For the next couple of weeks, I will be featuring selected authors from ECHOES ACROSS THE BLUE RIDGE on my Here, Where I Am blog.
The first author is Rosemary Royston. Please drop by and enjoy!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Quest for Publication
Beginning novelists looking to get published, I recommend you follow Pat Meese Davis' blog, http://novelistapproach.blogspot.com/ as she takes the steps you will need to make on your quest for publication. Pat's blog is new, only three posts so far, but that is why I think it is time to start following Pat who is looking for an agent for her Young Adult novel. Comment on your trials and errors in finding an agent. Your remarks may help others.
Pat is a native of Brevard, NC who lives in Pennsylvania where she has earned her PhD. She is a writer who has spent all her time writing, and is now ready to take the next steps.
Comment on your thoughts about what Pat is doing to get her book out there.
Pat is a native of Brevard, NC who lives in Pennsylvania where she has earned her PhD. She is a writer who has spent all her time writing, and is now ready to take the next steps.
Comment on your thoughts about what Pat is doing to get her book out there.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Coffee With Poets: Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin
On Thursday, July 15, Coffee with the Poets at City Lights in Sylva will feature guest Jeannette Cabanis-Brewin, a business writer and editor by vocation. She writes for a variety of print and online publications on business topics, and has been co-editor or co-author of several business books, including two winners of the Project Management Institute’s literature award. On the avocation side of the ledger, her poetry has been published in The Nomad, the Atlanta Review, and Appalachian Heritage, in the anthologies Tree Magic (SunShine Press, 2004), The Gift of Experience (Atlanta Review, 2005), Immigration, Emigration, Diversity (Chapel Hill Press, 2005), and The Moveable Nest (Helicon Press, 2007). She was a finalist in the Atlanta Review’s poetry competition in 2000 and 2005, and in the 2000 Greensboro Awards. Her chapbook, Patriate, won the Longleaf Press Open Chapbook Competition and was published by Longleaf in 2007. She lives and works in the forks of Blackbird Branch on the eastern slope of Cullowhee Mountain.
All Netwest members are cordially invited to attend. City Lights' Coffee With Poets is held on the third Thursday of each month.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
North Carolina Literary Review: NC Appalachian Literature
The new issue of NC Literary Review will be out at the end of this month. Here is a list of contents for our Appalachian feature. A reception will be held at Malaprop's Bookstore on August 14. Please join us.
Margaret Bauer, Editor
NORTH CAROLINA APPALACHIAN LITERATURE
The Land Breakers, a novel excerpt by John Ehle art by Will Henry Stevens
"wonderfully simple, yet complex": The Mountain Novels of John Ehle, by Terry Roberts art by Will Henry Stevens
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The Land Breakers, a novel excerpt by John Ehle art by Will Henry Stevens
"wonderfully simple, yet complex": The Mountain Novels of John Ehle, by Terry Roberts art by Will Henry Stevens
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Love Affairs and Family Feuds in the Smoky Mountains, an Ehle review by Jonathan Yardley
Lion on the Hearth, a novel excerpt by John Ehle
Cry Naked, Purple Hands, Dew, and Listening to Clouds, four poems by Robert Morgan art by Will Henry Stevens
Robert Morgan’s Peripheral Vision: "the point beside the point" in The Hinterlands, by Sylvia Bailey Shurbutt== photography by Horace Kephart
As If She Listened, a poem by Laurence Avery photography by Horace Kephart
"We’re still here": Eddie Swimmer on Cherokee History, Life, and Outdoor Drama in the Appalachian Mountains, an interview by Gina Caison
The Gathering, a poem by Joyce Compton Brown
"what I feel I was put on the planet to do": An interview with Wayne Caldwell, by Jerry Leath Mills
Looking Back into the Undergrowth, a review of Wayne Caldwell’s two novels, by Chris Green
Ron Rash’s Serena and the "blank and pitiless gaze" of Exploitation in Appalachia, by Joyce Compton Brown with Mark Powell photography by Horace Kephart
"Look here, world, look who this woman [is]": Silas House Interviews Pamela Duncan, introduced by Joyce Compton Brown
Drought Days, a poem by Kathryn Stripling Byer art by Noyes Capehart
Hook and Eye, a short story by Kathryn Stripling Byer photography by Rob Amberg
Mountain Tunes and Tartini Violin Concertos, a review of Julia Nunnally Duncan’s new novel, by Mae Miller Claxton
Into a Strange Country, a review of Tony Earley’s Jim sequel, by Tim Edwards art by Will Henry Stevens
Into a Strange Country, a review of Tony Earley’s Jim sequel, by Tim Edwards art by Will Henry Stevens
Praise Poem for Our Mountains, a poem by doris davenport photography by doris davenport
Resplendent, Ingenious Forms, a review of Fred Chappell’s new poetry collection, by John Lang art by Will Henry Stevens
The Poetry of Southern Appalachia, a review by Jeffrey Franklin photography by Rob Bousa
Sorry, a poem by Michael McFee art by Will Henry Stevens
Controlled Burn, a short story by Charles Dodd White photography by Rob Amberg
A Cozy Conspiracy, a review of Kenneth Butcher’s The Middle of the Air, by Brett Cox photography by Rob Amberg
Breaking Line, creative nonfiction by Christopher Wrenn photography by Rob Amberg
Blind Faith, the 2009 Doris Betts Fiction Prize story, by David McGuirt
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Updated Information on Mountain Writers in Waynesville, NC
Mountain Writers meets the second Tuesday of each month at 6:00 pm at Blue Ridge Books, WaynesvilleNC.
