What do you think about the Good Old Days?

Many of our local poets are published in the latest anthology by Old Mountain Press, The Good Old Days. This book includes 69 poets and prose writers with the theme of anything about memories/events from the past good, bad, sad, or a funny take on the good old days, or of Summertime.

Cover photo by Carolyn York

Available in Kindle Format  for $2.99

FREE if you participate in the Kindle Unlimited and/or the Kindle Owners' Lending Library: NOTE Amazon Prime members who own a Kindle can choose one book from each month with no due dates.

One of my poems, If, is in this edition along with poems by some of my students, Donna Beal (with one L) and Alan Frutchey. This is Alan's first publication although he has been writing poetry for a long time. I am happy for both of them.  

When I send a poem to an anthology, I usually submit something I have already published in a literary magazine or a publication with a larger readership. But Tom Davis, publisher of Old Mountain Press, has a very wide audience. 

"The OMP Anthology Series consists of 55 volumes with contributions from 287 writers and poets from North America, Europe, and Africa and has sold 6812 copies. I assume that someone has read all or parts of the 6812 copies as the contributors read and gift copies to individuals who read at least parts of the anthologies. Gotta be some kind of a record," Tom tells me.

"Of note is that one person (me:-) does ALL the work (cover design---front, back, spine, interior formatting, author corrections, website design, advertising, sales, distribution of copies, I'm sure I've forgotten something...) except the printing." Tom adds, "Only those who have taken part in putting together an anthology project will appreciate this." :-)

I do appreciate this. A massive job well done by Tom Davis. I helped publish Echoes Across the Blue Ridge an anthology of work by mountain writers, with many NCWN-West members, but I did not do the technical parts as Tom does. My job was organizing sales, creating a marketing plan, and distributing the books to all Netwest county representatives and to retail outlets that sold books in my area. 

Some of our best NC poets publish in OMP anthologies, including former poet laureate, Shelby Stephenson. I know it is likely their way to support Old Mountain Press and many beginning poets, but Brenda Kay Ledford of Clay County, NC is widely published in poetry and other genres. Her work is included in every anthology Tom has published. If you like to read poetry, you will love poems by Carroll S. Taylor, YA novelist, and author of two children's books. She recently published her first poetry book, Facing Toward the East. 

I also enjoy the short prose pieces both fiction and nonfiction such as those by Celia Miles prolific mystery novelist from Asheville, NC.  Sandy Benson journalist is also the author of a memoir My Mother’s Keeper: One Family’s Journey Through Dementia. She submitted a short piece that I liked. 

Poetry by NCWN-West members, Mary Ricketson and David Plunkett, grace the pages of The Good Old Days. Many other excellent writers from our western North Carolina and north Georgia region can be found between the covers of this book. 

Only past contributors or someone recommended by a past contributor will be published in the Old Mountain Press. Beware, your work is not edited before it is published. Be sure you have had it edited or have had several pairs of eyes, knowledgeable eyes, on it before you send it to Tom. That is another reason to send something that was accepted elsewhere.

Be generous: If you read a poem or short prose piece that you think is extra good, that you relate to, or feel deserves recognition, take a minute and email or better, write a note to the author. 

It will make their day. We can do so much with so little effort. 

NCWN-West to sponsor a Bookfest for Writers, at the Moss Memorial Library, Hayesville, NC, on Saturday, March 24, 2018

BOOKFEST:

Saturday, March 24, 2018, Noon to 4 PM,

at the Moss Memorial Library, 26 Anderson Street, Hayesville, NC

Sponsored by NCWN-West 
Admission is free!

 Author Speakers include:

Carol Crawford: Author, Poet, Editor

Deanna Klingel: Author, Writer of YA and Children’s’ Lit

Tom Davis: Author of Memoir, Publisher

Polly Davis: Author of Memoir, College Professor

Lisa Turner: Author, Writer of “How to: books

Author/members of NCWN-West, will sign books, talk about publishing & marketing, will give tips & advice, based on their personal experiences.

Drawings for door prizes: will be held throughout the PM, 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.

Left to right: Carol Crawford, Deanna Klingel, Tom & Polly Davis, & Lisa Turner

For more information about the Bookfest , contact Glenda Council Beall, Program Director for NCWN-West, at 828-389-4441, or the Moss Memorial Library at 828-389-8401.

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.

Amazon has a good deal for you on two of Tom Davis' books.

The R-complex and  Helloooo Vietnam 364 Days and a Wakeup, books by Tom Davis, NCWN-West member, are showcased in a recent Amazon E-Blast.

The books are FREE if you participate in the Kindle Unlimited and/or the Kindle Owners' Lending Library:

NOTE Amazon Prime members who own a Kindle can choose one book from each month with no due dates.

