We think you'd enjoy reading up on what is happening in the world of southern writers, book stores, poets and poetry, and commonplace books. Her ladyship, provides much of interest for the literary world, especially in the south.
Great recipe for Black-eyed peas and ham soup - that is a surprise, but a good one.
http://www.authorsroundthesouth.com/lady-banks
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Kelly L. Stone, guest blogger
How To Find Time to Write Despite Your Busy Life
By Kelly L. Stone
When I tell people that I've written three books and started a freelance writing career while holding down a full-time job, their jaws drop. Then the inevitable question follows: how did you find the time? That is the basis of my book Time to Write: More Than 100 Professional Writers Reveal How to Fit Writing into Your Busy Life. In that book, I reveal how I and the other authors managed to find time to write and get published, all while holding down jobs, caring for families, juggling household responsibilities and managing to get sufficient amounts of sleep.
The bottom line is, we're all busy, sometimes to the point of feeling frantic. But finding time to write can be done, no matter how busy you are. Here are just a few of the tips from my book:
1) Make writing appointments. Making time to write is similar to any new activity that you are attempting to fit into your life; let's use exercise as an example. How do you do it? You plan ahead. You decide that you'll exercise for twenty minutes, three times a week. You might choose Tuesday and Thursday at four o'clock and Saturday at nine o'clock. It's the same idea with writing. Decide when you will write, and then jot it down in your calendar. Whatever time slots you choose, write them down and then.
2) .keep the appointments. Just like you won't reap the health benefits that come with exercise if you don't regularly break a sweat, you won't reap the benefits of consistent writing if you routinely blow it off. So work hard to keep that writing appointment. Treat it like it's "real," just like an appointment with the doctor or at your child's school. The only way to do this is to exercise self-discipline and make yourself follow through.
3) Stay Focused. When it's writing time, you should be writing. Don't let yourself get sucked into surfing the Internet, checking e-mail or making a grocery list.
4) Plan your work. When you make the weekly appointments, also plan what you'll be working on during that time: Monday you'll use your twenty minutes to create plot points, Wednesday you'll use the hour for writing freely on your draft and during Friday's thirty minute session, you'll revise what you did that week. Maximize the time spent at your desk by planning ahead how you'll tackle that day's writing session.
5) Set long range and intermediate goals. Knowing what you're striving for (long range goals) will help you decide how much time you need to write and how much work you should produce during that time (intermediate goals). For example, decide what date in the future you want to have your book finished. Then, work backwards to determine how much writing you should do every week to meet that deadline. If the draft of your novel will be four hundred pages and you want to finish it in a year, then you'll have to write thirty-three pages per month (four-hundred divided by twelve), or roughly eight pages a week (thirty-three divided by four). If you write three days a week, that's two to three pages each sitting. Break your writing down this way to make time management seem easier.
6) Make up lost time. Let's face it--life happens. If you miss a writing appointment because your kid gets sick or your car breaks down or there's a family function you simply must attend, cut yourself some slack, but do plan to make up the lost time the following week if possible. This means you might have to make four writing appointments instead of your usual three, or write two hours one day instead of just one. Make every effort to stay on track with your weekly goal.
7) Reward yourself. This is an important step because you want to associate positive feelings with that self-discipline you've been practicing. It reinforces the behavior and increases the chances that you'll do it again. So at the end of each week that you kept your writing appointments, do something nice for yourself. Take a bubble bath, get a pedicure, have a romantic dinner with your spouse or buy your favorite author's latest release. You can even reward yourself at the end of each writing session. For example: If I write for thirty minutes, I can watch General Hospital.
Finding time to write is a dilemma that every writer faces, published or not. The tips above are based on my interviews with over one hundred professional writers on how they do it, and there are a lot more in my book. Give them a try!
Kelly L. Stone (www.kellylstone.com) began a freelance writing career while holding down a full-time job. Her articles and essays have been published in Family Circle, Writer's Digest, Cat Fancy, Chicken Soup for the Soul and Cup of Comfort. Her debut novel, Grave Secret, was released in September. Her book Time to Write: More Than 100 Professional Writers Reveal How to Fit Writing Into Your Busy Life is now in stores. Her next book, Thinking Write: The Secret to Freeing Your Creative Mind, will be released in October, 2009 and demonstrates how to apply the power of your subconscious mind to your writing aspirations.
By Kelly L. Stone
When I tell people that I've written three books and started a freelance writing career while holding down a full-time job, their jaws drop. Then the inevitable question follows: how did you find the time? That is the basis of my book Time to Write: More Than 100 Professional Writers Reveal How to Fit Writing into Your Busy Life. In that book, I reveal how I and the other authors managed to find time to write and get published, all while holding down jobs, caring for families, juggling household responsibilities and managing to get sufficient amounts of sleep.
The bottom line is, we're all busy, sometimes to the point of feeling frantic. But finding time to write can be done, no matter how busy you are. Here are just a few of the tips from my book:
1) Make writing appointments. Making time to write is similar to any new activity that you are attempting to fit into your life; let's use exercise as an example. How do you do it? You plan ahead. You decide that you'll exercise for twenty minutes, three times a week. You might choose Tuesday and Thursday at four o'clock and Saturday at nine o'clock. It's the same idea with writing. Decide when you will write, and then jot it down in your calendar. Whatever time slots you choose, write them down and then.
2) .keep the appointments. Just like you won't reap the health benefits that come with exercise if you don't regularly break a sweat, you won't reap the benefits of consistent writing if you routinely blow it off. So work hard to keep that writing appointment. Treat it like it's "real," just like an appointment with the doctor or at your child's school. The only way to do this is to exercise self-discipline and make yourself follow through.
3) Stay Focused. When it's writing time, you should be writing. Don't let yourself get sucked into surfing the Internet, checking e-mail or making a grocery list.
4) Plan your work. When you make the weekly appointments, also plan what you'll be working on during that time: Monday you'll use your twenty minutes to create plot points, Wednesday you'll use the hour for writing freely on your draft and during Friday's thirty minute session, you'll revise what you did that week. Maximize the time spent at your desk by planning ahead how you'll tackle that day's writing session.
5) Set long range and intermediate goals. Knowing what you're striving for (long range goals) will help you decide how much time you need to write and how much work you should produce during that time (intermediate goals). For example, decide what date in the future you want to have your book finished. Then, work backwards to determine how much writing you should do every week to meet that deadline. If the draft of your novel will be four hundred pages and you want to finish it in a year, then you'll have to write thirty-three pages per month (four-hundred divided by twelve), or roughly eight pages a week (thirty-three divided by four). If you write three days a week, that's two to three pages each sitting. Break your writing down this way to make time management seem easier.
6) Make up lost time. Let's face it--life happens. If you miss a writing appointment because your kid gets sick or your car breaks down or there's a family function you simply must attend, cut yourself some slack, but do plan to make up the lost time the following week if possible. This means you might have to make four writing appointments instead of your usual three, or write two hours one day instead of just one. Make every effort to stay on track with your weekly goal.