Call 828-235-2003 for more information. MountainWriters@charter.net
http://www.mountainwritersnc.com/Mountain_Writers_of_North_Carolina/Welcome.html
Our next meeting will be a special joint meeting of Mountain Writers of NC and Netwest Mountain Writers and Poets. Don’t miss “Lunch with the Authors” on July 13th. We’ll meet at noon for lunch at the New Happy Garden restaurant in the Waynesville Shopping Plaza close to Staples.
Mark your calendar for the Mountain Writers annual picnic. August 21 is the tentative date. That will take the place of the August meeting.
Call 828-235-2003 for more information. MountainWriters@charter.net
http://www.mountainwritersnc.com/Mountain_Writers_of_North_Carolina/Welcome.html
Our next meeting will be a special joint meeting of Mountain Writers of NC and Netwest Mountain Writers and Poets. Don’t miss “Lunch with the Authors” on July 13th. We’ll meet at noon for lunch at the New Happy Garden restaurant in the Waynesville Shopping Plaza close to Staples.
Mark your calendar for the Mountain Writers annual picnic. August 21 is the tentative date. That will take the place of the August meeting.
DO YOU HAVE ANY BAD WRITING HABITS THAT HOLD YOU BACK FROM PUBLISHING?
What are your bad writing habits?
Why is your manuscript still in your computer and not in the hands of an editor or publisher? What keeps you from submitting your work? What stops you from completing that book or story you want to see published?
Some of the bad habits many of us can’t seem to break include the following:
Self Editing – Do you read over each sentence before you write the next one? Do you have to correct any punctuation of spelling errors before you can go on? Break this habit now. Let your thoughts, your creative mind flow like a moving stream. Let it dictate the words you spill out on the page. After your story is on paper there will be plenty of time to go back and edit.
Don’t stop until the story is on the page. -- It has been said there are no great writers only great re-writers. We must revise and that takes time. But don’t revise your work until your authentic voice has disappeared. 1.Write. 2. Put away for a while. 3. Read. 4. Revise or rewrite. 5. Put it away again.
But you have to let your manuscript go, no matter how afraid you are that it is not perfect.
Second-guessing yourself about your story. – I’ve been there and I know. After the story is done, you become afraid that the story is all wrong and is not ready to go just yet. You think you have to change the main character in some way to make him better, or change the direction of the story. Suddenly the whole thing is just too much to fix and the manuscript ends up never seeing the light of day.
Fear of the consequences if you mail your manuscript. – You ask yourself these questions: What if my work is not good enough, if it is really terrible and is rejected and no one will ever want it? Can I stand the embarrassment, the personal rejection I will feel, and will I ever write again? What if I am a complete failure?
Remember, the rejection is only one person’s opinion. Don’t take it personally. The next time you submit your work it could hit on the desk of just the right editor, the one who loves it. But this will never happen if the manuscript stays hidden in a drawer or lost in a file on your computer. Don’t let fear of failure stifle your writing.
Do you have any bad habits that hinder your submitting your writing? Let us hear your thoughts on this subject.
Glenda C. Beall is Director and Instructor of writing classes at Writers Circle in Hayesville, NC. Visit her online here.
Why is your manuscript still in your computer and not in the hands of an editor or publisher? What keeps you from submitting your work? What stops you from completing that book or story you want to see published?
Some of the bad habits many of us can’t seem to break include the following:
Self Editing – Do you read over each sentence before you write the next one? Do you have to correct any punctuation of spelling errors before you can go on? Break this habit now. Let your thoughts, your creative mind flow like a moving stream. Let it dictate the words you spill out on the page. After your story is on paper there will be plenty of time to go back and edit.
Don’t stop until the story is on the page. -- It has been said there are no great writers only great re-writers. We must revise and that takes time. But don’t revise your work until your authentic voice has disappeared. 1.Write. 2. Put away for a while. 3. Read. 4. Revise or rewrite. 5. Put it away again.
But you have to let your manuscript go, no matter how afraid you are that it is not perfect.
Second-guessing yourself about your story. – I’ve been there and I know. After the story is done, you become afraid that the story is all wrong and is not ready to go just yet. You think you have to change the main character in some way to make him better, or change the direction of the story. Suddenly the whole thing is just too much to fix and the manuscript ends up never seeing the light of day.
Fear of the consequences if you mail your manuscript. – You ask yourself these questions: What if my work is not good enough, if it is really terrible and is rejected and no one will ever want it? Can I stand the embarrassment, the personal rejection I will feel, and will I ever write again? What if I am a complete failure?
Remember, the rejection is only one person’s opinion. Don’t take it personally. The next time you submit your work it could hit on the desk of just the right editor, the one who loves it. But this will never happen if the manuscript stays hidden in a drawer or lost in a file on your computer. Don’t let fear of failure stifle your writing.
