Showing posts with label Writers' Night Out. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Writers' Night Out. Show all posts

Thursday, June 1, 2023

Farewell to Writers’ Night Out Features Georgia Poets

Writers' Night Out will bid farewell to its followers Friday, June 9, at 7 pm.  WNO has been a well-attended event since 2010, but is ending its run, a victim in part of the pandemic.  For the last three years it has continued virtually, which enabled it to draw a broader range of featured readers and audiences but at the cost of the personal interactions between audience and writer.

The event will feature poets Michael Diebert and Michael Walls who will read from their works followed by an open mic session for anyone wishing to read from their own works or simply bid the popular program goodbye.

        The final WNO, fittingly perhaps, will be a Zoom meeting.  Anyone wishing to join should contact Glenda Beall at glendabeall@msn.com.

Michael Diebert

Its organizers will continue to support other in-person and virtual writing events in Western North Carolina and the Georgia mountain counties of Union and Towns.

        All that being said, the featured writers for the final event are excellent examples of the talent the program was able to attract to this area.

Michael Diebert is the author of the collections “Thrash” (Brick Road, 2022) and “Life Outside the Set” (Sweatshoppe, 2013).  He has served as poetry editor for “The Chattahoochee Review,” led workshops for the Chattahoochee Valley Writers' Conference and the Blue Ridge Writers' Conference, and served as president of the Georgia Poetry Society.

Michael Walls

Diebert teaches writing and literature at Perimeter College, Georgia State University.  Recent poems have appeared in “EcoTheo Collective,” “Book of Matches,” “Anti-Heroin Chic,” and “River Teeth.”  A two-time cancer survivor, he lives in Avondale Estates, Georgia, with his wife and dogs.

Michael Walls is a retired labor lawyer who lives in Atlanta.  He represented workers and labor unions for over 40 years.  He has also been a lifetime activist and sometime voluntary attorney for peace, justice and environmental organizations.  His new book is “Climbing an Unnamed Mountain” (Kelsay Books).

        His poems have appeared in a variety of literary journals and magazines including “The South Carolina Review,” “The Midwest Quarterly,” “Poet Lore,” “Poetry East,” “San Pedro River Review,” “ISLE (Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment),” “South Florida Poetry Journal,” and “Atlanta Review.”  His chapbook “The Blues Singer” was published by The Frank Cat Press in 2003, and his first full-length collection “Stacking Winter Wood” was published by Kelsay Books/Aldrich Press in 2017.

In addition to poetry, Wall's published work includes articles in law reviews and bar publications.  Four years ago, he was diagnosed with Erythromelalgia, a rare neuro-vascular condition characterized by chronic pain and loss of mobility that has no known cure.  He is starting to write about the ways the illness and the host of autoimmune conditions that travel with it have changed and continue to change his life.

In addition to the speakers, the event will close with an open mic session during which anyone wishing to will have 3 to 4 minutes to read their own poetry or prose.  Persons attending the event can sign up for open mic by emailing glendabeall@msn.com with a sentence she can use to introduce them.

Writers’ Night Out is a North Carolina Writers' Network-West event.


Sunday, October 2, 2022

North Georgia Writer Dana Wildsmith to be Featured Speaker for October WNO

Writers' Night Out - Oct. 14, 7 p.m. EST


Reading + Discussion... + Open Mic 

Dana Wildsmith
Poet, essayist, novelist and educator


    North Georgia poet, essayist, novelist, and educator Dana Wildsmith will be the featured speaker at Writers’ Night Out Friday, Oct. 14, at 7 p.m.

    Dana Wildsmith’s writing has its roots in literal soil: the earth of the old farm she works to keep alive, as documented in her collection of poems, One Good Hand, and through her environmental memoir, Back to Abnormal, or along the desert sands of our southern border, as told in her novel, Jumping, a story which grew from Wildsmith’s work as a teacher of English Literacy to non-native speakers.

    Her most recent collection, One Light, follows the journey of her mother, Grace, down dementia’s rocky road. 


"One Light is a book about a Georgia mother and a daughter who must each take a turn at caregiving. In the first half of the book, the daughter tells of surviving near-fatal burns at age fourteen and describes with stark straightforwardness the healing process, during which her mother serves as one of her primary caregivers.

