hayesville, NC.

Wally Avett

Deanna Klingel

“How do I get my writing published?” And then they have another question. “How do I sell my book?”

We hope to have some answers for them on Saturday, December 12, 2015 from 1 – 3 p.m. at Moss Memorial Library, 26 Anderson Street, Hayesville, NC.  No charge to attend.

We will have a panel of three novelists and me, Glenda Beall. Cherokee County resident, Wally Avett, journalist and author of four novels, Deanna Klingel, of Sapphire, NC, author of nine books for young and young at heart readers, and Tom Davis, who lives in western NC, an author who also owns Old Mountain Press. Each of these writers will have a story to tell about their publishing experiences and the way they promote their writing careers.

Glenda Beall, moderator of the panel discussion

Recently I asked Scott Owens, well-published poet and teacher from Hickory, NC to share his publishing experiences and his ideas on marketing and publishing. He publishes a new book of poems about every two years. His latest is from Main Street Rag Press. 

Scott Douglas, owner of Main Street Rag Press, was generous with his answers to questions I posed to him on these topics. He has built his small press into a well-established business with some of the best poets on his author list. He once told me that he publishes books for people he is confident are good readers who can promote their books. That is one thing a writer will not get from a small press – book promotion. They don’t have the staff or time to do that. It is up to the author to build a readership and promote his work.

Kevin Watson, founder of Press 53, in Winston-Salem, NC  answered my questions as well and gave me great insight into what it takes for a small press to accept your manuscript and publish your book. 

Press 53, which opened in 2005, quickly began earning a reputation as a quality publishing house of short fiction and poetry collections.

With all the information from Scott Owens, Main Street Rag and Press 53, I will be able to speak to those who want to publish poetry books as well as short fiction.

Today, writers are often in a hurry to get their first book out to the public. They can do this by paying for the publishing or printing themselves. Tom Davis helps people self-publish, and his website fully explains what a writer needs to know about that process.

We ask that everyone hold their questions until the end when we will have a question and answer session. Nothing is more irritating to the audience than people who interrupt the speakers with personal questions.

We will have a short break when audience members can talk with the panelists.

We hope all local writers will mark December 12, 2015 on their calendar. Our speakers will have their books for sale and will be happy to sign them for you.

This event is sponsored by the North Carolina Writers’ Network—West, a program of the state literary organization, the North Carolina Writers’ Network.

Three Autumn Poems by Deanna Kingel

Piedmont Autumn

A scent in the air
Freely wafting
No longer smothered under a blanket of humidity and labor’s sweat.
It’s still hot.

Long days of summer’s white hot light
Shift to shorter days of dawn and dusk

The scent haunts.
Rolls of hay
Bales of straw
Stubbled fields of corn
Pumpkins simmer in the field
The lonely watermelon begs for more time, clings, tenacious, to its withered umbilical vine, tethered forever to the season.

Needles once supple and green, drop like rain into rusty heaps
Dry and brittle under the tall pines that give life to the Piedmont.
Leaves, months ago buds of youthful anticipation
Sway, wrinkled and dry, a final tango with summer
Until a traitorous wind out of the North cuts in.

Box turtles burrow deep beneath the privet.
Monarchs and migrants all gone.
The Piedmont is quiet.
Waiting
To be stirred by the cold hand of winter.

Ninety Minutes, Nine Days

Ninety minutes ago I left my home
Winding and curving my descent to I-40 Eastbound where I’ll spend much of the day
Tires on the pavement, already monotonous
Passing Asheville I glimpse a parting view of our mountains
Deep purple silhouette
From every ridge white wisps of sprite-like cloud reach upward
Absorbed into the new day

Rain clouds torn apart reveal ragged patches of blue
Like a lacy shawl over the chilly shoulders of the Blue Ridge.
I feel the magnetic tug.
This vision will be mine nine hours from now when I unpack my car
The magnetic pull will nudge every day I am away.

Nine days from now in late afternoon
I will pass this place again on I-40 Westbound
Passing Asheville my first glimpse of our mountains
I’ll know that in my absence fall arrived in full
The silhouette painted crimson red
Hickory and Poplar pin gold brooches to the breast of our mountain.

She is stunning.
The magnet pulls from the core of the mountain to the inner core of me
Tires on the pavement hum
Near breathless with anticipation
Winding, curving my ascent begins
Back up to the plateau I call home
Hidden deep in the Blue Ridge

Morning Mist in the Gap

I pass Cumberland Gap early in the day
I hear the haints say s-stay s-stay
I see them rise into the air
Thin wisps of fingers
Come, come if you dare

I see Dan’l Boone hiking the ridge
Whistling a tune
Leading pioneers
Unaware of doom

Women, children, adventurous men
Haints in white gauzy attire
Walking, creeping, crawling, falling
Down into the ridge as they tire

Cherokee haints pass slow in grief
Translucent hands raised
In disbelief
Kneeling, praying, dying, along the clouded ridge
Knowing not what’s across that bridge.

The sun rises warm and releases the haints
To stillness and silence from their secret place
To return in the night and hide in dark
Until daybreak when they wander again

Deanna K. Klingel, Author

Booksbydeanna.com

NCWN-West at Festival on the Square

Our weekend at the Festival on the Square was delightful except for the high temperatures on Saturday. Deanna Klingel and Miriam Bradley drove down to Hayesville from Sapphire and from Hendersonville, NC. Both write books for children but have non-fiction books for adults as well. See their websites for more of their books. 