7) Reward yourself. This is an important step because you want to associate positive feelings with that self-discipline you've been practicing. It reinforces the behavior and increases the chances that you'll do it again. So at the end of each week that you kept your writing appointments, do something nice for yourself. Take a bubble bath, get a pedicure, have a romantic dinner with your spouse or buy your favorite author's latest release. You can even reward yourself at the end of each writing session. For example: If I write for thirty minutes, I can watch General Hospital.
Finding time to write is a dilemma that every writer faces, published or not. The tips above are based on my interviews with over one hundred professional writers on how they do it, and there are a lot more in my book. Give them a try!
Kelly L. Stone (www.kellylstone.com) began a freelance writing career while holding down a full-time job. Her articles and essays have been published in Family Circle, Writer's Digest, Cat Fancy, Chicken Soup for the Soul and Cup of Comfort. Her debut novel, Grave Secret, was released in September. Her book Time to Write: More Than 100 Professional Writers Reveal How to Fit Writing Into Your Busy Life is now in stores. Her next book, Thinking Write: The Secret to Freeing Your Creative Mind, will be released in October, 2009 and demonstrates how to apply the power of your subconscious mind to your writing aspirations.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Well, Blow the Tannery Whistle. Look Who's Come to Murphy
Appalachian Story Teller, playwright and film maker Gary Carden entertained a large audience at the Learning Center in Murphy, NC last night, January 30, 2009. The event was sponsored by North Carolina Writers Network West, of which Gary Carden is a member. He was introduced to the audience as a "National Treasure" by Glenda Beall, Program Coordinator. I was there, and I can tell you Gary Carden's is a one man show. His theme was "Blow the Tannery Whistle" and minute by minute he took each and every one of us back to the small mountain town of Sylva, North Carolina as it was in the 1940s.
The story "Blow the Tannery Whistle" is largely autobiographical Carden said. It is the tale of a mountain boy who entertains himself by acting out stories.
His grandparents seeing him talking to himself, worry about his sanity. They think he has bad blood from his mother's side of the family. Finally the men family and the men of the town meet to see if the boy should be sent away. The boy's life is changed when it is determined that he might not be all that different from the college boys seen around town. The family decides to send him to Teacher's College down the road in Cullowhee.
Those who know Gary Carden, know that he did go to college, and there he had a wonderful time acting in plays and learning how a script is written. Carden has spent 40 years of his life promoting life and culture in Southern Appalachian Mountains. He was born here in the mountains, raised here and educated here. On August 1, 2007, Western Carolina University bestowed upon Carden the Honorary Doctorate in Letters. Chancellor John Bardo presided over the ceremony.
Through the years Gary Carden made his living as a story teller, playwright and film maker. Here in the last cold, dreary days of winter, my advice to you, especially if you missed the program in Murphy last night, is get some of his audio tapes, and DVDs to entertain yourself and your family.Where to get them? www.tannerywhistle.net At the Gary Carden web site, you can see all that is available, all at reasonable prices.
"Mason Jars in the Flood and Other Stories" won the 2001 Appalachian Writers Association Award. It is available. Also "Papa's Angels" , "The Raindrop Waltz" and other plays, also the film The Prince of Dark Places is on DVD. It tells the legendary story of South Carolina outlaw Lewis Redmond. Also available is the film Willa, an American Snow White tale.
Another possibility is that you might invite Gary Carden to come visit your town. He will entertain you.
By Nancy Simpson
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Red Clay, Blood River by William J. Everett of Waynesville, NC
Waynesville, NC author William Johnson Everett has published eight books and numerous articles on social ethics and religion. He taught for over thirty years in Germany, India and South Africa as well as in the United States.
For his novel, Red Clay, Blood River, he has drawn on the simultaneous occurrence, in 1838, of our own “Trail of Tears” and South Africa’s legendary “Great Trek” to tell a sweeping saga of love and conflict in the midst of migration, invasion, slavery, and exploitation.
The story, told by Earth, braids together the lives of an African slave, the settlers of Appalachia and South Africa, and three contemporary young people struggling with this fragmented heritage of courage and pain.
Everett has joined with actress Barbara Bates Smith to cast parts of his story into dramatic readings that introduce us to the power and lyricism of Earth’s voice and the character of these remarkable people.
Smith and Everett have drawn standing room only crowds to these performances.
For more about the book, readers can visit http://www.redclaybloodriver.com/.
For more about the book, readers can visit http://www.redclaybloodriver.com/.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Meet Janet Benway and Nancy Purcell of Transylvania County, NC
Nancy Purcell
on left.
Right: Janet Benway
Netwest is fortunate to have Nancy Purcell and Janet Benway, writers in Brevard, NC. as representatives in Transylvania County, NC.
Janet is happily transplanted from Connecticut to Brevard, where she lives, walks and writes while enjoying the Blue Ridge Mountains. A former editor and college English teacher, Janet now teaches creative writing at Brevard College. Her poems appear in Lucidity, Bereavement and Long River Run.
Nancy Purcell writes and teaches a writing course for Brevard College's Creekside Program. Nancy studied Creative Writing at Florida Atlantic University, attended the Iowa Summer Workshops, and served as a North Carolina Writers Network/Elizabeth Squire Daniels Writer-in-Residence at Peace College in Raleigh, NC, under the guidance of Doris Betts.
Her stories have appeared in various literary magazines including: RiverSedge, The MacGuffin, Pangolin Papers, Trioka, LongStoryShort, The Square Table, Bereavement, and have been read on "Writers Radio Show" out of Chattannooga State College, TN.
Nancy organized a writing group, Wordsmiths, and Janet is a member. They meet every other Wednesday at Quotations, a local coffee shop. The meeting time is 11am - 1pm. Nancy can be reached for specific dates at mailto:nansea@citcom.net or 828-862-8117.
Contact these Netwest representatives if you live in Transylvania County, and they will help you with membership questions, or with information about Netwest (NCWN West) a chapter of the North Carolina Writers' Network.
Janet: 828-884-8830 and Nancy: 828.862.8117
Friday, January 16, 2009
WHAT IS SELLING IN THE INDIE BOOK STORES?
Click on this link and see what books are best sellers in various categories.
http://www.authorsroundthesouth.com/bestsellers/7651-southern-indie-bestseller-list-1112009
http://www.authorsroundthesouth.com/bestsellers/7651-southern-indie-bestseller-list-1112009
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Valentine's Day
The robins returned today.
Their voices filled the hills
and lifted my heart.
I spied with my binoculars
on these strange cupids
wearing scissor-tailed coats.
The robins returned today.
They covered my lawn
with a bronze blanket.
The sentinels strutted through
snowflakes spearing worms
with their arrow beaks.
The robins returned today.
Their songs lifted my heart
and brought a message of hope.
by: Brenda Kay Ledford
Their voices filled the hills
and lifted my heart.
I spied with my binoculars
on these strange cupids
wearing scissor-tailed coats.
The robins returned today.
They covered my lawn
with a bronze blanket.
The sentinels strutted through
snowflakes spearing worms
with their arrow beaks.
The robins returned today.