In Part II, where both voices are alternately and jointly heard, the daughter moves reluctantly into the role of caregiver as her mother travels dementia’s haunting paths. Their shared love of singing and a stubborn tenacity serve as thematic threads."

    Wildsmith has a new book forthcoming from Madville Publishing which took root as the pandemic flourished and we all searched for tools to help us cope with this unprecedented epic. With Access to Tools explores the role of tools in our lives: traditional farm tools, tools of the digital age, and cerebral tools such as patience and memory. 

    Wildsmith is a highly sought-after teacher of creative writing and has garnered residencies at the Hambidge Center, the Lillian E Smith Center, Grand Canyon National Park, and Everglades National Park.

    Her website, www.danawildsmith.com, is the home of a widely read blog mostly centered on teaching and writing.

Open mic readers are welcome to read poetry or prose for up to 4 minutes (2-poem maximum, please).

Zoom link and Open Mic sign-up: Contact Glenda Beall glendabeall@msn.com

Writers' Night Out is a monthly event sponsored by the NCWN-West. 


A Statement of Belief

We believe that writing is necessary both for self-expression and community spirit, that well-written words can connect people across time and distance, and that the deeply satisfying experiences of writing and reading should be available to everyone.


Friday, September 2, 2022

Harvard Alum Kerry Garvin of Bryson City Featured Sept 9 on Zoom

Writers' Night Out - Sept 9, 7 p.m. EST

Reading + Discussion... + Open Mic 

Kerry Garvin, MA in Creative Writing & Literature, Harvard University
Publisher, writer, editor, professor

Hosted by Karen Paul Holmes

Gloria Steinem, on Garvin's book:
"When someone is ill, many old cultures say that they have lost their story. I believe that reading the stories in What Doesn't Kill Her will help each of us to trust and tell our own."


Kerry Garvin left New York City in 2020 and now lives in Bryson City, North Carolina, after spending much of her childhood in the mountains. She's a published writer, editor, and professor. Her book, What Doesn’t Kill Her: Women’s Stories of Resilience, a collection of triumphant survival stories written by women, was published in 2021 and hailed by Gloria Steinem.  Garvin and the book's co-editor, Elisabeth Sharp McKetta, sent out a call for true stories. Sixty brave women rose to the call, and What Doesn't Kill Her was born. 


In 2020, Garvin graduated summa cum laude with a Dean’s Award of Achievement from Harvard University with a Master’s of Liberal Arts in Creative Writing and Literature. That year, she was Harvard University’s Thomas Small Prize Recipient, awarded annually at the university's commencement for both character and academic achievement. She had also earned her Bachelor’s of Liberal Arts with a concentration in Psychology and minor concentration in Creative Writing from Harvard in 2017. 


Garvin co-founded Harridan and Strumpet Books, a women-author run publishing collective with a passion for progressive art that pushes established bounds and publishes voice-driven, high-quality books by a diverse array of writers.  Learn more about her on her website.

 
Open mic readers are welcome to read poetry or prose for up to 4 minutes (2-poem maximum, please).


Zoom link and Open Mic sign up: Contact Glenda Beall glendabeall@msn.com



Friday, July 1, 2022

Appalachian Naturalist Brent Martin Virtual Reading July 8

Writers' Night Out - July 8, 7 p.m.

Reading + Discussion... + Open Mic 

Brent Martin, conservationist & multi-genre writer

 

Charles Frazier, author of Cold Mountain, on Martin's new book:

"If I were making a personal top ten list of important Appalachian artists, writers, and musicians, I'd include--along with more well-known names like Doc Watson and Nikki Giovanni--photographer George Masa. Brent Martin's introduction splendidly places Masa and his work in the context of the mountains they both love so much--a perfect match since Martin, like Masa, has spent most of his adult life studying the southern mountains, protecting them, exploring them."


NCWN-West invites you to join us via ZOOM (see link below). 