Do you have any bad habits that hinder your submitting your writing? Let us hear your thoughts on this subject.
Glenda C. Beall is Director and Instructor of writing classes at Writers Circle in Hayesville, NC. Visit her online here.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Gary Carden, storyteller, in new book
CONGRATULATIONS TO GARY CARDEN
Gary is one of the sixteen storytellers featured in this book:
Southern Appalachian Storytellers
Interviews with Sixteen Keepers of the Oral Tradition
Edited by Saundra Gerrell Kelley
ISBN 978-0-7864-4751-0
photos, bibliography, index softcover 2010
Price: $35.00
To be from Appalachia--to be at home there and to love it passionately--informs the narratives of each of the sixteen storytellers featured in this work. Their stories are rich in the lore of the past, deeply influenced by family, especially their grandparents, and the ancient mountains they saw every day of their lives as they were growing up.
About the Author
Writer and storyteller Saundra Gerrell Kelley has contributed articles to the Jonesborough Herald & Tribune, the Tallahassee Democrat (Florida), and the north Florida environmental anthology, Between Two Rivers. She lives in Jonesborough, Tennessee.
Gary is one of the sixteen storytellers featured in this book:
Southern Appalachian Storytellers
Interviews with Sixteen Keepers of the Oral Tradition
Edited by Saundra Gerrell Kelley
ISBN 978-0-7864-4751-0
photos, bibliography, index softcover 2010
Price: $35.00
To be from Appalachia--to be at home there and to love it passionately--informs the narratives of each of the sixteen storytellers featured in this work. Their stories are rich in the lore of the past, deeply influenced by family, especially their grandparents, and the ancient mountains they saw every day of their lives as they were growing up.
About the Author
Writer and storyteller Saundra Gerrell Kelley has contributed articles to the Jonesborough Herald & Tribune, the Tallahassee Democrat (Florida), and the north Florida environmental anthology, Between Two Rivers. She lives in Jonesborough, Tennessee.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
NCWN West Monthly Prose Workshop Will Not Meet in July
Hello NCWN West Prose Critique members,
There will be no Prose Critique Group Thursday July 8, 2010.
Please help let NetWest members know.
August 12 meetings will resume.
Thanks. Peg Russell
Thanks. Peg Russell
Monday, June 21, 2010
Not Your Stereotypical Southern People
In my older brothers’ generation, memorizing poetry was a part of school curriculum. I remember as a child hearing two of them, Max and Ray, chanting out the verses to Gunga Din, by Rudyard Kipling. While milking cows or feeding livestock, my teenage brothers recited poetry or sang together. As you will see below in another post, this is a long poem, but they knew every word and Max can still recite it in his 81st year.
The stereotype of farm boys in the Deep South in the 1940s and ‘50s did not include reading and loving poetry. But in our schools, English teachers enjoyed poetry and made it part of the required reading. Max and Ray often entertained me with The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe.
My role models were my sister and my mother. Both were avid readers. Both enjoyed school. Winken, Blinken and Nod, one night, set off in a Wooden Shoe. I begged my big sister, June, to say that poem as she tucked me into bed each night. She pulled the covers up around me and repeated Eugene Fields' words to me in the dark while I traveled out on the night with Winken, Blinken and Nod.
Recently Newt Smith, Treasurer of Netwest, commented at Coffee with the Poets in Sylva, that his mother, as a child, would take a book of poetry with her and read while she milked the cow. In rural America, it was hard to find free time to engage in a pastime such as reading and learning poetry. There was always work to be done.
The stereotype in movies and on television would have you believe southern boys and girls were lazy, ignorant and hardly attended school. I did not know any of those stereotypical children where I grew up in southwest Georgia. My siblings and our neighbors’ kids graduated from high school while also working on the farm with their parents. All four of my brothers, along with my husband, in 1969, built a national manufacturing business which thrived in a tiny little town in Georgia until the company was sold to a California firm in the nineties.
After World War II, my brother who served in the Navy, graduated from college, ,thanks to the GI Bill. After college, he taught school and on Saturday mornings when he was home, he filled the house with the sounds of classical music and Opera. I was a high school student at that time and hardly appreciated his choice of music.
Reciting poetry, as my brothers and sisters did, seems to be a fading art today, except for a few performance poets and the Poetry Slams I read about. Michael Beadle from Haywood County is an exciting performance poet. I also enjoyed Charley Pearson’s recitation at a Netwest Picnic a few years ago. We see this in larger cities, but not in small towns.
Another southern man named Max often drops in to Coffee with the Poets in Hayesville, NC at Phillips and Lloyd bookstore. His brain is stocked with verses he learned while growing up in Georgia. We enjoy hearing him recite a few each time he comes.
Newt suspects memorizing poetry was popular in the early past century because books were hard to come by back then. The only books my brothers had were their school books or a book checked out from the book mobile in summer.
I am happy to say that the children in Hayesville and Murphy schools in North Carolina are exposed to poetry. I know this because I have read their poems in the annual Poetry contests held each year, and each year I am amazed at the work from these kids.
If you are a teacher or a parent of children in school, do you think the schools devote enough time to reading and learning poetry? Should they spend time on poetry? We would love to have your comments. Did you learn to recite poetry as a child?