Their songs lifted my heart
and brought a message of hope.
by: Brenda Kay Ledford
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Meet Mary Mike Keller, A Very Important Person
Michelle (Mary Mike) Keller, Netwest Member and important volunteer
Among the many people who help make Netwest a successful organization is Michelle (Mary Mike) Keller who lives in Towns County just across the border between North Carolina and Georgia. Michelle's creativity in design, her talents in everything from building a house to book making, and her loyalty to friends drew me to her years ago when we first met.
In June, 2007, when I became Program Coordinator with Netwest, Mike answered my call for a volunteer to take the job of publicizing writers' events.
Some of our members don't know Mary Mike Keller. She keeps a low profile. She is a VIP and I want our members and our readers to meet her. In a recent interview, Mike answered questions about herself and her various talents.
GB: Mike, painting seems to be your first love. How long have you been an artist, and what do you like to paint?
M.K: Painting has always been part of who I am. I cannot remember ever not drawing and painting. It is one of my vocabularies. Flowers are my favorite subjects, their colors spreading across the canvas make me feel good. I like to draw and paint people. I especially like to draw people in airports as they wait. I prefer to paint at night, even into the early morning, which works well with the fact that I like to write in the late morning.
GB: You are a painter, among many other things, but you write lovely poetry, essays and stories. Do you think of yourself as a writer?
MK: I call myself a writer. I write poetry primarily, yet I enjoy the putting together of a personal essay and of course the short story that pops into my head occasionally.
I began writing for pleasure about thirteen years ago. I had the ability, in school, to write good essays and the occasional poem, but never thought of myself as one who could write. In wasn’t until I took my first class with Nancy Simpson that I began to write seriously.
I will hear someone say something, a sentence sticks in my head, bouncing around until it finds itself a poem. Often it is a simple action as in “The Purple Screen Door." I was painting my screen door purple when the line “Why purple you ask?” manifested itself.
I began writing for pleasure about thirteen years ago. I had the ability, in school, to write good essays and the occasional poem, but never thought of myself as one who could write. In wasn’t until I took my first class with Nancy Simpson that I began to write seriously.
I will hear someone say something, a sentence sticks in my head, bouncing around until it finds itself a poem. Often it is a simple action as in “The Purple Screen Door." I was painting my screen door purple when the line “Why purple you ask?” manifested itself.
GB: Why do you write?
MK: The answer is simple. Writing is fun. I write for pure pleasure.
MK: The answer is simple. Writing is fun. I write for pure pleasure.
GB: I know you are an avid reader. Tell us what you like to read.
MK: I could write volumes on this subject. It is probably answered best by telling you my favorite authors. Ann Rice is at the top of my list. As for earlier writers, F. Scott Fitzgerald tops that list. Isabel Allende, P.D. James, James Lee Burke and Amy Tan are among my favorites. I recently read “The Thirteenth Tale” by Diane Setterfield. I liked the way it held onto its secrets, only leaving hints along the way for the reader to find. This month, my book club is reading “Whistling in the Dark” by Lesley Kagen. It was a quick read and I enjoyed it very much.
GB: You have been a member of NCWN and involved with Netwest for a number of years. Tell us what you do for the writing group.
MK: I have been a member of the NCWN for many years. I handle the publicity for Netwest. I send out the monthly calendar to the newspapers and write about the readers who will be reading at John C. Campbell Folk School and Coffee With the Poets along with other items that need to be in the newspapers. I am, so to speak, the person in charge of Coffee with the Poets and am lining up the 2009 readers for Poets and Writers Reading Poems and Stories at the folk school.
GB: Thank you, Mary Mike Keller, for answering our questions and for letting our readers and fellow members get to know you.
GB: Thank you, Mary Mike Keller, for answering our questions and for letting our readers and fellow members get to know you.
Mary Mike Keller can be reached at mmkeller@brmemc.net
POEM BY MARY MIKE KELLER
PURPLE SCREEN DOOR
“Why purple?” You ask
screen door banging behind you.
“Purple is for passion.” I say.
Passion for the cool sweet taste
of tall sweating glasses of ice tea
rivulets running down the sides
pooling on old linen napkins
ironed and folded into smooth squares.
Passion for Chopin and Copland
Rachmaninoff’s rhapsody on a theme
fingers dancing across creamy ivory keys
playing on a polished piano
rubbed well with pungent lemon oil.
Passion for small smelly children
sporting mud smeared shirts
just come in from the yard
smacking liquid kisses
moist warm little circles.
Passion for written words
on pages of well worn books
friends to be read aloud to another
or who quietly sooth the soul
tirelessly in timeless wisdom.
Passion for pure love
succulent with fluid
flowing as rivers
rushing to the sea
then joined in
passion
as deep as purple.
“Why purple?” You ask
screen door banging behind you.
“Purple is for passion.” I say.
Passion for the cool sweet taste
of tall sweating glasses of ice tea
rivulets running down the sides
pooling on old linen napkins
ironed and folded into smooth squares.
Passion for Chopin and Copland
Rachmaninoff’s rhapsody on a theme
fingers dancing across creamy ivory keys
playing on a polished piano
rubbed well with pungent lemon oil.
Passion for small smelly children
sporting mud smeared shirts
just come in from the yard
smacking liquid kisses
moist warm little circles.
Passion for written words
on pages of well worn books
friends to be read aloud to another
or who quietly sooth the soul
tirelessly in timeless wisdom.
Passion for pure love
succulent with fluid
flowing as rivers
rushing to the sea
then joined in
passion
as deep as purple.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Netwest Poets, Enter your poems
Michael Beadle on left in photo heads the Charlotte Young ContestI have served on the Poetry Council of NC for a few years now and, although we have a large number of fine poets who live in the southwestern part of NC, we have very few who enter the PCNC
contests.
Let's see some entries from our Netwest poets for the Poetry Council's contests this year.
Michael Beadle from Canton NC is on the Council. His area is the Charlotte Young Contest which is for elementary and middle school students.
Teachers, help your students enter and benefit from the publication of their work and participation in Poetry Day at Catawba College in Weymouth, NC.
Let's see some entries from our Netwest poets for the Poetry Council's contests this year.
Michael Beadle from Canton NC is on the Council. His area is the Charlotte Young Contest which is for elementary and middle school students.
Teachers, help your students enter and benefit from the publication of their work and participation in Poetry Day at Catawba College in Weymouth, NC.
Parents, pass on this information to teachers who might not be aware of the contests. Help spread the word.
See all information on these contests in following post.
See all information on these contests in following post.
POETRY COUNCIL OF NORTH CAROLINA CONTEST BEGINS JAN. 15
The Poetry Council of North Carolina announces poetry contests for this year.
Go here for the guidelines
Poetry Council of North Carolina Annual Poetry Contest
Poetry Day will take place October 10, 2009
To read about Poetry Day last year go to:
Poetry Day October 4, 2008, at Catawba College.
Annual Poetry Contest rules
Opening Date: Jan 15, 2009
Closing Date: May 15, 2009.