Brent Martin's book, George Masa's Wild Vision: A Japanese Immigrant Imagines Western North Carolina (Hub City Publishing), has just been released. Martin is also the author of three chapbook collections of poetry and of Hunting for Camellias at Horseshoe Bend, a nonfiction chapbook (Red Bird Press, 2015). His poetry and essays have been published in the North Carolina Literary Review, Pisgah Review, Tar River Poetry, Chattahoochee Review, Eno Journal, New Southerner, Kudzu Literary Journal, Smoky Mountain News, and elsewhere. He has recently completed a two-year term as Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet for the West. He is also the author of The Changing Blue Ridge Mountains: Essays on Journeys Past and Present.
 
Martin a lifelong conservationist and educator, having worked over a decade as Southern Appalachian Regional Director for The Wilderness Society, and prior to that serving as Executive Director for Georgia Forestwatch and Associate Director for the Land Trust for the Little Tennessee. He has led outings for over 20 years for the above organizations, as well as Carolina Mountain Club, NC Bartram Trail Society, the Cullowhee Native Plant Conference, Highland Biological Station, and many, many more. He lives in the Cowee community in Western North Carolina, where he and his wife, Angela Faye Martin, run Alarka Institute. 


For the Zoom link and to sign up for Open Mic: click here: glendabeall@msn.com

Open mic: 3-4 minute max, poetry or prose (2 poems only, please) 

Saturday, June 25, 2022

Joseph Bathanti and Mountain Wordsmiths

 The large group of writers who attended Mountain Wordsmiths Thursday morning had the pleasure of hearing Joseph Bathanti read and talk for about thirty minutes. Then he answered questions and had dialogue with those who were eager to talk to him about his poetry, his writing program, and his environmental views about mountaintop removal. 

One of the things I like best about Joseph is his casual demeanor and his genuine appreciation for his audience. We all felt we could speak up and join in the discussion. To purchase his latest book visit this link to LSU Press. His new book is Light at the Seams. Read more about it. You will want to own this book.



Carroll Taylor is the founder and leader of Mountain Wordsmiths and none of us knew it would be such a popular event for NCWN-West. Carroll's easy manner and casual ways make everyone feel comfortable. At this recent event, we had Ken Chamblee, noted poet, Pat Zick, author of novels, nonfiction, and now Netwest county Representative for Cherokee County in North Carolina. We had Jill Jennings from Florida sitting in with us as well as other writers from distant places. 

Part of the enjoyment of this online group is seeing the poets and writers from the far reaches of the NCWN-West region gather to visit and share their views and their writing. Mountain Wordsmiths has brought our Netwest writers closer than ever. I used to try to visit the distant counties and meet with reps and members, but COVID put a stop to that. However, we will not be stopped.

Carroll Taylor

Karen Holmes
Carroll's Mountain Wordsmiths and Karen Paul Holmes's Writers' Night Out are on Zoom and each month we are delighted to see local friends and writers and poets from across the country on our Zoom screen. 

Please feel free to join us for these events you can only find on Zoom. 



Contact Carroll at vibiaperpetua@gmail.com for Mountain Wordsmith's Zoom invitation. Contact Karen Paul Holmes at kpaulholmes AT protonmail DOT COM to receive your link for Writers' Night Out. You can ask Karen and Carroll to put you on their contact list and you will receive the announcement of the guests each month and the Zoom link.

If you have questions for me, Glenda Beall, about reading or attending, email glendabeall@msn.com


Wednesday, April 6, 2022

Poet Scott Owens , a friend of Netwest Writers, is featured at Writers' Night Out April 8

 


We are happy to have Scott Owens, an excellent poet, with us Friday evening for Writers' Night Out, at 7:00 PM. This will be a Zoom event as we are not meeting in person yet. 

We have a long history with Scott going back many years when he often came to western NC and north Georgia to do readings and to teach poetry at Writers Circle around the Table. He has also invited our members to Hickory, NC where he holds a monthly meeting for poets at his coffeehouse. 

If you are not familiar with Scott's poetry, you don't want to miss this opportunity Friday night for this reading. If you know his work, you will be very glad you contacted me for the link to the Zoom meeting. glendabeall@msn.com

Scott Owens is the author of 16 collections of poetry and recipient of awards from the Academy of American Poets, the Pushcart Prize Anthology, the Next Generation/Indie Lit Awards, the NC Writers Network, the NC Poetry Society, and the Poetry Society of SC. 