The stereotype of farm boys in the Deep South in the 1940s and ‘50s did not include reading and loving poetry. But in our schools, English teachers enjoyed poetry and made it part of the required reading. Max and Ray often entertained me with The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe.
My role models were my sister and my mother. Both were avid readers. Both enjoyed school. Winken, Blinken and Nod, one night, set off in a Wooden Shoe. I begged my big sister, June, to say that poem as she tucked me into bed each night. She pulled the covers up around me and repeated Eugene Fields' words to me in the dark while I traveled out on the night with Winken, Blinken and Nod.
Recently Newt Smith, Treasurer of Netwest, commented at Coffee with the Poets in Sylva, that his mother, as a child, would take a book of poetry with her and read while she milked the cow. In rural America, it was hard to find free time to engage in a pastime such as reading and learning poetry. There was always work to be done.
The stereotype in movies and on television would have you believe southern boys and girls were lazy, ignorant and hardly attended school. I did not know any of those stereotypical children where I grew up in southwest Georgia. My siblings and our neighbors’ kids graduated from high school while also working on the farm with their parents. All four of my brothers, along with my husband, in 1969, built a national manufacturing business which thrived in a tiny little town in Georgia until the company was sold to a California firm in the nineties.
After World War II, my brother who served in the Navy, graduated from college, ,thanks to the GI Bill. After college, he taught school and on Saturday mornings when he was home, he filled the house with the sounds of classical music and Opera. I was a high school student at that time and hardly appreciated his choice of music.
Reciting poetry, as my brothers and sisters did, seems to be a fading art today, except for a few performance poets and the Poetry Slams I read about. Michael Beadle from Haywood County is an exciting performance poet. I also enjoyed Charley Pearson’s recitation at a Netwest Picnic a few years ago. We see this in larger cities, but not in small towns.
Another southern man named Max often drops in to Coffee with the Poets in Hayesville, NC at Phillips and Lloyd bookstore. His brain is stocked with verses he learned while growing up in Georgia. We enjoy hearing him recite a few each time he comes.
Newt suspects memorizing poetry was popular in the early past century because books were hard to come by back then. The only books my brothers had were their school books or a book checked out from the book mobile in summer.
I am happy to say that the children in Hayesville and Murphy schools in North Carolina are exposed to poetry. I know this because I have read their poems in the annual Poetry contests held each year, and each year I am amazed at the work from these kids.
If you are a teacher or a parent of children in school, do you think the schools devote enough time to reading and learning poetry? Should they spend time on poetry? We would love to have your comments. Did you learn to recite poetry as a child?
A Favorite of My Brother Max
"Gunga Din" (1892) is one of Rudyard Kipling's most famous poems, perhaps best known for its often-quoted last stanza, "Tho' I've belted you and flayed you, By the livin' Gawd that made you, You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din!" The poem is a rhyming narrative from the point of view of a British soldier, about a native water-bearer (a "bhisti") who saves the soldier's life but dies himself (From Wikipedia. Poem is in public domain)
Gunga Din
You may talk o' gin and beer
When you're quartered safe out 'ere,
An' you're sent to penny-fights an' Aldershot it;
But when it comes to slaughter
You will do your work on water,
An' you'll lick the bloomin' boots of 'im that's got it.
Now in Injia's sunny clime,
Where I used to spend my time
A-servin' of 'Er Majesty the Queen,
Of all them blackfaced crew
The finest man I knew
Was our regimental bhisti, Gunga Din.
He was "Din! Din! Din!
You limpin' lump o' brick-dust, Gunga Din!
Hi! Slippy hitherao!
Water, get it! Panee lao! [Bring water swiftly.]
You squidgy-nosed old idol, Gunga Din."
The uniform 'e wore
Was nothin' much before,
An' rather less than 'arf o' that be'ind,
For a piece o' twisty rag
An' a goatskin water-bag
Was all the field-equipment 'e could find.
When the sweatin' troop-train lay
In a sidin' through the day,
Where the 'eat would make your bloomin' eyebrows crawl,
We shouted "Harry By!"
Till our throats were bricky-dry,
Then we wopped 'im 'cause 'e couldn't serve us all.
It was "Din! Din! Din!
You 'eathen, where the mischief 'ave you been?
You put some juldee in it [Be quick.]
Or I'll marrow you this minute [Hit you.]
If you don't fill up my helmet, Gunga Din!"
'E would dot an' carry one
Till the longest day was done;
An' 'e didn't seem to know the use o' fear.
If we charged or broke or cut,
You could bet your bloomin' nut,
'E'd be waitin' fifty paces right flank rear.
With 'is mussick on 'is back, [Water-skin.]
'E would skip with our attack,
An' watch us till the bugles made "Retire",
An' for all 'is dirty 'ide
'E was white, clear white, inside
When 'e went to tend the wounded under fire!
It was "Din! Din! Din!"
With the bullets kickin' dust-spots on the green.
When the cartridges ran out,
You could hear the front-ranks shout,
"Hi! ammunition-mules an' Gunga Din!"
I shan't forgit the night
When I dropped be'ind the fight
With a bullet where my belt-plate should 'a' been.