Open to residents and former residents of North Carolina—persons born in N.C., transients from other states who either attend school or work in this state, and N.C. residents temporarily out of state.
OSCAR ARNOLD YOUNG (book contest)
CHARLES SHULL (traditional poetry)
JAMES LARKIN PEARSON (free verse)
ELLEN T. JOHNSTON-HALE (light verse)
GLADYS OWINGS HUGHES HERITAGE (free verse) CHARLOTTE YOUNG (elementary and middle school students; any subject or form)
SAM RAGAN NORTH CAROLINA CONNECTION (high school and undergraduate)
The Poetry Council of North Carolina is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit of about 15 volunteers who conduct an annual poetry contest, publish the winning poems in our contest anthology Bay Leaves, and host Poetry Day each fall so that the poets who submitted a winning poem may read and attend a luncheon that includes a guest speaker. Because we do not have a paid membership, we charge a small entry fee of $5 for adult entries by contest category, and there is a modest charge to attend the luncheon so that we may recover those costs. The student contests are supported by donations, and do not have an entry fee as a means to facilitate the ability of school administrators and teachers to encourage students to enter one of the grade-appropriate contests. Questions about the Poetry Council may be directed by e-mail to edcockrell@hotmail.com.
Hosted by Old Mountain Press Poetry and Prose Anthology Series
http://www.oldmp.com/poetrycouncilofnc/
Go here for the guidelines
Poetry Council of North Carolina Annual Poetry Contest
Poetry Day will take place October 10, 2009
To read about Poetry Day last year go to:
Poetry Day October 4, 2008, at Catawba College.
Annual Poetry Contest rules
Opening Date: Jan 15, 2009
Closing Date: May 15, 2009.
Open to residents and former residents of North Carolina—persons born in N.C., transients from other states who either attend school or work in this state, and N.C. residents temporarily out of state.
OSCAR ARNOLD YOUNG (book contest)
CHARLES SHULL (traditional poetry)
JAMES LARKIN PEARSON (free verse)
ELLEN T. JOHNSTON-HALE (light verse)
GLADYS OWINGS HUGHES HERITAGE (free verse) CHARLOTTE YOUNG (elementary and middle school students; any subject or form)
SAM RAGAN NORTH CAROLINA CONNECTION (high school and undergraduate)
The Poetry Council of North Carolina is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit of about 15 volunteers who conduct an annual poetry contest, publish the winning poems in our contest anthology Bay Leaves, and host Poetry Day each fall so that the poets who submitted a winning poem may read and attend a luncheon that includes a guest speaker. Because we do not have a paid membership, we charge a small entry fee of $5 for adult entries by contest category, and there is a modest charge to attend the luncheon so that we may recover those costs. The student contests are supported by donations, and do not have an entry fee as a means to facilitate the ability of school administrators and teachers to encourage students to enter one of the grade-appropriate contests. Questions about the Poetry Council may be directed by e-mail to edcockrell@hotmail.com.
Hosted by Old Mountain Press Poetry and Prose Anthology Series
http://www.oldmp.com/poetrycouncilofnc/
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
THINKING OF MAY AND JUNE IN POETRY
In these snowy, dark days the first of the year, it is good to read poems about May and June, continuing with poems from Scott Owens' Book of Days recently published online by The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature..http://www.deadmule.com/poetry/2009/01/scott-owens-book-of-days-a-chapbook/
Of Flowered Gardens As In May
You’ve been working the garden again
to the texture you want, beating it
with mattock and hoe, pulling up what
you won’t grow, putting down what you will.
Everything you do leaves a different taste
in your mouth. Pulling up ivy is nothing
like pulling up myrtle. Rooting one only
like the other in the earth you turn.
These are days with high foreheads
and Roman noses coming out of the ground,
with eyebrows bushy as clouds, with green hands
of limbs stroking the windows open,
with the too-cool sauntering in of May.
You sniff the air alive with spring’s ammonia,
search for the living bloom of earth
beneath stones. In the garden bitter drops
of May hang beneath umbrella leaves,
the screaming plant, the little man.Loose
strife, spiderwort, bleeding hearts
blaze their public weeping. Squirrels swing
from cats’ mouths. Birds lie dead on the path,
premature bodies pink as velvet gloves.
Lichen slices through rock. You arrive
with your hands full of little graves,
your thoughts full of the deaths of planting.
Immature May, May with its half-hearted
promises, May the almost ripe, has called
you to its secret rooms full of flowers,
to its life dripping from fingertips
of leaves. You will open the earth again.
You will set the seedling in place
and feed it with your own cracked hands.
***
June Arrives, Dressed in Grace and Pain
Hesitant, June stood waiting on the horizon for days,
then walked in with an uncertain limp,
dragging the dead heads of spring behind it.
Now it stands staring into fields that will not grow,
counts fallen fingers of foxglove, sits in the trees
at night wilting the leaves, spreading its heat around.
Now it sings in the throats of mockingbirds at night,
in distant whippoorwills teasing you out into darkness
towards dead-leaf bodies you’ll never find.
There is no loneliness like June’s confusion
of faces, bee-balm’s foolscap of red, yarrow’s
cowardly hands, bright, boasting tongues of gladiolus.
In the day edible orange daylilies open their mouths
to a sky full of promises. At night the air shines
with bodies burning to touch one another.
The angel of June flies into the room, black wings,
red belly spiraling down to black, three-part-body
you can’t help but want on top of you.
Of Flowered Gardens As In May
You’ve been working the garden again
to the texture you want, beating it
with mattock and hoe, pulling up what
you won’t grow, putting down what you will.
Everything you do leaves a different taste
in your mouth. Pulling up ivy is nothing
like pulling up myrtle. Rooting one only
like the other in the earth you turn.
These are days with high foreheads
and Roman noses coming out of the ground,
with eyebrows bushy as clouds, with green hands
of limbs stroking the windows open,
with the too-cool sauntering in of May.
You sniff the air alive with spring’s ammonia,
search for the living bloom of earth
beneath stones. In the garden bitter drops
of May hang beneath umbrella leaves,
the screaming plant, the little man.Loose
strife, spiderwort, bleeding hearts
blaze their public weeping. Squirrels swing
from cats’ mouths. Birds lie dead on the path,
premature bodies pink as velvet gloves.
Lichen slices through rock. You arrive
with your hands full of little graves,
your thoughts full of the deaths of planting.
Immature May, May with its half-hearted
promises, May the almost ripe, has called
you to its secret rooms full of flowers,
to its life dripping from fingertips
of leaves. You will open the earth again.
You will set the seedling in place
and feed it with your own cracked hands.
***
June Arrives, Dressed in Grace and Pain
Hesitant, June stood waiting on the horizon for days,
then walked in with an uncertain limp,
dragging the dead heads of spring behind it.
Now it stands staring into fields that will not grow,
counts fallen fingers of foxglove, sits in the trees
at night wilting the leaves, spreading its heat around.
Now it sings in the throats of mockingbirds at night,
in distant whippoorwills teasing you out into darkness
towards dead-leaf bodies you’ll never find.
