Give Yourself the Write Start in January... with a Folk School class

January 26 Weekend: "Your Write Time" 

all genres & levels of writing experience welcome

taught by Karen Paul Holmes

Come be inspired and productive while having fun in a place of beauty. Whether you’re already writing or looking for a place to begin, give yourself the gift of time in a setting conducive to creativity. Magic—inspiration, encouragement, and laughter—abounds inside the studio. 

Gain editing and publishing tips from the instructor and learn from and support your classmates’ polished and unpolished work. Return home with the motivation to continue your writing and maybe even pursue publication. 

Local residents usually qualify for a discount. 

For more information and to register visit John C. Campbell Folk School: www.folkschool.org

About the instructor:  Karen Paul Holmes won the 2023 Lascaux Poetry Prize and received a Special Mention in the Pushcart Prize anthology. Her two poetry books are No Such Thing as Distance (Terrapin Books) and Untying the Knot (Aldrich Press). She's is widely published in literary journals, including Plume, Gargoyle, and Prairie Schooner, and her poems have been read by Garrison Keillor on The Writer's Almanac and by the US Poet Laureate on The Slowdown podcast. Karen founded the Side Door Poets in Atlanta in 2010 and still hosts the group monthly. At about the same time, she started a monthly Writers' Night Out in the N. Georgia Mountains and hosted it until recently. She is also a freelance writer and has taught writing workshops at local and international conferences and various venues. Karen is a member of the North Carolina Writers' Network. www.karenpaulholmes.com

Registration now open: Carol Crawford writing class March 26, Moss Memorial Library

Where: Moss Memorial Library, Hayesville, NC

Sponsored by NC Writers Network West 

Instructor: Carol Crawford

Fee: $40.00 

Time: 1:30 - 4:30 Thursday - March 26

He Said, She Said:  Tackling Dialogue in Prose

This interactive workshop will help you bring your characters to life with dialogue that is authentic, clear, and compelling. Capture the flavor of personality, place, and culture through speech that sounds real. In-class exercises will cover word choice, tone, action beats, what to leave out, and format.

Carol Childers Crawford is the owner of Carol Crawford Editing and author of The Habit of Mercy, Poems about Daughters and Mothers.
Carol has led workshops and taught creative writing for the John C. Campbell Folk School, the Dahlonega Literary Festival, The Red Clay Writers’ Conference, The Writers’ Circle, the North Carolina Writers’ Network, and the Carrollton Writers’ Club. She has been a volunteer with the Blue Ridge Writers’ Conference since it began more than twenty years ago.

She has been published in the Southern Humanities Review, the Chattahoochee Review, and the Journal of Kentucky Studies among others. Originally from Texas, she holds a journalism and English degree from Baylor University.

Through teaching and editing, Carol finds joy in helping people tell their stories.

She spends her free time doing needlepoint and badgering county commissioners about library funding. 

Contact Glenda Beall - glendabeall@msn.com for registration information

News News News

Hello, Karen Paul Holmes here. I've been saving up news items, so here is a mishmash:

Give yourself the gift of time to write: Come to my all-genre writing class at the wonderful John C. Campbell Folk School, May 3-9. Locals may qualify for half-price tuition, so get on the list today! Bring a friend for any number of other arts/crafts classes offered that week -- it's like summer camp for adults.   https://classes.folkschool.org/class_details.aspx?pk=17708

Writers' Night Out will resume in April. We may be switching back to Friday nights, so please let me know your preference.

Some of you know that my dog Watson loves watching TV.
Well, he loves looking at my laptop screen as I type too,
and he's pretty good at grammar.

Have you Googled yourself lately? Recently, I was surprised to find that the poem "Rug" from my book, Untying the Knot, was included in a list of the Top 10 "Red" Poems by Tweetspeak Poetry on Oct 14. Go figure! You an read it and the other top poems using the color red here: http://www.tweetspeakpoetry.com/2014/10/16/top-ten-red-poems/

I've been busy doing readings from my book and workshops, including the Georgia Poetry Society meeting in Gainesville, the Decatur Public Library (as part of the Georgia Center for the Book), and an upcoming reading with Michael Diebert (editor of the Chattahoochee Review) at Callanwolde Arts Center in Atlanta on Feb 11 at 8 pm. My book is available on Amazon in Kindle and paperback. If you'd like a personalized copy, please let me know. I'm running out of my supply, which is a happy problem for poets.

A new publication is accepting submissions: Sling Magazine. My poem about my mom and dad meeting in Australia during WWII is in the second issue (page 7) here: http://www.slingmag.com/

My mom and dad in Australia, WWII

As It Ought to Be featured two poems on their Saturday Poetry Series, November 15. You can read "Drawn into Circles" (my most published poem) and "Teaching Mozart in Stone Mountain Prison" here:  http://asitoughttobe.com/2014/11/15/saturday-poetry-series-presents-karen-paul-holmes/

OK, folks, I think that's it for the new news. Hope your writing will flourish in 2015.