I was chokin' mad with thirst,
An' the man that spied me first
Was our good old grinnin', gruntin' Gunga Din.
'E lifted up my 'ead,
An' he plugged me where I bled,
An' 'e guv me 'arf-a-pint o' water-green:
It was crawlin' and it stunk,
But of all the drinks I've drunk,
I'm gratefullest to one from Gunga Din.
It was "Din! Din! Din!
'Ere's a beggar with a bullet through 'is spleen;
'E's chawin' up the ground,
An' 'e's kickin' all around:
For Gawd's sake git the water, Gunga Din!"
'E carried me away
To where a dooli lay,
An' a bullet come an' drilled the beggar clean.
'E put me safe inside,
An' just before 'e died,
"I 'ope you liked your drink", sez Gunga Din.
So I'll meet 'im later on
At the place where 'e is gone --
Where it's always double drill and no canteen.
'E'll be squattin' on the coals
Givin' drink to poor damned souls,
An' I'll get a swig in hell from Gunga Din!
Yes, Din! Din! Din!
You Lazarushian-leather Gunga Din!
Though I've belted you and flayed you,
By the livin' Gawd that made you,
You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din!
Gunga Din
You may talk o' gin and beer
When you're quartered safe out 'ere,
An' you're sent to penny-fights an' Aldershot it;
But when it comes to slaughter
You will do your work on water,
An' you'll lick the bloomin' boots of 'im that's got it.
Now in Injia's sunny clime,
Where I used to spend my time
A-servin' of 'Er Majesty the Queen,
Of all them blackfaced crew
The finest man I knew
Was our regimental bhisti, Gunga Din.
He was "Din! Din! Din!
You limpin' lump o' brick-dust, Gunga Din!
Hi! Slippy hitherao!
Water, get it! Panee lao! [Bring water swiftly.]
You squidgy-nosed old idol, Gunga Din."
The uniform 'e wore
Was nothin' much before,
An' rather less than 'arf o' that be'ind,
For a piece o' twisty rag
An' a goatskin water-bag
Was all the field-equipment 'e could find.
When the sweatin' troop-train lay
In a sidin' through the day,
Where the 'eat would make your bloomin' eyebrows crawl,
We shouted "Harry By!"
Till our throats were bricky-dry,
Then we wopped 'im 'cause 'e couldn't serve us all.
It was "Din! Din! Din!
You 'eathen, where the mischief 'ave you been?
You put some juldee in it [Be quick.]
Or I'll marrow you this minute [Hit you.]
If you don't fill up my helmet, Gunga Din!"
'E would dot an' carry one
Till the longest day was done;
An' 'e didn't seem to know the use o' fear.
If we charged or broke or cut,
You could bet your bloomin' nut,
'E'd be waitin' fifty paces right flank rear.
With 'is mussick on 'is back, [Water-skin.]
'E would skip with our attack,
An' watch us till the bugles made "Retire",
An' for all 'is dirty 'ide
'E was white, clear white, inside
When 'e went to tend the wounded under fire!
It was "Din! Din! Din!"
With the bullets kickin' dust-spots on the green.
When the cartridges ran out,
You could hear the front-ranks shout,
"Hi! ammunition-mules an' Gunga Din!"
I shan't forgit the night
When I dropped be'ind the fight
With a bullet where my belt-plate should 'a' been.
I was chokin' mad with thirst,
An' the man that spied me first
Was our good old grinnin', gruntin' Gunga Din.
'E lifted up my 'ead,
An' he plugged me where I bled,
An' 'e guv me 'arf-a-pint o' water-green:
It was crawlin' and it stunk,
But of all the drinks I've drunk,
I'm gratefullest to one from Gunga Din.
It was "Din! Din! Din!
'Ere's a beggar with a bullet through 'is spleen;
'E's chawin' up the ground,
An' 'e's kickin' all around:
For Gawd's sake git the water, Gunga Din!"
'E carried me away
To where a dooli lay,
An' a bullet come an' drilled the beggar clean.
'E put me safe inside,
An' just before 'e died,
"I 'ope you liked your drink", sez Gunga Din.
So I'll meet 'im later on
At the place where 'e is gone --
Where it's always double drill and no canteen.
'E'll be squattin' on the coals
Givin' drink to poor damned souls,
An' I'll get a swig in hell from Gunga Din!
Yes, Din! Din! Din!
You Lazarushian-leather Gunga Din!
Though I've belted you and flayed you,
By the livin' Gawd that made you,
You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din!
THANKS TO NETWEST MEMBERS FROM CANDY FUND
To the members of NetWest who participated in the Candy Fund Book Fair in Asheville on May 15:
On behalf of the Candy Maier Scholarship Fund for Women Writers Board, we want to thank all of you who came from points west--from Waynesville and Murphy and Hiawasee--for this "first as far as we know" book fair featuring local and self-published authors. It was a long way to come for an uncertain outcome; it was a hot day and a crowded venue and your sales may not have been great. We hope, though, that visiting with your fellow writers and meeting new friends helped compensate for your time and effort.
For the Candy Fund, the event was a success. In addition to just plain enjoying seeing so many writers assembled and talking books and publishing, financially the Candy Fund can now award many scholarships in support of women taking courses, classes, workshop involving shared writing experiences.
