Thanksgiving is approaching this week. The feverish shopping frenzy will begin on Friday, and I hope all the shoppers in the Murphy, Hayesville, Robbinsville, and surrounding area will stop in at Curiosity Shop Books at the Shoppes of Murphy for my book signing of NOW MIGHT AS WELL BE THEN, poetry by Glenda Council Beall.
Some comments about the book from Scott Owens:
Beall begins the collection with a love poem that celebrates the timelessness of a relationship. The speaker in the title poems says, “You brought me spring in winter // youth when I was old, / you found my childhood self.” If not for the dedication of the poem which announces who is intended by the indefinite second person pronoun, one could easily read this as a celebration of many things--god, nature, the mountains of North Carolina—and interestingly, any of these meanings would fit for the poems that follow as these poems celebrate the presence and influence of all of these elements.

     We would love to have you come in and vist a few minutes with me and Linda Ray, owner of the bookstore. 11:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. If you have a favorite poem in the book, I'll be most happy to discuss it and read it for you. Pick up a few books for Christmas gifts.
Scott Owens in his review that will be posted online in mid-February likes the poem, Roosevelt, and this Roosevelt is not a president. I'd like to know your favorite.

A Poem

Big Sur

I drive along the freeway,
cars like inch worms creep.
I visualize a moment
far removed from traffic jams.

High above the scene,
we picniced on cheese and wine.
The wind swept up the cliff
and kissed my face with droplets
from the great Pacific which crashed
on rocks one hundred feet below.

Wind tossed our words up to the gulls
who shrieked them back at us.
The day was dazzling in its brilliance.
Our love, not young, refreshed, renewed.
We dreamed, made promises.
That perfect day - a perfect place,
away from all the world.
--- Glenda Council Beall

NOW MIGHT AS WELL BE THEN by Glenda Council Beall

Finishing Line Press recently announced the publication date for Glenda Beall's new poetry collection titled NOW MIGHT AS WELL BE THEN.
Click Here to order your copy.

(Cover by Mike Keller)

$12.00 plus $1.00 mailing fee if ordered before October 16, 2009






Posted by Nancy Simpson

I know these poems well, and I feel the excitement in the air knowing her book, NOW MIGHT AS WELL BE THEN, will soon be in my hands. All of us who know Glenda as our NC Writers Network Program Coordinator, are placing our orders now. It is a bitter sweet time for Glenda, as she is caring for her life mate and husband Barry Beall, the subject of a number of her poems, who is seriously ill.

"I asked for an early release of the book for Barry," Glenda wrote to me, "and I wonder if he will ever see the finished book."