His newest collection, Sky Full of Stars and Dreaming has been nominated for a National Book Critics Circle Award. His book of poems for children, Worlds Enough, is due out from RedHawk Press later this year, as is a new collection of poetry entitled Prepositional. His poems have been featured on The Writer’s Almanac 7 times, and his articles about writing poetry have been used in Poet’s Market for several years. 

Owens holds degrees from Ohio University, UNC Charlotte, and UNC Greensboro.  He is a Professor of Poetry at Lenoir Rhyne University and the former editor of Wild Goose Poetry Review and Southern Poetry Review. He owns and operates Taste Full Beans Coffeehouse and Gallery and coordinates Poetry Hickory in Hickory, NC.   

As you can see, Scott writes poetry, publishes poetry, and teaches others to write poetry. We are so honored to have him with us for Writers' Night Out.

Contact glendabeall@msn.com to receive the Zoom link and to read at Open Mic. 

See you then.

Monday, February 28, 2022

Writers' Night Returns March 11 with Rosemary Royston on Zoom

Writers' Night Out - March 11, 7 p.m.

Reading + Discussion... + Open Mic 

Rosemary Royston, poet

NCWN-West invites you to join us via ZOOM. 
Request Zoom link and sign up for Open Mic by emailing glendabeall@msn.com

Praise for Rosemary's new book,
Second Sight:

"This collection of Royston’s is honest, timely, and beautiful. It is a love letter to Appalachia and rural people everywhere who often don’t get their stories told in such a powerful and compassionate manner."
     - Angela Jackson-Brown, author 


Rosemary Royston, author of Second Sight (2021, Kelsay Press) and Splitting the Soil (Finishing Line Press, 2014), resides in the northeast Georgia mountains with her family. Her writing has been published in journals such as POEMSplit Rock ReviewSouthern Poetry Review, Poetry South, Appalachian Review, and *82 Review. Her photography has been published in A Rose in the World, Bloodroot, and New Southerner. She is an Assistant Professor of English at Young Harris College. 
Visit her website 
https://theluxuryoftrees.wordpress.com/

Writers' Night Out is a North Carolina Writers' Network-West event on the second Friday of the month.

We will continue via Zoom for now. 

Monday, October 4, 2021

Oct 8 Seattle Poet: Online Reading, Discussion, and Open Mic

Writers' Night Out - Oct 8, 7 p.m.

Online Reading + Discussion... + Open Mic via ZOOM

"What teaching poetry to children has taught me about writing."
with Debby Bacharach, poet, editor, & teacher

Debby Bacharach is the author of Shake & Tremor (Grayson Books, 2021) and After I Stop Lying (Cherry Grove Collections, 2015).  

Her poems and essays have been published in journals nationally and internationally, including Midwest Quarterly, Poetry Ireland Review, Vallum, Cimarron Review, New Letters, and Poet Lore, and she has received a Pushcart prize honorable mention.  Debby has been the featured reader at poetry readings in Boston, Oberlin, Seattle, South Bend, and Minneapolis.

Educated at Swarthmore College and the University of Minnesota, Debby lives in Seattle with her family. She is a college writing instructor, editor, and tutor and teaches poetry workshops for children.  Find out more about her at DeborahBacharach.com.

For Zoom link and Open Mic sign-up, email 
Glenda: glendabeall@msn.com



Writers' Night Out is a
North Carolina Writers' Network-West event
on the second Friday of every month.

We will continue via Zoom for now. 
 
Sometime we hope to continue in person at our new location:
The Ridges Resort on Lake Chatuge 
so please check your email.
 
But don't wait, join the fun and camaraderie on Zoom! 

Upcoming guests:
Nov 12: Ed Southern, NCWN Executive Director & Author
Ed's new book is Fight Songs: A Story of Love & Sports in a Complicated South

December, January, February: winter break

Thursday, August 12, 2021

Zoom Writer's Night Out & Open Mic, August 13

NCWN-West presents
Kanute Rarey
Storyteller, Poet, Writer, Teacher

Writers' Night Out via Zoom
August 13, 7 pm
Reading & Discussion + Open Mic


Kanute Rarey has performed oral and written stories and poetry in North Carolina, Georgia, and South Carolina and from Texas to Florida; Vermont to Minnesota; and parts in between. His stories range from personal to family, to sacred, to scary, to a tall tale or two. While Rarey has officially been a storyteller since 2015, his family and friends would say, “He has been telling stories all his life.”
 