There is no loneliness like June’s confusion
of faces, bee-balm’s foolscap of red, yarrow’s
cowardly hands, bright, boasting tongues of gladiolus.
In the day edible orange daylilies open their mouths
to a sky full of promises. At night the air shines
with bodies burning to touch one another.
The angel of June flies into the room, black wings,
red belly spiraling down to black, three-part-body
you can’t help but want on top of you.
Poetry and Essay Contest
Good Morning Everyone,
It's that time of year again that I request some Poetry and Essay judges to help out in selecting poems and essays for the Cherokee County High School students.
It is my hope to be able to add "The Learning Center," students this year which covers students in 7, 8, and 9th grades. This school has received many accolades for its academics and I have been assured that the submissions will most likely, be very good. So, if I can get enough judges and get the support of 6 new local businesses, I will proceed with this.
Please let me know ASAP if you would like to participate and at what level. These contests have been very helpful to the students in the past. Not only do they receive Savings Bonds and Certificates of Achievement that may assist them to get into the College of their choice, they also receive recognition from the community, family and peers.
As always Judges will be assigned on a first come, first serve basis.
My sincere appreciation for your support,
Paul
It's that time of year again that I request some Poetry and Essay judges to help out in selecting poems and essays for the Cherokee County High School students.
It is my hope to be able to add "The Learning Center," students this year which covers students in 7, 8, and 9th grades. This school has received many accolades for its academics and I have been assured that the submissions will most likely, be very good. So, if I can get enough judges and get the support of 6 new local businesses, I will proceed with this.
Please let me know ASAP if you would like to participate and at what level. These contests have been very helpful to the students in the past. Not only do they receive Savings Bonds and Certificates of Achievement that may assist them to get into the College of their choice, they also receive recognition from the community, family and peers.
As always Judges will be assigned on a first come, first serve basis.
My sincere appreciation for your support,
Paul
Monday, January 5, 2009
New Comment Window - Directions to subscribe
You will notice a new comment window when you click on "comments" at the end of a post. This makes commenting much simpler and hopefully will encourage more of our readers to leave comments.
To subscribe to this blog and have new posts and/or comments sent directly to your email, look at the sidebar where it says Subscribe.
Click on Post or Comment and at the menu, click on Atom.
If this doesn't work for you, let us know by email - writerlady21@yahoo.com
To subscribe to this blog and have new posts and/or comments sent directly to your email, look at the sidebar where it says Subscribe.
Click on Post or Comment and at the menu, click on Atom.
If this doesn't work for you, let us know by email - writerlady21@yahoo.com
Sunday, January 4, 2009
all’s relative
as i sat in a smoke-sated room
pecking out cold-coffee prose
wrenched from 66 re-births
of dog-eared trials & jubilations
low & be-hold
jehovah’s chosen-witness
came rapping-tapping at my door
inches beyond
the tightly-locked screen
his swivel-neck craning
high on rarified airs
he-droned on & on
of how his personal save-your
bid him in-ter my door’s yell-owed pain
at first i--small-i pondered ways
to swat this bee ear-buzzing counsel
to one whose glazed-dazed eyes
he just-knew betrayed fallow seed
having tripped some king-domes
where deep-seated junkies fly
no-way could i--small-i
condemn his joyful drug-of-choice
no-way
so sweetly sweetly
(as an old moon-crone will)
i re-leased him still-smiling
his faith in full-flight
confidant the deity
would answer all of his-prayers
& dark-ilks would never crush
his lust for truth-&-right
...as for-me...
other cravings beck-on
be-still my-will be-still
Pat
written 12-13-08--blame it on the full moon--
Thought it might be a good/fun time to post some dyslexic poetry.
Wishing you all a Great 2009!!!
pecking out cold-coffee prose
wrenched from 66 re-births
of dog-eared trials & jubilations
low & be-hold
jehovah’s chosen-witness
came rapping-tapping at my door
inches beyond
the tightly-locked screen
his swivel-neck craning
high on rarified airs
he-droned on & on
of how his personal save-your
bid him in-ter my door’s yell-owed pain
at first i--small-i pondered ways
to swat this bee ear-buzzing counsel
to one whose glazed-dazed eyes
he just-knew betrayed fallow seed
having tripped some king-domes
where deep-seated junkies fly
no-way could i--small-i
condemn his joyful drug-of-choice
no-way
so sweetly sweetly
(as an old moon-crone will)
i re-leased him still-smiling
his faith in full-flight
confidant the deity
would answer all of his-prayers
& dark-ilks would never crush
his lust for truth-&-right
...as for-me...
other cravings beck-on
be-still my-will be-still
Pat
written 12-13-08--blame it on the full moon--
Thought it might be a good/fun time to post some dyslexic poetry.
Wishing you all a Great 2009!!!
Friday, January 2, 2009
Peg Russell's Favorite websites for Writers
Peg Russell of Murphy, NC is a writer I often turn to when I need information found on the web. At my request she sent a list of some of her favortie sites for writers and some for general interest.
GOOD ONES
http://gcwriters.org/ site has contests, conferences, places to publish, etc. (Gulf Coast Writers. org)
database search for publishers of poetry, short stories, novels
free newsletter with articles and poetry markets
free newsletter, too many ads, but good market info
where to check out scams, slow payers, etc.
MORE INFORMAL
http:// http://www.fundsforwriters.com/
free newsletter, too many, but good market info, too chatty
free newsletter, Angela Booth sells her stuff, but
advice articles are light, good to review advice
TWO NON-WRITER SPECIFIC GOOD SITES
free newsletter, not a writer newsletter, but fascinating information about plants in history, folk beliefs, etc. General information
http://http://http//www.crimelabproject.com/ free newsletter about current forensic news in USA and abroad
Thanks, Peg
If any writers who read this blog would like to share some of your favorite sites for writers, please send them to writerlady21@yahoo.com
On subject line write: good sites for writers
Thursday, January 1, 2009
Netwest Call for Submissions for Anthology
NORTH CAROLINA WRITERS NETWORK WEST ANTHOLOGY
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
North Carolina Writers Network West is seeking the best short stories, essays, and poems by writers in the Netwest region. Our Goal is to collect the best writing and to introduce our writers to readers in the mountains and beyond.
Eligible Writers: Must live in and have a mailing address in
· N.C. Counties: Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Swain, or Transylvania.
· Georgia Counties: Fannin, Rabun, Towns, or Union.
· South Carolina Counties: Greenville or Pickens.
· Tennessee Counties: Blount or Polk.
Submission is open to NCWN members and non-members in these counties.
Theme: Stories, Essays, and Poems by Writers Living in or Inspired by the Southern Appalachian Mountains. While we hope the work submitted will give a feeling and flavor of the mountains, please submit your best work regardless of the subject matter.
GUIDELINES: Submission can be an excerpt from your previously published book. It can have been published in a print or web magazine, if you own the copyright. It can not have been previously published in an anthology.
· Enter one category only. Mark your envelope: Fiction, Non-Fiction, or Poetry.
· Identify your work. This is not a contest, therefore, no blind judging.
