Excerpt From Turnback Creek by Lonnie Busch

The reflection of the moon shattered when Cole’s lure hit the water. He stared at the rings radiating out, at the moon slowly repairing itself on the black surface. Cole hated fishing on nights like this—when the bass weren’t biting, the stillness so complete it seemed the world had stopped breathing—but night was the only time he had for himself.
Even the unexplainable breeze that always spread a faint ripple across the surface of Turnback Creek was oddly absent. Cole had just cocked his wrist to cast again when he heard a noise deep in the woods, a rumbling mechanical sound like a generator firing, a deep popping followed by a dull continuous thudding. He imagined one of those big Hollywood wind machines, the kind he’d seen on the MGM Studio tour out in California years ago, except that those fans weren’t nearly as noisy as this contraption. This sound brought to mind a bulldozer, but he quickly ruled that out—no one would be crazy enough to drive a bulldozer in the dead of night. Not in the woods.
Using his trolling motor, Cole pointed his bass boat toward the commotion. Halfway across the cove, the noise stopped. Instinctively, he drew his foot from the pedal, as if to match the sudden silence, the boat drifting soundlessly through the darkness. He swept his gaze across the woods along the bank, the trees and foliage forming a black jagged wall. His eyes burned from lack of sleep and his back was sore from lifting Elsie. When the rumbling sprang to life again, he laid his fishing rod down and turned the boat toward the bank.

Lonnie Busch is both artist and writer, and designed the cover for his novella, Turnback Creek. His short stories have appeared or are forthcoming in such publications as Southwest Review, The Minnesota Review, The Baltimore Review, The Southeast Review, Roanoke Review, Talking River Review, Flint Hills Review, Willow Review, The Iconoclast, Pisgah Review, MoonShine Review and others. Stories of his have also been finalists in the World’s Best Short Short Story Competition in 2004, The Tobias Wolff Award for Fiction in 2005, and most recently, the Glimmer Train Very Short Fiction Award.

As a painter/illustrator, Busch has created artwork for corporations and institutions across the United States, including the 2002 “Greetings from America” stamps and the 2004 “Summer Olympics” stamp for the US Postal Service.

His most recent projects include the cover for Jimmy Buffett’s novel, A Salty Piece of Land, as well as a block of forty stamps for the Postal Service in May of 2006, entitled, “Wonders of America.” He now makes his home in the mountains of North Carolina.

Conversations at the Conference

One of the most important parts of a writing conference is networking, or talking with other writers or people who are a part of the literary world. I enjoyed meeting Jubal Tiner and Lonnie Busch who publish the Pisgah Review. They had a table set up near the meeting rooms and they met a number of writers, I’m sure. Lonnie’s book Turnback Creek as well as the Review attracted attention. I wish more of our Netwest writers had been there making the connections they need to sell their books or stories and articles.

Press 53 is an up and coming southern press located right here in North Carolina. Marjorie Hudson’s book, The Search for Virginia Dare, was published the second time by Press 53. She wore a big pin on her shirt promoting her publisher. Press 53 goes beyond publishing your manuscript. They have contacts with film companies and Marjorie’s book could be picked up by an independent film company. She has been fortunate to have her book become a favorite of book clubs whose members arrive in Manteo, NC where they read about Virginia Dare and visit the places mentioned in the book. More and more writers are trying to take advantage of Literary Tourism. Surely writers in western North Carolina and North Georgia should be able to find a way to do that. We do have some tourists come here in the summer and in the fall.

Sitting with Marjorie Hudson at breakfast on Sunday, I met an agent from Washington, D.C. She had worked in New York and she recommends that your agent, if living outside of the big apple, have experience in the publishing world in New York. This agent had turned down Marjorie’s book, but said she had liked it. She had to consider what her company would want, however.

Sitting at the same table that morning was Amy Tieman who has the blog, mojomom, and also a book by the same title. She is young, but extremely intelligent about her business and the digital world we live in today. She left the table to go and get ready for her panel discussion on blogging, podcasting and other digital matters above my head. Later, I’ll tell more about that session which was full with standing room only.