Helloooo Vietnam: 364Days and a Wake-up   Kindle Edition

This eBook is the second chapter of the Tom Davis' memoir: The Most Fun I Ever Had with My Clothes On: A March from Private to Colonel. In his memoir the author relates his experiences during the thirty-one years spent in the US Army, rising through the ranks from private to full colonel. Twenty of those years he served with US Army Special Forces (Green Berets). This book chronicles his time in three combat zones: Vietnam, Bosnia, and Iraq/Turkey. Included are his experiences commanding Special Forces Operational A Detachments which specialized in Underwater Operations, High Altitude Low Opening Parachuting, Mountaineering, and Small Atomic Demolitions Munitions as well as two Special Forces Battalions and a Joint Special Operations Task Force. Each chapter covers his duties and responsibilities at the Army Installation where he served. Sometimes funny. Sometimes sad. Always interesting.

The R-Complex   

What could happen when members of an Atlanta car theft ring, in the process of stealing her car, kill the pregnant wife of an ex Special Forces demolition expert?

John Crown believed that his Special Forces training and missions existed now only as distant memories. But when his pregnant wife is killed in an “accident” at the hands of cold-blooded, professional car thieves and racketeers, something else dies too: John’s new life as a husband, soon-to-be father, and successful software engineer in Atlanta, Georgia. To track down his wife’s unknown murderers, John sets a series of ingenious–and deadly–traps for unwitting, criminal prey. John fast becomes the underworld’s worst nightmare: a Special Forces-trained vigilante who obeys no law except the one that will bring him peace–the law of revenge. What he doesn’t know is that some of his prey welcomes the challenge, anxious and willing to play his deadly game–to win.
The R-complex is a fast-paced action adventure novel packed with organized crime, drug cartels, terrorist groups, revenge killings, brutal murders, improvised demolitions, a man who proves to be the ultimate killing machine, a female assassin, and a Special Forces A Team infiltrating Colombia, South America, to bring two villains to justice.

Photos from NCWN-West's booth at the Festival on the Square, Hayesville, NC, July 2016

North Carolina Writers' Network West's booth at the Festival on the Square, Hayesville, North Carolina hosted poet and writer attendees including: Tom and Polly Davis, Glenda Council Beall, Mary Ricketson, Rosemary Royston, Marcia Hawley Barnes, Joan M. Howard, Lucy Cole Gratton, Janice Townley Moore, Staci Lynn Bell,Bob Grove, and Joan Ellen Gage. Below are some photos of the event.

Rosemary Royston

Glenda Council Beall

Bob Grove and Lucy Cole Gratton

Glenda Council Beall, Bob Grove, Lucy Cole Gratton, Janice Townley Moore, and Lucy Rozier. Hidden is Joan M. Howard

Tom Davis and Janice Townley Moore

Marcia Hawley Barnes

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.

Polly and Tom Davis to read from their memoirs at Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville, NC, On Sunday, Nov. 15, 2015, at 3:00 PM

Polly and Tom Davis will read a He Said She Said from their memoirs at Blue Ridge Books in Waynesville, NC on Sunday, November 15, 2015, at 3:00 PM. Polly’s memoir is a companion book to Tom's memoir and covers the same time frame, so now you can hear what happened back on the home front while he traipsed the world having the most fun he ever had with my clothes on. According to Polly, it wasn’t a picnic.  

Read about both memoirs at: http://www.oldmp.com/davismemoirs/

View Old Mountain Press eBooks for Kindle and NOOK at http://www.oldmp.com/e-book

Available to Order: Tom Davis' Memoir, The Most Fun I Ever Had With My Clothes On: A March from Private to Colonel. http://www.oldmp.com/davismemoirs

Polly Davis did something she thought she never would do. Marry a soldier. A Green Beret even. Polly started out as a military wife with a BS Degree from the University of Georgia and over the next thirty years raised two children, numerous dogs and cats, attained a Masters and a Doctorate. All while tramping the world with her soldier husband. Often alone in strange and uncertain circumstances, she not only rose to the occasion, she excelled in everything she ever did. She has taught at every level from pre-school to college, served as the head of the English Department and Director of Research and Planning for Fayetteville Technical Community College, and served in numerous leadership positions within the various communities in which she has lived.

Tom Davis is a writer and the publisher of Old Mountain Press, a company that assists authors in self-publishing their work. He holds a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Georgia and a master’s degree from the University of Southern California. Tom entered the Army as a private and retired a full colonel. His short stories, articles, and poetry have been published in Poets Forum, Winston-Salem Writers’ POETRY IN PLAIN SIGHT program for May 2013 (poetry month), The Carolina Runner, Triathlon Today, ByLine, Georgia Athlete, The Saturday Extra (magazine section of the Fayetteville Observer), A Loving Voice Vol. I and II (anthologies of read aloud stories), and Special Warfare (a professional military journal published by the Special Warfare Center). Many of his short stories have received honors in writing contests sponsored by ByLine Magazine. Tom has written and published the following books: What Would You Like on Your Mashed Potatoes, The Long and the Short, The Life and Times of Rip Jackson, The R-complex, The Patrol Order, and a children’s coloring book entitled Pickaberry Pig illustrated by artist Becky Lee.