Meet our Writers' Night Out Headliners: Linda Jones & Alan Cone

October 11, 7 pm

Union County Community Center

Blairsville, GA

Open Mic follows the reading

Join us for Linda's intelligent, heartfelt poetry; and Alan's smart, quirky prose. (Read his bio below for a sample). 

Linda Grayson Jones is an Associate Professor of Biology and Dean of Math and Science at Young Harris College. She has read and written poetry since childhood and recalls reading The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes to her third-grade classmates. With a B.S. in Biology from Stetson University, an M.A. in Biology and a Ph.D. in Pathology from Vanderbilt University, Linda's career path was primarily in academic biomedical research, but in 2009 she returned to her first love—teaching. She remains a reader and writer of poetry and is a member of the North Carolina Writers’ Network. She credits North Carolina poet Nancy Simpson (1938-2018) for encouraging her to use Grayson Jones as her published poet’s name.

 Alan Cone is the author of many short stories and a novel, The History of the Decline and Fall of Roland Arnheiter. He explains that he “comes to North Georgia by way of Texas, on our nation’s frontier, where a man writes with both fists or perishes.” Alan's work is anchored always in a common man’s self-effacing humility. His penchant for dry humor and sarcasm is reflected in his artist’s statement: “With acuity and wisdom, with perceptiveness and whimsy, I usher audiences through an odyssey of freshman-level erudition and beyond. My quietly courageous abasement of the writer’s dais will leave you challenged, thoughtful, hungry for less.”  He also admits that he does not actually smoke a pipe.

Writing Classes and Writers You Should Know

If you have never spent a week or even a weekend at the John C. Campbell Folk School, then you want to take a look at the writing classes planned for the coming months.

My students in a Folk School class I taught a few years ago.

Here are some of the instructors that I know. Wish I could go and take classes with each of them myself.

If you write novels or fiction of any kind, check out Vicki Lane. Such a nice lady and a writer with so many followers and fans she has to keep them entertained with her blog and her photographs between books in the series she writes. June 7 – June 13, A Practical Guide to Writing Popular Fiction.

Carol Crawford, my dear friend, will teach again at JCCFS. Besides being the kindest and nicest person I know, she always teaches me something that helps me to write a little better. She is a poet, a wonderful essayist and an editor. If you haven’t had a class with Carol, register now for her Creative Writing class January 12 – 28. 

Some of you might not know, but Carol was our facilitator for the Netwest Poetry group when I first moved here to the mountains years ago. When I was too scared to read a poem out loud, she helped me find my courage.

Valerie Nieman is teaching again at JCCFS. Her books are filled with interesting characters and you will find her interesting and so knowledgeable about everything regarding writing and publishing. How fortunate we are in our area to have Valerie teach here each year. The Breath of Life: Discovering and Depicting Characters

Karen Paul Holmes, a poet whose work I know so well and enjoy so much will teach a weekend class, Love Songs and Poetry. I think I’ll sign up now to be sure I get in.

Darnell Arnoult, who taught classes for NCWN-West many times over the years, will teach at JCCFS in March. Mining the Mother Lode, Making the Most of Your Material. Sounds like a class I would like to take.

View from behind the Orchard House, the writing studio

Remember: If you are a local resident, you can often take classes for half the fee. Call and sign up for the waiting list or go online to www.folkschool.org

Review of Trawling the Silences by Richard Allen Taylor

Jacar Press published Trawling the Silences, a poetry book by Kathryn Stripling Byer, after her death from cancer. I ordered the book and have read it over and over. Richard Allen Taylor wrote a review in The Pedestal Magazine.


If you knew Kathryn Byer or if you are a fan of her poems, you will certainly enjoy this review. As Richard says, in some poems she lets us know she is facing death. But, like so many of her poems she writes about the mountains and about her childhood on the farm. I identify with those childhood memories as I grew up on a farm not many miles from where the Stripling family lived. That is what I have always enjoyed most about her poetry. I feel she is writing for me.


https://www.thepedestalmagazine.com/kathryn-stripling-byers-trawling-the-silences-reviewed-by-richard-allen-taylor/

The Road to Publishing by Patricia Zick, at Mountain Regional Library Sept. 28

We are fortunate to have Patricia Zick, a new member living in Murphy, NC, giving this workshop. Her knowledge and experience will be valuable to us.

The Road to Publishing

A Workshop presented by Patricia Zick

Author and editor, Patricia Zick, will present a workshop on Saturday, September 28, 10:15 - 1:15 at the Mountain Regional Library in Young Harris, GA, located on Miller Street, but is seen from hwy 515 in Young Harris.

The workshop will explore the different choices for publishing a book, but the main focus will show the steps involved in self-publishing a work of nonfiction or fiction using Amazon’s publishing platform. Patricia, the author of twenty-five published books in a variety of genres, will demonstrate how to prepare a manuscript, define publishing concepts, and walk through the step-by-step process for uploading a book for both Kindle and paperback publication to the online retail site.

Her writing career began in 1998 with the publication of her first novel by a small publisher. She went with a traditional press for her next two novels, and worked with an agent for several years. 