Rarey’s personal goals are to write and perform stories, to promote the storytelling revival in America, and to work with and support aspiring storytellers, writers, poets, and singer-songwriters to encourage and create opportunities and audiences for the performance of their arts. 
 
He is the founder and producer of a weekly Zoom-based TELL IT LIKE IT IS Story Swap and STORIES ON THE SQUARE, a monthly open mic night at a coffee and wine shop in his hometown in historic Hayesville, NC. He also founded FRESH AIR Stories and Music – a four-concert series at the gazebo on the Courthouse Square in Hayesville. 

Rarey is currently working with a small group of leading prose and poetry writers, authors, storytellers, and singer-songwriters to produce a new, yearlong four-performance series for 2022, SCRIBES ON STAGE, with the regional theater, Peacock Playhouse, in Hayesvile, NC. 
 
He is a member of the Board of Directors of John C. Campbell Folk School and the southeastern regional organization, Southern Order of Storytellers, and a member of the North Carolina Writers' Network. His wife Kathy and he have lived in the mountains, including Georgia, Alaska and North Carolina, for over thirty years. Visit his website for more info. 

Open Mic
3-4 minute maximum of poetry or prose (2 poems only, please)
To sign up for Open Mic, please send Glenda an email (with a sentence she can use to introduce you): glendabeall@msn.com 

Thursday, July 1, 2021

Dr. Bill Everett Featured at Writers' Night Out, July 9 ZOOM

NCWN-West presents
Bill Everett
Writer, Woodworker & Former Ethics Professor

Writers' Night Out via Zoom
July 9, 7 pm
Reading & Discussion + Open Mic


With a Yale Divinity School BD and a Harvard PhD, William Johnson Everett taught ethics in theological seminaries and graduate schools for over 30 years. During that time, he published seven books and many articles in English and German on ethical issues in religion and society. His teaching took him to Milwaukee, Atlanta, and Boston as well as Germany, India, and South Africa. In 2001 he turned to literary fiction, poetry, and woodworking.

This fall Everett’s “expository memoir” Making My Way in Ethics, Worship, and Wood is forthcoming. He frames the book around the cultural contexts that have shaped his life. In Red Clay, Blood River (2008), Everett put his inter-continental experience into a wide-ranging historical novel about connections between America’s “Trail of Tears” and South Africa’s “Great Trek.” The book is written from an ecological standpoint, in which Earth is the narrator. Everett’s poetry collection is Turnings: Poems of Transformation (2013). Both his ethics and his poetry explore the ways we give shape and meaning to our thoughts, feelings, and actions within the mysterious powers of creativity and love that undergird our existence. He also co-authored with his friend John de Gruchy, Sawdust and Soul: A Conversation about Woodworking and Spirituality. For more of his writing, you can follow Everett's blog, www.WilliamEverett.com.

Everett also creates furniture for worship settings, focusing on round communion tables that symbolize circle dynamics of reconciliation. Visit www.WisdomsTable.net for more information and to see photos of his work and also the textiles and mosaics of his wife Sylvia, who uses these media to explore spiritual, religious, and feminist themes. He and Sylvia live in Waynesville, NC.  
Zoom Link & Open Mic
3-4 minute maximum of poetry or prose (2 poems only, please)
For the Zoom link, please email Glenda Beall.  To sign up for Open Mic, please send Glenda an email with a sentence she can use to introduce you. glendabeall@msn.com

Writers' Night Out is on the second Friday of every month.
We will continue via Zoom for now. 
 
 Some time in 2021, we hope to continue in person at our new location:
The Ridges Resort on Lake Chatuge 
so please check your email.
 
But don't wait, join the fun and camaraderie on Zoom! 

Upcoming guests:
Aug 13: Kanute Rarey
September 10: Michael Diebert
Oct 8: John Clarke (from England!)

Sunday, June 6, 2021

Writers' Night Out - Come ZOOM with us, June 11 at 7 pm

Please join us for 

P.C. Zick
a writer with a passion for sharing
& helping other writers


Writers' Night Out via Zoom
June 11, 7 pm
Reading & Discussion + Open Mic


P.C. Zick’s passion for sharing her stories and helping aspiring writers realize their dreams motivates all her projects. And that’s whether she’s serving as an editor to others or creating her own books that entertain and inform her readers.
 