If you know of any women who might hesitate at the brink of a class or course because of its cost, please refer them to the Candy Fund at http://www.thecandyfund.org/
We want to help and the book fair assisted in our doing so. Thank you. Celia Miles (Treasurer) for the Candy Fund Board:
Cheryl Dietrich, Chair; Gwendie Camp, JC Walkup, Martha McMullen, Jennifer Browning, Whitney George
On behalf of the Candy Maier Scholarship Fund for Women Writers Board, we want to thank all of you who came from points west--from Waynesville and Murphy and Hiawasee--for this "first as far as we know" book fair featuring local and self-published authors. It was a long way to come for an uncertain outcome; it was a hot day and a crowded venue and your sales may not have been great. We hope, though, that visiting with your fellow writers and meeting new friends helped compensate for your time and effort.
For the Candy Fund, the event was a success. In addition to just plain enjoying seeing so many writers assembled and talking books and publishing, financially the Candy Fund can now award many scholarships in support of women taking courses, classes, workshop involving shared writing experiences.
If you know of any women who might hesitate at the brink of a class or course because of its cost, please refer them to the Candy Fund at http://www.thecandyfund.org/
We want to help and the book fair assisted in our doing so. Thank you. Celia Miles (Treasurer) for the Candy Fund Board:
Cheryl Dietrich, Chair; Gwendie Camp, JC Walkup, Martha McMullen, Jennifer Browning, Whitney George
Friday, June 18, 2010
REVIEW OF: JUST BETWEEN US
REVIEW OF JUST BETWEEN US
Davis, Tom. JUST BETWEEN US. Fayetteville, NC: Old Mountain Press, Inc., 2010. 90 pages, trade paperback. $14.00. http://www.oldmountainpress.com/.
JUST BETWEEN US, compiled by Old Mountain Press, includes poetry and prose by 70 writers. North Carolina Writers’ Network-West members, Janice Townley Moore and Brenda Kay Ledford, have works in this anthology that cover relationships.
Relationships. That’s all there really is. There’s your relationship with the dust that just blew in your face, or with the person who just kicked you end over end…You have to come to terms to some kind of equilibrium, with those people around you, those people who care for you, your environment. –Leslie Marmon Silko.
This book covers a hodgepodge of relationships with: family, friends, the environment, music, math, teachers, students, God, pets, and people.
Works that cover the relationships with the environment include: Shelby Stephenson’s, “The Spring Presses my Suddenness,” and Kerri Mai Habben’s, “Leaves.” Ed Cockrell’s, poem, “Something in the Yard,” addresses beavers building dens on Collins’ Creek: “Big Red barks, and I stand on tip-toes to scan/ the moon-lit bramble. I wonder briefly/ if beavers have returned, eager for revenge.”
The relationships with animals range from Arnie Johanson’s, “A Couple of Mutts,” to C. Pleasants York’s poem, “Oscar.” This rabbit edited, critiqued, York’s work at night while munching on a carrot from his cage. His eyes were large, trusting, and liquid brown as he served as Editor in Chief.
Writers also described the relationships with families in this anthology. Blanche L. Ledford’s, “My Mentor,” tells about the bond with her mother-in-law. “I worked beside Ma as we cooked, canned food, churned buttermilk, kept house, and quilted. Ma taught me many things, and I shared my knowledge with her.”
Another story that covers the relationship with family includes Tom Davis’s, “Who’s in Charge”: “The door burst open, and Polly barreled in from a shopping spree, hugging an armload of pants, jackets, and skirts with little white tags flapping furiously in the air…”
Additionally, the relationship between a teacher and student was addressed in Barbara Ledford Wright’s, “Encouraging Andrew.” Says Wright, “The bug game was the turning point that encouraged Andrew. Between the two of us, a magnificent teacher-student relationship developed.”
Besides relationships with pets and people, Debra Kaufman explores “The Hidden Passion of Mathematicians”: “ Step into the garden of conjectures and see/ my Julia sets are uniformly perfect…”
Also, BJ Gillum refers to earthly bonds and his maker in “Eternal Love”:
When all our words are spoken
And sweet silence fills the air,
When earthly bonds are broken
And our souls ascend the stair
We will embrace and kiss forever
And to our maker we shall go.
Our hearts will then be happy
And with gladness overflow.
Finally, JUST BETWEEN US, covers the theme of relationships. It’s a wonderful anthology and the writers hold outstanding credentials. This book would make a great gift.
To order, JUST BETWEEN US, go to: http://www.oldmountainpress.com/.
Book reviewed by: Brenda Kay Ledford
http://www.brendakayledford.com/
http:blueridgepoet.blogspot.com.
Davis, Tom. JUST BETWEEN US. Fayetteville, NC: Old Mountain Press, Inc., 2010. 90 pages, trade paperback. $14.00. http://www.oldmountainpress.com/.
JUST BETWEEN US, compiled by Old Mountain Press, includes poetry and prose by 70 writers. North Carolina Writers’ Network-West members, Janice Townley Moore and Brenda Kay Ledford, have works in this anthology that cover relationships.