However, when the Independent (Indie) publishing movement began gaining momentum in 2010, she was ready to try something different where she had more control over the process, the work itself, and the payments for that work. Patricia has also worked as a reporter, editor, and publisher of a small newspaper in north Florida. The skills learned in those jobs helped with her venture into the world of an Indie author.

She is also a freelance editor who has helped more than a dozen writers go from a rough draft manuscript to a final published author via Amazon.

The three-hour workshop will showcase what it takes to publish independently. It may not be the road for everyone, but at the end of this class, attendees will have a good idea of what route will work for them.

Attendees may bring a sandwich or snack and a drink. No kitchen facilities available, but we will take a short break around noon.

Patricia lives in Cherokee County with her husband, Robert, during the spring and summer. They spend the cooler months in Tallahassee, Florida. In both of their homes, they share a love of the outdoors. They kayak, hike, garden, and play golf. While her husband tends the garden, she can be found at her laptop pounding out her next novel or preparing manuscripts for publication.

Published as P.C. Zick, she’s in the process of completing a seven-book series of sweet contemporary romances set in Chicago. Her Smoky Mountain Romances, set in Cherokee County, chronicle the stories of a small community of people who come together as family drawn together by love. She also edits books for others in her spare time.

To register for this three hour class, please send $40.00 by check or money order to NCWN-West, % Glenda Beall, 581 Chatuge Lane, Hayesville, NC 28904.  

Registration must be made in advance. 

Please refrain from wearing scented products as they can be harmful to others.

Marcia was selected Georgia Author of the Year in 2017.

In 2017, Marcia Barnes was selected Georgia Author of the Year for her children's book. Read about it here.

Marcia will join Richard Cary at Coffee with the Poets and Writers Wednesday, Sept 18, at Moss Memorial Library, 10:30 AM. Come and have a cup of coffee and enjoy our featured readers. Bring your own poem or short prose piece.

Cary and Barnes Featured at Coffee with the Poets and Writers Wednesday September 18

            Coffee with the Poets and Writers (CWPW) will feature poet Richard Montfort Cary and writer Marcia Hawley Barnes on Wednesday, September 18, at 10:30 a.m. at the Moss Memorial Library in Hayesville, NC. 

The event is free and open to the public. An open mic will follow the presentations. Bring a poem or a short prose piece to participate. CWPW is sponsored by North Carolina Writers’ Network-West (NCWN-W) which also includes writers in Towns, Union, Fannin, and Rabun Counties in Georgia.

            Cary began writing poetry in high school and continues to this day.  In 1964, he received a BFA in Theatre Arts from Carnegie Mellon University. He spent six years in regional theatres, before moving year-round to Nantucket Island MA, to become a designer & builder of custom homes. In 1985, he founded Actors Theatre of Nantucket, the Island’s professional theatre company, and served as Artistic Director for twenty years. He retired in 2004 and moved to Asheville.

            In 2017, Cary and his artist wife Cheryl moved to Hayesville, to an older house still under renovation, which they share with their two lively dogs. His son is a comedy writer in Hollywood CA. His daughter is an actress and script supervisor.

            Besides being an accomplished harmonica player, Cary’s claim to fame is his great aunt, Olive Dame Campbell, founder of The John C Campbell Folk School. In March 2019, he played Harry Baker in Neil Simon’s “Come Blow Your Horn” at the Peacock Performing Arts Center.

           Born in Tacoma, Washington, Marcia Barnes’ early life was in sight of the mountains of the Pacific Northwest. She studied liberal arts at the University of Puget Sound and design at the University of Houston She received a BFA from the University of South Florida.  Further studies in Spanish and French languages were at Hillsborough Community College, University of Tampa, Macon State College, and Wesleyan College, Macon, Georgia.  In 2014, she earned a Doctor of Christian Theology degree from the International Miracle Institute, Pensacola, Florida.

            Following a career in marketing, Barnes began writing in 2004.  She has written and illustrated a heritage cookbook, The Little Book of Secret Family Recipes; her poetry was published in 2015, in Stone, River, Sky, An Anthology of Georgia Poems.

            Tobijah was Barnes’ first children’s book to be published; the sequel, A Day with Tobijah, was published in 2019.  Barnes also writes a monthly book review for the Clay County Progress in Hayesville, North Carolina. 

            Ms. Barnes is a member of the North Carolina Writers’ Network and enjoys participating in its local events.  She is also a frequent visitor to libraries where she reads to children and shares the adventures of Tobijah and his friends.  The author lives in Towns County, Georgia.

            For more information about this event, please contact Glenda Beall at: glendabeall@msn.com.

Maren O. Mitchell Has Poems Published in Comstock Review, Tar River Poetry, Poetry East and Chiron Review

Maren O. Mitchell has had poems accepted by the following publications: Comstock Review has published "Appalachian Come Home" in their Spring/Summer 2019 issue; Tar River Poetry will publish "Church of the Moment" in the fall issue; Poetry East took "R" for Poetry East 97, 2019 Fall; and Chiron Review will publish "W" in a future issue.