Zick writes in a variety of genres, including romance, contemporary fiction, and creative nonfiction. She’s had works in each of these genres published and has won various awards for her essays, columns, editorials, articles, and novels.
 
Setting plays a significant role in her fiction, beginning with the three contemporary novels in her Florida fiction series, which explore the people and landscape of the Sunshine State. Her romances transport readers to some of her favorite places from Long Island to Chicago to Florida to the Smoky Mountains. Her four separate romance series explore various social issues as people of all ages navigate the complicated road to romance.
 
Zick has also written a variety of nonfiction books, which include a primer for beginning writers for drafting, writing, and publishing a book. Her book on vegetable gardening combines her husband’s passion for growing food and her love of cooking it. She has also published and annotated the journal of her great-grandfather based on his experiences as a Union soldier during the Civil War.
 
She and her husband split their time between Tallahassee and the Smoky Mountains near Murphy, where they enjoy gardening, kayaking, golfing, and hiking. To learn more, please visit www.pczick.com.
 
Open Mic Sign-up & Zoom Link 

to sign-up and/or get the link to the free event, 
please send an email to glendabeall@msn.com 

For open mic, include a sentence she can use to introduce you. 
3-4 minute maximum of poetry or prose (2 poems only, please)

Writers' Night Out is sponsored by NCWN-West
on the second Friday of every month

Friday, May 14, 2021

May 14th Writer's Night Out ZOOM: Tips for Improving Your Writing, Karen Paul Holmes

James Crews is unable to join us tonight as planned, so here is our new program. 

For the Zoom link and to sign up for open mic,
 please email Glenda Beall: pcncwnwest@gmail.com  

What Can Writers of
Poetry & Prose Learn From 
Song Lyrics?
Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell, Leonard Cohen, and more, even Gilbert & Sullivan...

Karen Paul Holmes
Reading & Craft Talk
Open Mic
 


A longtime lover of words and beautiful writing, Karen Paul Holmes will share favorite song lyrics and point out how we can use similar techniques to improve our writing --  whether fiction, non-fiction, memoir, poetry, or blog posts.  

Karen regularly teaches writing classes at the John C. Campbell Folk School. As a former Vice President-Marketing Communications at a global financial company, and now a freelance writer, Karen has also had articles published in business journals and has led writing workshops at international conferences.

Her poetry has  appeared in about 100 journals and anthologies, and her two books are No Such Thing as Distance (Terrapin Books) and Untying the Knot (Aldrich Press). Karen says a dream came true when Garrison Keillor read her poem "Rental Cottage, Maine" on The Writer's Almanac

She'd love to hear you read at Open Mic, so if you haven't signed up, there's still time. 
Open Mic
3-4 minute maximum of poetry or prose (2 poems only, please)
To sign up,  please send Glenda an email (with a sentence she can use to introduce you)  
pcncwnwest@gmail.com 

Monday, April 12, 2021

Interview with novelist, Annette Clapsaddle

 

Annette Clapsaddle
photo by Mallory Cash

Writers' Night Out featured novelist, Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle, Friday evening. Fifteen people signed in for our Zoom meeting. I enjoyed talking with Annette who is a member of the Eastern Band Cherokee and lives in the mountains of western North Carolina. 

She has published a debut novel, Even as We Breathe, set in the area around Cherokee NC and Asheville.


    GB: Where were you born, Annette, and where did you go to school as a child?

AC: I was born in Qualla, NC. just outside of Cherokee. I went to Smokey Mountain Elementary and then Smoky Mountain High School. Yes, they are spelled differently—a detail that quite amuses me.

GB: We know you have degrees from two prestigious northern colleges. Tell us about that.

AC: I earned my Bachelor’s Degree in American Studies from Yale University, along with my Secondary English teaching license in 2003. I earned my Master’s Degree in American Studies from The College of William and Mary in 2004.

GB: What did you study there? What did you want for a career?

AC: As an American Studies major, my concentration in undergraduate and graduate school was in Native American Studies. I always knew I wanted to be an English teacher and writer, so I took many English courses and some creative writing within the American Studies field.