We all promote reading for children and it was heart-warming to see the kids visit Deanna and Miriam with their parents and then come back later with cash in hand to purchase the mystery series books from Miriam’s table or the Avery books from Deanna.

Deanna Klingel

Miriam Jones Bradley

Our many volunteers this year made it possible to have a booth at the Festival on the Square sponsored by the Clay County Historical and Arts Council. Deanna and Joan Gage carried tables and chairs and boxes as we loaded up Rob’s truck on Friday afternoon and set up our tent. I counted on Joan all weekend to help me and to be there when I could not.  She also presented her books of inspirational and motivating poetry for women. Water Running Down Hill, Empowering Your Inner Cheerleader and her most recent, A Redhead Looks at 60.

Joan Ellen Gage

Karen Holmes and Carole Thompson volunteered so that on Saturday and on Sunday we had someone at the main table to give out brochures, answer questions about NCWN and NCWN West, discuss writing with visitors and give them information about local literary events and places where they can receive instruction.

Carole Thompson author of Enough

Valeria Nieman visited with us Sunday afternoon with her new poetry book, Hotel Worthy and her very interesting novel, Blood Clay. We are always happy to see Val here in our neck of the woods.

I want to thank Don and Marti Long for their help on Sunday afternoon. Although we were tired by Sunday afternoon, I had fun with my two guests, Deanna and Miriam at my house for the weekend. It is always great to see so many local friends at the festival on a typical summer weekend in a small mountain town in the beautiful western NC mountains. 

Celebrate the Release of Deanna Klingel's New Book

Deanna has invited you to a literary soiree (aka book release party) Sunday afternoon 1-4 PM, March 9, 2014, St Jude Church, 3011 US Highway 64 East, Cashiers, NC, to celebrate the release of A Rock and a Hard Place, A Lithuanian Love Story. 

Enjoy Lithuanian food, beverage, music, book discussion, reading, signing and meeting the couple about whom the book is written. Bring your friends. 

If you can't be there in person, you can still be part of the party. Friday before the event go to www.BooksByDeanna. Use the tab Rock & a Hard Place to find recipes you can try at home. Sunday, the day of the event, go to Amazon.com and buy a book (available as of March 8), then send an email to deannaklingel@yahoo.com with your name and address. You will receive a signature and book mark for your book.  

Monday following the event enjoy the photos of the event at Facebook page, "Books By Deanna".

What Should We do? Deanna Klingel, author, answers.

We have as guest writer today, Deanna Klingel, successful author of five books published by different publishers with three more to be released soon. Deanna lives in Sapphire Valley, NC with her husband and a rescued golden retriever. She is a member of NCWN West as well as other literary organizations. She admits she was a late starter in the world of publishing, but she hit the ground running and was a quick learner. Her advice is for all of us who write and want to write. Take note.

“So What’s it Like to be a Writer?” 

My signing table was inside the Low Country Museum in Yemassee, South Carolina. I’d had a lot of fun that Saturday talking to families and signing books for their middle graders. During a quiet few minutes a chubby boy wrapped in his puffy winter coat and toboggan hat paused and looked at my table. I guess he was eight, maybe nine.

“So, what’s it like to be a writer?” he asked. He caught me off guard and I didn’t have a quick reply. The usual question from precocious kids is “Do authors make a lot of money?” for which there is a quick answer.

“Well,” I thought aloud, “I spend a lot of time alone listening to voices talking in my head.”

“Yes!” he said. “That’s how it is for me, too. Whenever I get sent to my room alone, my head talks to me. When I get mad, it even talks more. And loud.”

“Hmm,” I said. “Maybe when you get mad you should write.”

“I guess you’re right,” he said. “That’s what I'll do. Next time I get sent to my room and I'm mad I'm going to write me a book. How many pages should it be?”

How many pages should it be? Whose voice should it be? What style should it be written in? What font should I use? New writers all worry about should. Should I send it to a publisher? Should I staple it? Should I get a Mac?

Even accomplished writers who participate on the online writers groups are often still asking should I? Should I change genre, should I use a pen name, should I have an agent, should I blog, should my main character turn out to be a bad guy? Should I use semi colons?

I’m not exactly an old timer in the publishing field.

I only started writing with a thought to publishing around 2005. My first book published in 2010. In the next few weeks book six, seven and eight will be released, all different publishers. That still makes me a relative newcomer. But I've had enough experience now that I can share some "what-I've-learned-along-the-way" suggestions.

The first thing I think you should do, is unload your shoulds. You can make yourself crazy with the angst of shoulds. There is no should. Your writing is a result of your writer voice. There can be no right or wrong to it. You should not should over it. Just write it.

Then there are things you must do. You must finish it. You must edit it. You must have another edit it. Then you must rewrite it. Then you must submit it. These aren't things you should do, these are things you must do. To submit you must do it exactly the way the publisher you’re submitting to instructs; not should, must.

Writing is easy for a writer. Writing for publication is not. It’s tedious, it’s lengthy, it’s lonely, it can get frustrating. There are so many things to learn, the more you learn the more you discover things you need to know!

You must go to conferences, workshops, take writing classes. You must. But you can make it easier on yourself if you relax and enjoy the entire process and not worry about all the shoulds. The voice in your head is yours and it must be heard. You should let it. You must. That's what it is to be a writer.

Deanna will be sharing her work at Coffee with the Poets and Writers at Blue Mountain Coffee and Grill on Wednesday, March 12, 10:30 a.m. This event is free and open to the public.