· To help with record keeping, please send a cover sheet with your contact info, and a 50 word bio.
For Fiction and Nonfiction send one or two stories or essays in 12 point type, double spaced. Combined limit total 3,000 words. On first page of manuscript write your name and contact information and the Word Count. On last page of manuscript, write name of publication if previously published.
For Poetry send one - three poems in 12 point type, single spaced. 40 line limit including title and stanza breaks. Put your name and the number of lines at the top of each page.
At the bottom of each poem, please write name of publication if previously published.
You will be notified if your work has been accepted. Send a SASE for the editor’s decision.
Do not send your only copy. Manuscripts will not be returned. If accepted, manuscripts must be submitted on a CD as a Word Document in Times New Roman.
Everyone who submits will receive a copy of the anthology
DEADLINE: Your submission must be postmarked during December 2008, January or February, 2009. Enclose Reading Fee: $10.00 Members. $18.00 non members.
Make check payable to NCWN West. Mail to Nancy Simpson, Editor,
472 Old Cherry Mtn. Trail, Hayesville, NC 28904
CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS
North Carolina Writers Network West is seeking the best short stories, essays, and poems by writers in the Netwest region. Our Goal is to collect the best writing and to introduce our writers to readers in the mountains and beyond.
Eligible Writers: Must live in and have a mailing address in
· N.C. Counties: Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Swain, or Transylvania.
· Georgia Counties: Fannin, Rabun, Towns, or Union.
· South Carolina Counties: Greenville or Pickens.
· Tennessee Counties: Blount or Polk.
Submission is open to NCWN members and non-members in these counties.
Theme: Stories, Essays, and Poems by Writers Living in or Inspired by the Southern Appalachian Mountains. While we hope the work submitted will give a feeling and flavor of the mountains, please submit your best work regardless of the subject matter.
GUIDELINES: Submission can be an excerpt from your previously published book. It can have been published in a print or web magazine, if you own the copyright. It can not have been previously published in an anthology.
· Enter one category only. Mark your envelope: Fiction, Non-Fiction, or Poetry.
· Identify your work. This is not a contest, therefore, no blind judging.
· To help with record keeping, please send a cover sheet with your contact info, and a 50 word bio.
For Fiction and Nonfiction send one or two stories or essays in 12 point type, double spaced. Combined limit total 3,000 words. On first page of manuscript write your name and contact information and the Word Count. On last page of manuscript, write name of publication if previously published.
For Poetry send one - three poems in 12 point type, single spaced. 40 line limit including title and stanza breaks. Put your name and the number of lines at the top of each page.
At the bottom of each poem, please write name of publication if previously published.
You will be notified if your work has been accepted. Send a SASE for the editor’s decision.
Do not send your only copy. Manuscripts will not be returned. If accepted, manuscripts must be submitted on a CD as a Word Document in Times New Roman.
Everyone who submits will receive a copy of the anthology
DEADLINE: Your submission must be postmarked during December 2008, January or February, 2009. Enclose Reading Fee: $10.00 Members. $18.00 non members.
Make check payable to NCWN West. Mail to Nancy Simpson, Editor,
472 Old Cherry Mtn. Trail, Hayesville, NC 28904
Book of Days - A Chapbook by Scott Owens
I think poems from Scott Owens' Book of Days - A chapbook --- are especially appropriate for this day beginning 2009.
"Book of Days," has been published online by The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature..http://www.deadmule.com/poetry/2009/01/scott-owens-book-of-days-a-chapbook/
Poems will be continued in future posts.
January Looks Forward and Back,
Feeds the Stove October’s Wood,
Saves the Ashes for April’s Garden
January wraps trees in sleeves
of ice, coats the ground in frost,
throws its shawl of morning mist
on field and lake and stream.
January plants sage and lavender,
costmary and mint, pulls up fingers
of crocus and daffodil,green
uds of forsythia, rose, spirea.
January’s voice is cold and coarse
–the silver moon, the blue sky,
the gray sky, the absinthe moon,
the empty trees, the trees filled
with cedar waxwings. January
wears out darkness sleeping late,
puts on morning’s half-white face,
speaks of what is bare and necessary.
It is dangerous to know the mind
of January.January is life
and death, the new born from the chest
of the old, half-formed eyes of flowers
forcing their way through tight skin
of limbs, mouths of bulbs tonguing
up through dirt,opening to earth
and sky and air of January.
**
February’s Air of Waiting
February, his feet by a fire,
warms the morning’s chill away,
huddles under horsehair, bearskin,
eats savory, spinach, and sweet
marjoram, cradles a book of days
in his hands,wearily scratches
in plans of days to come. Scratching
in ashes, February stokes the fire,
watches flames the color of day
speak, roar, sing their way
to dying, listens to the thick, sweet
sound of wood burning to skins
of black ash, dry, skinny
sticks, half-dead limbs scratching
against each other, green wood sweating,
snapping, spitting into the fire,
life consumed with eating away
its own body and lighting the days
of February’s interiors. Such days,
kept wrapped in thick skins
of house and cloak, await the sweet
sounds of newborn spring scratching
at windows, sun’s warmth firing
panes to melting, sweeping away
the ground’s cover of ice, sweetening
the air with labor’s harsh perfume. Today
February can only bank the fire,
gather limbs, hang skins
to dry, absently scratch
blades on whetstones, put the tools away.
Outside the world goes winter’s way,
hedges white with malignant sweetness,
limbs full of irritable scratching,wind howling
at the day,earth drinking its icy skin,
trees lit with frostian fire.
Sprout-kale, month-long day of waiting,
sweet season of keeping beneath the skin,
I will scratch my way from your consumptive fire.
**
March with Your Flowers Burning
Just as I had gotten things under
control again, you showed up,
with your head in the clouds,
your eyelids full of rain,
your cuffs of late snow,
your feet tracking mud,
you who refuse to be ruled,
you with your willow’s strand
of pearls, you with your fingers
sucking scilla, daffodil, crocus,
your nostrils stuffed with snot,
your cheeks puffed,
your lips dripping lullabies,
your rainbow-wicked smile,
you with your forsythia switch,
your many-voweled throat, your mind
like black ice, your hands always
open , the slap and plea, the cup
and howl, the easy lure,
the careless jangle of trees.
How could I hope to respond,
my arms grown thin, my eyes
winter-blind, my hands
unaccustomed to such change?
You were the one I dreamed of,
with your mouth full of promises,
your cheeks honey-smeared,
your hands around my balls.
**
Rush of April Coming In
Schizophrenic April rained the ceiling down
pulled up lamb’s ear and fennel columbine and sage
ran the radio outdoors the clouds transforming
the hills running mud my feet slippery wet
on steps sweating thick socks tracking criss
-crossed patterns of brown-yellow earth the architecture
of days sprouting green lines across the sky
running streams of water between brick beside the road
across the yard in widening pools of sunshine dripping
puddles beneath the trees cold fingers raking
the sky white gray blue or black and flowers blooming
anyway April’s cruelest joke not enough to stop
their show of colors only slightly mud-spattered
the way they clean themselves like cats in windows waiting
for mid-month to fling themselves open as mouths
to weather warming with winter’s burning away.