GB: Did you always like to write even as a child?

AC: I have written for as long as I can remember. I still have little stapled-together books from elementary school and half-filled abandoned journals from my childhood. I had a whole gaggle of make-believe friends, so I think it was inevitable. Either I would be a writer or need to work on my friend-making skills.

GB: When did you decide to write this novel, and how long did it take to get it ready to submit for publication? How did you know when it was ready?

AC: I quite honestly lose track of time and we all know that writing a novel is rarely on a linear trajectory. So, I’d say it took around four years or so from concept to publication acceptance. I was workshopping the novel at the Appalachian Writers Workshop while simultaneously looking for an agent. Because of this, I first felt it was ready for publication when Rebecca Gayle Howell (working with the new Fireside Industries imprint at University Press of Kentucky) requested it, read it, and asked to publish it. 

Before that, I had resolved to keep working on it until I found an agent. Turns out, I did not find an agent until the novel was published. And in truth, I knew it was really ready when Silas House and I finished the editing process and it finally felt complete.

GB: I tell my writing students that they should expect to revise or re-write many times before sending to a publication, magazine, or review. What do you tell your students about that? 

AC: I tell my students the same thing. In fact, I use my own process as an example and talk them through the steps when I am in the middle of a project. They sometimes get to read my rejection emails with me and I show them what editors’ comments really look like on the page. 

GB: I heard that Silas House was your editor for this novel, and you appreciate his method of helping you. What was unique about his editing?

AC: Silas is incredibly insightful, generous, and tender as an editor. I know that last description is pretty unusual for an editor. When he returned edits for any given section, his notes would often be framed as

1. This line doesn’t work. 

2. This is the reason why.

3. Here are some options for making it stronger. 

4. But only if you choose to.  

I am pretty sure I would not have had a similar experience with many other editors. He understood the project from the first day and helped mine the authentic voice I wanted to convey, not what a market might typically expect from a Native author.

GB: You have said that you learned to write from some of the most notable writers here in western NC. Can you tell us about that?

AC: I certainly learned to write in school. Of course, that was my first introduction to the craft and I had incredible English teachers growing up. But I do not have an MFA, so my adult writing education relies heavily on experiences in workshops like the Great Smoky Mountains Writers Program and the Appalachian Writers Workshop at Hindman, KY. WNC also has a wealth of incredible writers who are also willing to serve as mentors and cheerleaders. I am very fortunate to call many of them teachers and friends.

GB: Please tell us the difference between the Qualla Boundary and a reservation for native Americans?

AC: In short, both land bodies are held in trust by the U.S. government. However, with the Qualla Boundary, we bought our land back a couple of times. It is, of course, our traditional homeland, and then we have, in many instances, had to repurchase it after the Indian Removal. Reservations elsewhere are typically lands set aside by the U.S. government. We own our land and it is also federal land. 

GB: I was touched by the comments from your students who said they finally could read about someone like them They related to this boy in your novel in a way others could not.  Why is this important?

AC: Regardless of topic or subject, if I can’t relate to my students, I am not a teacher. I think writing is an extension of this. We read to understand ourselves or our environments better. So, it is the job of the writer to provide this sense of connectivity through whatever mode they choose. As humans, we crave that connectivity and clarity of understanding. To know any of my students find that in my characters is the most significant contribution of both my teaching and writing.

GB: Launching a new novel during the pandemic had to be more difficult than you had thought it would be. Do you find the virtual appearances satisfying and helpful in promoting your book?

AC: Luckily, I had no idea what to expect from the publication process. Launching in a pandemic may have been easier for a debut novelist like myself. Because it opened up new opportunities through virtual events, I think I have probably said “yes,” way too much. It has been a bit exhausting. However, I have been spared long travel. I am grateful for all of it, though. I have been surprised to see the virtual events sustainable over such a long period of time. Attendance continues to be steady and strong. My publisher (UPK) and I have been pleased with sales, so I really can’t complain. I just hope that Indie bookstores have been able to benefit from these experiences as well. They have had to make incredible adjustments.

GB: I have heard high praise from my friends who have read Even as We Breathe, and I look forward to having my copy arrive soon. We appreciate your taking time from your busy schedule to answer our questions and for being with us on Writer's Night Out.