Relationships. That’s all there really is. There’s your relationship with the dust that just blew in your face, or with the person who just kicked you end over end…You have to come to terms to some kind of equilibrium, with those people around you, those people who care for you, your environment. –Leslie Marmon Silko.
This book covers a hodgepodge of relationships with: family, friends, the environment, music, math, teachers, students, God, pets, and people.
Works that cover the relationships with the environment include: Shelby Stephenson’s, “The Spring Presses my Suddenness,” and Kerri Mai Habben’s, “Leaves.” Ed Cockrell’s, poem, “Something in the Yard,” addresses beavers building dens on Collins’ Creek: “Big Red barks, and I stand on tip-toes to scan/ the moon-lit bramble. I wonder briefly/ if beavers have returned, eager for revenge.”
The relationships with animals range from Arnie Johanson’s, “A Couple of Mutts,” to C. Pleasants York’s poem, “Oscar.” This rabbit edited, critiqued, York’s work at night while munching on a carrot from his cage. His eyes were large, trusting, and liquid brown as he served as Editor in Chief.
Writers also described the relationships with families in this anthology. Blanche L. Ledford’s, “My Mentor,” tells about the bond with her mother-in-law. “I worked beside Ma as we cooked, canned food, churned buttermilk, kept house, and quilted. Ma taught me many things, and I shared my knowledge with her.”
Another story that covers the relationship with family includes Tom Davis’s, “Who’s in Charge”: “The door burst open, and Polly barreled in from a shopping spree, hugging an armload of pants, jackets, and skirts with little white tags flapping furiously in the air…”
Additionally, the relationship between a teacher and student was addressed in Barbara Ledford Wright’s, “Encouraging Andrew.” Says Wright, “The bug game was the turning point that encouraged Andrew. Between the two of us, a magnificent teacher-student relationship developed.”
Besides relationships with pets and people, Debra Kaufman explores “The Hidden Passion of Mathematicians”: “ Step into the garden of conjectures and see/ my Julia sets are uniformly perfect…”
Also, BJ Gillum refers to earthly bonds and his maker in “Eternal Love”:
When all our words are spoken
And sweet silence fills the air,
When earthly bonds are broken
And our souls ascend the stair
We will embrace and kiss forever
And to our maker we shall go.
Our hearts will then be happy
And with gladness overflow.
Finally, JUST BETWEEN US, covers the theme of relationships. It’s a wonderful anthology and the writers hold outstanding credentials. This book would make a great gift.
To order, JUST BETWEEN US, go to: http://www.oldmountainpress.com/.
Book reviewed by: Brenda Kay Ledford
http://www.brendakayledford.com/
http:blueridgepoet.blogspot.com.
Coffee with the Poets at City Lights in Sylva
I appreciate those who came to hear my reading today.
Coffee with the Poets at City Lights Books in Sylva started with a bang. Newt Smith, Treasurer for Netwest, served as MC for the reading. Kathryn Stripling Byer was not able to attend today.
Cynthia Gallinger, William Everett, Pat Montee
Mary Mike Keller and Rosemary Royston from Young Harris, GA made the trip over the mountains. Both shared poetry with the group which included William Everett, author of Red Clay, Blood River,and Pat Montee, wife of the late Ralph Montee, writer and poet. It was especially nice to see Pat again, in pink above.
Mary Mike Keller and Rosemary Royston from Young Harris, GA made the trip over the mountains. Both shared poetry with the group which included William Everett, author of Red Clay, Blood River,and Pat Montee, wife of the late Ralph Montee, writer and poet. It was especially nice to see Pat again, in pink above.
From right, Newt Smith, Chris Wilcox, Diana Jurss, Rosemary Royston, Mary Mike Keller.
William and I have been communicating by E-mail for two years, and finally met today. I am very disappointed that both times Bill came to Hayesville I had to be out of town and was unable to see his presentation of his book in which he uses music and a professional actress.
Diana Jurss is the featured reader for the next Coffee with the Poets in Sylva. Her book is forthcoming in August. Cynthia Gallinger was also present today. I look forward to next month's CWP at City Lights. Perhaps other poets and writers will come and share their work at Open Mic.
Diana Jurss is the featured reader for the next Coffee with the Poets in Sylva. Her book is forthcoming in August. Cynthia Gallinger was also present today. I look forward to next month's CWP at City Lights. Perhaps other poets and writers will come and share their work at Open Mic.
Chris Wilcox, owner of City Lights, could not have been nicer and more accomodating. We bought books and sold books.
The refreshments were delicious, and we had an informal opportunity to discuss our opinions about poetry, line breaks, reading aloud and reading on the page. After the reading, some of us went downstairs to the Spring Street Restaurant were we had excellent service and excellent food.r more information on Coffee with the Poets in Sylva, contact Newt Smith, smithnewton@gmail.com or Chris at more@citylightsnc.com
Monday, June 14, 2010
How To Give A Good Introduction
Members of Netwest are often asked to introduce other writers at the John C. Campbell Folk School, at Coffee with the Poets, other readings and meetings. Today while listening to a podcast on how to introduce a speaker, I learned some new things. I also learned what I’ve been doing correctly, but plan to be more vigilant when making an introduction.