Glenda C. Beall Interviews Robert S. King, Poet, Editor and former Director of FutureCycle Press

GCB: I met you in Dahlonega, GA a few years ago, Robert, when you had just taken over as President of the Georgia Poetry Society. Then you came to Writers Night Out in Hiawassee, GA.  We were happy to find you had moved to the mountains and lived in NCWN West territory.

GCB: You were director of FutureCycle Press at that time.

Robert: FutureCycle Press began in 2007. However, I have also been editor or co-editor of several other presses, dating back to the mid-1970s.

GCB; How many books have been published by FutureCycle Press?

Robert: So far, 50 titles (books, chapbooks, anthologies), with 10 more in production

GCB: When did you begin publishing your poetry? Tell me again, how many of your own books have been published?

Robert: The first poem I published was in 1974, unless you count a short one printed in the church bulletin when I could barely write my name.
I have published six collections of poetry (three chapbooks and three full-length titles), with another full-length manuscript ready to seek a publisher.

Online Submissions Systems and Market Lists for Writers

GCB: On April 20, you will teach a workshop on the Nuts and Bolts Guide to Online Submission Systems and Market Lists for Writers 
Why is it important for writers to learn how to submit online and what will they learn in your class that they can't pick up on the Internet?

Robert:  Online submission is now the standard, no longer an exception to the rule. More and more publications are not only allowing electronic submissions but also requiring it.
Snail-mail submissions will be obsolete before too many years pass.

My class will not teach you anything that you couldn't learn on your own, but it will prevent you from having to go through the School of Hard Knocks, wasting your time.
It takes quite awhile to discover all the resources for submissions and no small amount of time learning how to use them. My class will jump-start your proficiency at selecting suitable publishers and sending according to their guidelines.

GCB: Is this class for experienced writers and poets or for beginners?

Robert: It's for any level of writer. Even many advanced writers don't know the resources available. However, beginning to intermediate writers will benefit most.

GCB: People know you as a poet. Is the class at Moss Memorial Library for poets only or for any writer?

Robert: The class is geared toward literary genres, including poetry, fiction, and essays. However, the resources discussed are comprehensive and suitable for any kind of writing, except perhaps cookbooks.

GCB: Thank you, Robert. You are always generous about giving of your time to help other writers. We all appreciate you.


To register for Robert's class contact Glenda Beall at nightwriter0302@yahoo.com 
or rsking@futurecycle.org


Glenda Council Beall (GCB) is an administrator of this blog, a poet and writer. See other interviews with Nancy Simpson, Scott Owens.
Visit Robert King's website to learn more about him and his poetry.

WRITING CLASS IN HAYESVILLE

Estelle Rice

Writers in this area know Estelle Rice, a long time member of the North Carolina Writers Network West. She will teach Writing from the Spirit Within at Writers Circle in Hayesville, NC Wednesday, July 18, 10:00 - 1:00 p.m.

Rice says, "All of us have treasures stored within our memories that can jumpstart the writing process. Some of these memories are so deeply hidden we are surprised when they come to the surface. In this class we will investigate nature, people, places and things to discover their essence. This technique will bring depth to our writing whether poetry or prose."


Estelle Rice is a native Tar Heel, born in Rocky Mount, raised in Charlotte, and now lives in the mountains in Cherokee County. She received a BA degree in psychology from Queens University and an MA in counseling from the University of South Alabama. She studied writing at Faulkner Community College in Fairhope, Alabama and the University of South Alabama, Mobile.

She enjoys writing poetry, fiction and personal essays. She published a book of spiritual poetry, QUIET TIMES.  Her short stories have been published in Appalachian Heritage Journal, the Kentucky Journal, and anthologies, LIGHTS IN THE MOUNTAINS, and ECHOS ACROSS THE BLUERIDGE as well as other publications.
Contact Glenda Beall, 828-389-4441 or nightwriter0302@yahoo.com for registration information.

Netwest Member, Michelle Keller, will teach genealogy/writing class

Netwest member, Michelle Keller, writer, poet, painter and genealogist, will once again teach a class at Writers Circle  in Hayesville, NC. Mary Mike, as she is best known to us, served as publicity chair for Netwest for several years. She co-hosted Coffee with the Poets and supports NCWN West in many ways.

Her genealogy/writing class was filled to capacity last year and is expected to fill up quickly again.

Writing Your Ancestors' Stories

Michelle Keller, a seasoned genealogist and published writer, will teach a class on finding your ancestors and how to write their stories.
Bones to Flesh, 
Genealogy and Writing Class
Wednesdays, August 31, September 7, and September 14.
10:00 AM - 1:30 PM. - Writers Circle, Hayesville, NC (home studio of Glenda Beall)
$40.00 for all three classes plus free handouts.
Register: Send check made to Writers Circle, 581 Chatuge Ln, Hayesville, NC 28904

Click Here for more information  -

http://glendacouncilbeall.blogspot.com/2011/08/upcoming-classes-at-writers-circle.html