"Book of Days," has been published online by The Dead Mule School of Southern Literature..http://www.deadmule.com/poetry/2009/01/scott-owens-book-of-days-a-chapbook/
Poems will be continued in future posts.
January Looks Forward and Back,
Feeds the Stove October’s Wood,
Saves the Ashes for April’s Garden
January wraps trees in sleeves
of ice, coats the ground in frost,
throws its shawl of morning mist
on field and lake and stream.
January plants sage and lavender,
costmary and mint, pulls up fingers
of crocus and daffodil,green
uds of forsythia, rose, spirea.
January’s voice is cold and coarse
–the silver moon, the blue sky,
the gray sky, the absinthe moon,
the empty trees, the trees filled
with cedar waxwings. January
wears out darkness sleeping late,
puts on morning’s half-white face,
speaks of what is bare and necessary.
It is dangerous to know the mind
of January.January is life
and death, the new born from the chest
of the old, half-formed eyes of flowers
forcing their way through tight skin
of limbs, mouths of bulbs tonguing
up through dirt,opening to earth
and sky and air of January.
**
February’s Air of Waiting
February, his feet by a fire,
warms the morning’s chill away,
huddles under horsehair, bearskin,
eats savory, spinach, and sweet
marjoram, cradles a book of days
in his hands,wearily scratches
in plans of days to come. Scratching
in ashes, February stokes the fire,
watches flames the color of day
speak, roar, sing their way
to dying, listens to the thick, sweet
sound of wood burning to skins
of black ash, dry, skinny
sticks, half-dead limbs scratching
against each other, green wood sweating,
snapping, spitting into the fire,
life consumed with eating away
its own body and lighting the days
of February’s interiors. Such days,
kept wrapped in thick skins
of house and cloak, await the sweet
sounds of newborn spring scratching
at windows, sun’s warmth firing
panes to melting, sweeping away
the ground’s cover of ice, sweetening
the air with labor’s harsh perfume. Today
February can only bank the fire,
gather limbs, hang skins
to dry, absently scratch
blades on whetstones, put the tools away.
Outside the world goes winter’s way,
hedges white with malignant sweetness,
limbs full of irritable scratching,wind howling
at the day,earth drinking its icy skin,
trees lit with frostian fire.
Sprout-kale, month-long day of waiting,
sweet season of keeping beneath the skin,
I will scratch my way from your consumptive fire.
**
March with Your Flowers Burning
Just as I had gotten things under
control again, you showed up,
with your head in the clouds,
your eyelids full of rain,
your cuffs of late snow,
your feet tracking mud,
you who refuse to be ruled,
you with your willow’s strand
of pearls, you with your fingers
sucking scilla, daffodil, crocus,
your nostrils stuffed with snot,
your cheeks puffed,
your lips dripping lullabies,
your rainbow-wicked smile,
you with your forsythia switch,
your many-voweled throat, your mind
like black ice, your hands always
open , the slap and plea, the cup
and howl, the easy lure,
the careless jangle of trees.
How could I hope to respond,
my arms grown thin, my eyes
winter-blind, my hands
unaccustomed to such change?
You were the one I dreamed of,
with your mouth full of promises,
your cheeks honey-smeared,
your hands around my balls.
**
Rush of April Coming In
Schizophrenic April rained the ceiling down
pulled up lamb’s ear and fennel columbine and sage
ran the radio outdoors the clouds transforming
the hills running mud my feet slippery wet
on steps sweating thick socks tracking criss
-crossed patterns of brown-yellow earth the architecture
of days sprouting green lines across the sky
running streams of water between brick beside the road
across the yard in widening pools of sunshine dripping
puddles beneath the trees cold fingers raking
the sky white gray blue or black and flowers blooming
anyway April’s cruelest joke not enough to stop
their show of colors only slightly mud-spattered
the way they clean themselves like cats in windows waiting
for mid-month to fling themselves open as mouths
to weather warming with winter’s burning away.
Saturday, December 20, 2008
LIGHT AND LANGUAGE, from "Language Matters" for December
Light and Language
When I was a studying Spanish in college, I traveled to Mexico for summer school at the university in Saltillo. Before my departure I dreamed one night about an animal leading me into a labyrinth. When we reached the center, I saw that the beckoning animal was a jaguar holding a heart in his paw. I later learned that the jaguar is sacred to the Mayans, and I took this dream as a good sign, because the darkness was filled with pulsing light from the jaguar’s presence.
On one of our trips into the Mexican countryside, my classmates and I encountered a woman who wanted us to take her picture. The day was overcast and she kept asking, Hay bastante luz?
Is there enough light? That question resonates still in my imagination, the way light enters into so much of what we long for and speak about at this time of year.
I remembered the woman’s question when my four-month-old daughter sat in her baby seat before our large living-room windows, conducting the morning light with her hands and singing back to it. The rest of the day, it seemed to me there was never enough light, especially when her colic returned, and instead of singing, she cried.
One of our state’s most renowned poets, Betty Adcock, has written a poem entitled “Word-Game.” It begins with these lines: “A child watching a moonrise/ might play a game of saying,/ might hold the word moon in his mouth/and push it out over and over.” In lines that could serve as the motif for this season, the poem concludes:
In a net of sound like the body’s
own singing web, a child
will be rising
with light for a language.
In the Christian tradition, the Word is the light of the world. Likewise, each word brings its own particular revelation, regardless of the language in which it is spoken: Spanish, French, Vietnamese, Cherokee, Lakota Sioux. Some politicians clamor for a law decreeing English the official language of the United States, but nothing will be able to stop the words that rise up from the languages of the people.
So this Christmas I wish you in Hindi Krismas ki subhkamna, in Arabic miilaad majiidas, and in Cherokee Danistayohihv, along with the more familiar feliz Navidad and joyeux Noël, and Fröhliche Weihnachten. Each expression casts a slightly different light on the season it celebrates, much the way the lightcatcher hanging in my bedroom will soon begin to gather the winter light and spread its spectrum around my walls. The poet Elizabeth Bishop called these lights “rainbow-birds,” but my daughter and I called them “rainbow fish,” because her astrological sign is Pisces, and I thought of her then as my little fish: ma petite poisson. These rainbows remind me that what looks like a beam of light is really composed of many colors—that light is both particle and wave. What we call reality is really the many manifestations of light, and our words capture that reality in their multifaceted sounds and meanings.
~ Kathryn Stripling Byer
When I was a studying Spanish in college, I traveled to Mexico for summer school at the university in Saltillo. Before my departure I dreamed one night about an animal leading me into a labyrinth. When we reached the center, I saw that the beckoning animal was a jaguar holding a heart in his paw. I later learned that the jaguar is sacred to the Mayans, and I took this dream as a good sign, because the darkness was filled with pulsing light from the jaguar’s presence.
On one of our trips into the Mexican countryside, my classmates and I encountered a woman who wanted us to take her picture. The day was overcast and she kept asking, Hay bastante luz?