First the speaker should write his own introduction. It should not contain a resume of the person’s life, all of his publications, his successes and all his awards. The introductory speech of about one or two minutes at the most, should only contain information about the speaker that relates to his subject and to this particular audience. If the person is going to talk about Self-Publishing, the introduction should center on his experience with Self-publishing, not his Senior Games Gold Medal for photography, unless he has published a photography book.
When we introduce someone we should be sure to give the speaker’s full name, his position and the name of his topic or at least indicate the subject of the topic.
Secondly, the person introducing should explain why this person was chosen to speak to this audience on this topic. We want to convince the audience that our guest speaker is qualified. For example, when I introduced Scott Owens, the poet, I talked about the number of books he had published. I mentioned how I first read his poems in an online journal and how impressed I was with his book, Paternity.
When we are asked to introduce a speaker, it is our responsibility to build his credibility with those who will be listening. We want to excite the crowd; make them anxious to hear this man speak. If we can, it is good to give our personal impression of him. Most important of all, we should not appear to read every word right off the page. We might ask the speaker to make a bulleted list of the topics he wants covered in the intro, and then we can put it into our words. Sometimes the speaker wants his intro given word for word as he wrote it. If that is so, we should follow his wishes.
The very last part of the introduction is as important as the beginning. Welcome the speaker to the stage by giving the title of his presentation and then his name, spoken more slowly, so that all will hear it and hopefully remember it. An example is, “Now to speak to us on the New World of Publishing, welcome James T. Gardner.”
Give his name last, unless the topic is more important than the person giving the talk. Then we might say, “Welcome James T. Gardner, who will speak on “The New World of Publishing.”
One last tip. Stay on stage until the speaker comes and begins, then quietly walk off so there is no break in the attention of the audience. We don’t want the audience looking at us walk off stage while the speaker is coming to the lectern. We want the audience to stay focused on the spot where the speaker will be standing.
Do you have any other tips on this subject? Let us know what you think.
Glenda C. Beall is a writer, poet and teacher living in Hayesville, NC. Her poetry book, Now Might as Well be Then, was published by Finishing Line Press, 2009
She is director of Writers Circle, classes on writing held at her studio in Hayesville. She serves as the NCWN West Clay County Representative.
First the speaker should write his own introduction. It should not contain a resume of the person’s life, all of his publications, his successes and all his awards. The introductory speech of about one or two minutes at the most, should only contain information about the speaker that relates to his subject and to this particular audience. If the person is going to talk about Self-Publishing, the introduction should center on his experience with Self-publishing, not his Senior Games Gold Medal for photography, unless he has published a photography book.
When we introduce someone we should be sure to give the speaker’s full name, his position and the name of his topic or at least indicate the subject of the topic.
Secondly, the person introducing should explain why this person was chosen to speak to this audience on this topic. We want to convince the audience that our guest speaker is qualified. For example, when I introduced Scott Owens, the poet, I talked about the number of books he had published. I mentioned how I first read his poems in an online journal and how impressed I was with his book, Paternity.
When we are asked to introduce a speaker, it is our responsibility to build his credibility with those who will be listening. We want to excite the crowd; make them anxious to hear this man speak. If we can, it is good to give our personal impression of him. Most important of all, we should not appear to read every word right off the page. We might ask the speaker to make a bulleted list of the topics he wants covered in the intro, and then we can put it into our words. Sometimes the speaker wants his intro given word for word as he wrote it. If that is so, we should follow his wishes.
The very last part of the introduction is as important as the beginning. Welcome the speaker to the stage by giving the title of his presentation and then his name, spoken more slowly, so that all will hear it and hopefully remember it. An example is, “Now to speak to us on the New World of Publishing, welcome James T. Gardner.”
Give his name last, unless the topic is more important than the person giving the talk. Then we might say, “Welcome James T. Gardner, who will speak on “The New World of Publishing.”
One last tip. Stay on stage until the speaker comes and begins, then quietly walk off so there is no break in the attention of the audience. We don’t want the audience looking at us walk off stage while the speaker is coming to the lectern. We want the audience to stay focused on the spot where the speaker will be standing.
Do you have any other tips on this subject? Let us know what you think.
Glenda C. Beall is a writer, poet and teacher living in Hayesville, NC. Her poetry book, Now Might as Well be Then, was published by Finishing Line Press, 2009
She is director of Writers Circle, classes on writing held at her studio in Hayesville. She serves as the NCWN West Clay County Representative.
Friday, June 11, 2010
LUNCH AT SPRING STREET CAFE IN SYLVA
From left to right: Nan Watkins, Bill Everett, Wayne Drumheller, K. ByerI recently had lunch with some Netwest members, as well as one non-member we are trying to talk into joining! Wayne Drumheller of Brevard met with me beforehand to discuss Netwest and the role he would like to play in its future. Fiction writer and poet William Everett of Waynesville drove over to join us for lunch. The non-member? Musician and translator Nan Watkins who lives in Tuckasegee, and who has been a friend of mine and Bill's for many years. We discussed ways that Netwest can grow as a source of news, dialogue, and enrichment for our far western counties. We hope Nan will join us soon! And we invite all Netwest members to share their vision for Netwest's future. You may leave a comment or email me.
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