Author of Elizabeth Goodweather Mysteries, Vicki Lane workshop June 1

Finding Focus: A Hook to Hang Your Narrative On

Whether it’s an event (such as a family gathering), an object ( like a carefully-preserved cheerleader’s uniform from the Fifties), or something less tangible (a sound, a scent,) we’ll explore how a close examination of something specific can segue into a multi-faceted story. Vicki will provide some sensory prompts; attendees are invited to bring a prompt (object or memory) of their own. There’ll be writing, reading, and discussion.

Saturday, June 1
1:00 PM - 4:00 PM
Writers Circle around the Table Studio
Hayesville, NC

Vicki Lane has lived on a mountain farm in Madison County, NC since 1975. Her novels include Signs in the Blood and four other Elizabeth Goodweather Mysteries, The Day of Small Things, and the forthcoming (2020) Within My Memory Yet.
Her work has been praised for authentic dialogue, evocative detail, and rich, clear, intelligent writing capturing the essence of the Carolina mountains and their people.

Vicki teaches with the Great Smokies Writing Program (UNC-Asheville) and leads writing workshops at Wildacres and John C. Campbell Folk School. Visit her at her (almost) daily blog http://vickilanemysteries.blogspot.com/ and her website http://vickilanemysteries.com/

To register for this course, contact Glenda Beall, gcbmountaingirl@gmail.com or send check for $50.00 made to Glenda Beall, PO Box 843, Hayesville, NC 28904.
REGISTRATION OPEN NOW

Table Rock Writers Workshop at Wildacres

Children’s Writing Added to Table Rock Workshop: Piedmont Laureate John Claude Bemis Will Teach

Johnclaudebemis.com

For more information on the Table Rock Writers Workshop, held September 9-13, 2013 at Wildacres Retreat in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, please visit http://tablerockwriters.com.  Classes are small, register early.  All meals and accommodations are included.

Former student Bradley Scheel says, “John is the rare artist who is so passionate about the craft that he is willing to share everything he has on the subject freely and without reserve. Every moment was fun, every class inspirational. No time will be more wisely spent.”

I had the good fortune to attend the Table Rock Writers Workshop last year. My teacher was Darnell Arnault, a wonderful writer. Other excellent instructors are Abigail DeWitt, fiction writer, Joseph Bathanti, poetry, Judy Goldman, memoir and personal essays. The classes are filled with writers who give good feedback. I thoroughly enjoyed my week there.

It is held at Wildacres Retreat, one of my very favorite places. Check it out here.

Janice Holly Booth - author who travels solo

On my last trip to Wildacres Retreat I met an interesting writer, Janice Holly Booth, at dinner. She told me she had written a book titled Only Pack What You Can Carry, and it was going to be published by National Geographic. She was expecting that day, by mail, her business cards with her book website.


“I’ll give you one when I get them,” she said. Janice was pretty cool, I thought, for someone who had a first book coming out from a major publisher.

The next time I saw her, she was a bit more excited about her new success, but I feel that Janice is one who takes most things in stride. After all, she has dined with a Prince.

She insisted I should travel solo, even though I’m a good bit older that she. Janice said you miss so much when you are traveling with others. I am looking forward to reading her book and learning more about her life and her travels. But more than that, I want to read about her four secrets to a fulfilling life.

In the evenings at Wildacres during The Gathering, writers share some of their work in the lobby of the lodge. Janice did not read from her book, but she had written an essay about writing and publishing her book. It was clever and humorous. She caught everyone’s attention. You can read more of this saga on her blog. Go to

http://www.janicehollybooth.com/ and click on Blog at the top of the page.

Janice told me the book was not only about travel, but what she had learned in her travels. Her amazing adventures that took place all over the world intrigued me. I felt a twinge of envy that I had not had that confidence when I was young – that self assurance that I could do whatever I want.

After meeting Janice last fall, I continued to think about her and her book. I even wrote a post about her for my blog, but never published it. Now, I’ve heard from the author again and I look forward to seeing her at Wildacres in May. I plan to ask her to bring a copy of Only Pack What You Can Carry, signed, of course.

An editorial synopsis from the National Geographic Book Division:
“…this unique book about personal growth through solo travel goes a step beyond Eat, Pray, Love, and Under the Tuscan Sun. Where these well-loved bestsellers help women dream, Booth’s book is just this side of Gonzales’s Deep Survival. A book of depth and wisdom, Only Pack What you Can Carry helps readers act and change their lives through solo travel and by addressing four key concepts: solitude, introspection, courage and commitment. In a lively and confidential tone with page-turning personal anecdotes that range from a week galloping across Ireland “jumping everything in sight” to learning how to master the art of the flying trapeze, she shares her secrets to a fuller life through solo travel with every other ‘average person who has a full time job, doesn’t have enough time to get everything done in a day, and has to make sacrifices and save money in order to travel.’ Through more than a decade of incredible self-challenges, observations, and discoveries she shows how crucial it is to find time alone—whether traveling to the park down the street or ziplining through the Costa Rican rain forest—to bring refreshing and vital dimension—and growth potential— to your life.”