Is there enough light? That question resonates still in my imagination, the way light enters into so much of what we long for and speak about at this time of year.
I remembered the woman’s question when my four-month-old daughter sat in her baby seat before our large living-room windows, conducting the morning light with her hands and singing back to it. The rest of the day, it seemed to me there was never enough light, especially when her colic returned, and instead of singing, she cried.
One of our state’s most renowned poets, Betty Adcock, has written a poem entitled “Word-Game.” It begins with these lines: “A child watching a moonrise/ might play a game of saying,/ might hold the word moon in his mouth/and push it out over and over.” In lines that could serve as the motif for this season, the poem concludes:
In a net of sound like the body’s
own singing web, a child
will be rising
with light for a language.
In the Christian tradition, the Word is the light of the world. Likewise, each word brings its own particular revelation, regardless of the language in which it is spoken: Spanish, French, Vietnamese, Cherokee, Lakota Sioux. Some politicians clamor for a law decreeing English the official language of the United States, but nothing will be able to stop the words that rise up from the languages of the people.
So this Christmas I wish you in Hindi Krismas ki subhkamna, in Arabic miilaad majiidas, and in Cherokee Danistayohihv, along with the more familiar feliz Navidad and joyeux Noël, and Fröhliche Weihnachten. Each expression casts a slightly different light on the season it celebrates, much the way the lightcatcher hanging in my bedroom will soon begin to gather the winter light and spread its spectrum around my walls. The poet Elizabeth Bishop called these lights “rainbow-birds,” but my daughter and I called them “rainbow fish,” because her astrological sign is Pisces, and I thought of her then as my little fish: ma petite poisson. These rainbows remind me that what looks like a beam of light is really composed of many colors—that light is both particle and wave. What we call reality is really the many manifestations of light, and our words capture that reality in their multifaceted sounds and meanings.
~ Kathryn Stripling Byer
Book Signings, Christmas, Dogs and Horses
Carole Thompson, author of the short story, A Bag of Sugar for Paula, at the Book Nook in Blairsville, GA. Her story is included in the anthology Christmas Presence, edited by Celia Miles and Nancy Dillingham.
I awoke early today, Saturday, another rainy day, but delightful day for me. Shirley Uphouse and I had a date to sign books at the Mountain Valley Country Store in Hayesville, NC, a really neat place for animal lovers. Saddles, bridles, halters, and everything needed for horse owners. Dog food, dog toys, dog "clothes", and anything one might want for a beloved dog. Lots of cool clothes, leather, jeweled jackets, boots, and jeans and hats. Just the place to find folks interested in our books.
We sat up our table in a little spot out of the way and not easily seen by incoming customers, but since this was where the owner placed us, we were grateful to be there.
This morning I baked chocolate chip cookies and found an 8x10 photo of Barry riding his horse. My story, An Angel Named Amos, is about him and a very special horse. I placed a holiday plate filled with cookies and the framed photo on the table with my Cup of Comfort for Horse Lovers books.
Shirley brought her book, My Friends, My Dogs, and placed one on an
easel. Her book has an attractive cover with a Keeshond on the front.
Before I could get my books out, two writer friends, Nancy Simpson and Glenda Barrett, appeared to buy copies. I know that neither of them are horse enthusiasts, so I hope they give the books as gifts, (after they read my story). With friends like this who support my writing, I feel extremely blessed. Both of them already had copies of My Friends, My Dogs.
Two ladies approached and said they had seen the article about our book signing in the local newspaper. One lady wanted two copies for two horse loving sisters.
Clay County poet, Brenda Kay Ledford bought a book and stuck around to take a photograph of Shirley and me.
By this time I had forgotten the nasty weather outside. It did not seem to slow the traffic coming into the store. Recently I read that the smell of chocolate increases the desire to shop, so I offered everyone a cookie. A few just followed their noses and ended up at our table.
Since I enjoy meeting and talking with people, I sold two books for Shirley, having to go find her at one point so she could sign one for the lady. I was having fun!
I only had ten copies of Cup of Comfort for Horse Lovers. I sold nine. One I gave away. Lorraine and Chip, owners of the store refused a commission on the books, which was extremely nice of them.
Yesterday, I kept Carole Thompson company while she signed copies of Christmas Presence at the Book Nook in Blairsville, GA. The store quickly sold out and Carole's husband had to go home and bring more books.
Could it be the season? Could it be the books and the subjects of the books? Christmas stories appeal to all of us, and make wonderful gifts.
Shirley's book and the anthology I signed appeal to animal lovers and almost everyone is a dog or cat enthusiast. In our area many are horse people. I met a teenager today who said her family owned twenty horses and three of them belonged to her. She brought her mother over to buy a book.
We have issued a call for submissions for our next NCWN West anthology. When it is published, we want to hold signings in every town in our area. We'll be sure to bake and serve chocolate chip cookies.
We sat up our table in a little spot out of the way and not easily seen by incoming customers, but since this was where the owner placed us, we were grateful to be there.
This morning I baked chocolate chip cookies and found an 8x10 photo of Barry riding his horse. My story, An Angel Named Amos, is about him and a very special horse. I placed a holiday plate filled with cookies and the framed photo on the table with my Cup of Comfort for Horse Lovers books.
Shirley brought her book, My Friends, My Dogs, and placed one on an
easel. Her book has an attractive cover with a Keeshond on the front.
Before I could get my books out, two writer friends, Nancy Simpson and Glenda Barrett, appeared to buy copies. I know that neither of them are horse enthusiasts, so I hope they give the books as gifts, (after they read my story). With friends like this who support my writing, I feel extremely blessed. Both of them already had copies of My Friends, My Dogs.
Two ladies approached and said they had seen the article about our book signing in the local newspaper. One lady wanted two copies for two horse loving sisters.
Clay County poet, Brenda Kay Ledford bought a book and stuck around to take a photograph of Shirley and me.
By this time I had forgotten the nasty weather outside. It did not seem to slow the traffic coming into the store. Recently I read that the smell of chocolate increases the desire to shop, so I offered everyone a cookie. A few just followed their noses and ended up at our table.
Since I enjoy meeting and talking with people, I sold two books for Shirley, having to go find her at one point so she could sign one for the lady. I was having fun!
I only had ten copies of Cup of Comfort for Horse Lovers. I sold nine. One I gave away. Lorraine and Chip, owners of the store refused a commission on the books, which was extremely nice of them.
Yesterday, I kept Carole Thompson company while she signed copies of Christmas Presence at the Book Nook in Blairsville, GA. The store quickly sold out and Carole's husband had to go home and bring more books.
Could it be the season? Could it be the books and the subjects of the books? Christmas stories appeal to all of us, and make wonderful gifts.
Shirley's book and the anthology I signed appeal to animal lovers and almost everyone is a dog or cat enthusiast. In our area many are horse people. I met a teenager today who said her family owned twenty horses and three of them belonged to her. She brought her mother over to buy a book.
We have issued a call for submissions for our next NCWN West anthology. When it is published, we want to hold signings in every town in our area. We'll be sure to bake and serve chocolate chip cookies.
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