Charleston Station in Bryson City, North Carolina has placed an order for my book, The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Ms. Clampitt, the owner, wants be to have a book signing there. I’m thrilled! It will be my first book signing or author event in Swain County.
I have submitted my author proposal to Arcadia Publishing for a vintage postcard book covering the piedmont section of North Carolina. I sent the proposal to the acquisitions editor electronically a few minutes ago. It felt good to mark that as “DONE” on my to-do list. I have been doing the necessary research to write the postcard captions a little at a time, so I’m well on my way to having many of the captions written.
The book I have proposed to Arcadia Publishing should be a good companion book to my first vintage postcard book, The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. I anticipate that it will cover 32 counties in central North Carolina. I proposed the following three chapters in the book: Metrolina, The Triad, and The Triangle.
I’ll post on my blog as soon as I know if Arcadia Publishing gives me the go-ahead to write The Piedmont of North Carolina.
Mark de Castrique was the guest speaker Monday night at the February meeting of Rocky River Readers Book Club at Rocky River Presbyterian Church. I heard him speak at the public library in Mint Hill, North Carolina two or three years ago and was delighted for the opportunity to hear him speak again.
The book club’s book this month was one of Mr. de Castrique’s earlier books, The Fitzgerald Ruse. F. Scott Fitzgerald spent time at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, so that is the novel’s connection with Mr. Fitzgerald. Mr. de Castrique has a talent for taking a tidbit of a true story and weaving a fictionalized story around it using the back drop of the Blue Ridge Mountains. He is a native of Hendersonville, North Carolina, so he has a familiarity and understanding of the region and its wealth of stories.
Since I am a writer and an aspiring novelist, I was particularly interested in hearing Mr. de Castrique from a writer’s point of view. He offered a number of pointers for those of us who wish to improve our fiction writing skills. Some I have heard before but it is always helpful to hear them again.
1. Write what you know.
2. Avoid information dumps.
3. Have a character ask questions in order to get information conveyed.
4. Add background information here and there in the book.
5. If I, as the author, am not interested in what happens to my characters, that’s a good indication that readers won’t care what happens to them either.
6. Hang in there and write what you can each day. That page or two per day will eventually be a 400-page manuscript.
7. Every book has a theme. You might not know what the theme is when you begin, but you should know in the end. At that time, you can go back and add foreshadowing and details that reinforce the theme.
8. No one wants to be preached to in a novel.
9. Life doesn’t have to make sense, but a novel must make sense.
10. One reason people like fiction is because it has to be plausible. Life isn’t always plausible.
If you haven’t read any of Mark de Castrique’s books, I highly recommend that you give them a try. You will be entertained while learning something about the rich history of the mountains of North Carolina.
February 18, 2015, marks the 84th birthday of American novelist and professor, Toni Morrison. She made her way to the short list of top American authors in the 20th century when it was not easy for a person of color to break into the publishing industry.
I love this Toni Morrison quote: “If there’s a book you really want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”
Thank you, Mrs. Morrison, for blazing a trail for other writers of color and female writers of all colors!
On January 18, 2015, I posted a seven-point “Writing Plan of Action” and promised an occasional update. It’s been a month, so I decided to assess how I’m doing.
(1) Schedule book signings/author events. I have scheduled a book signing on April 11 at 2pm at The Book Shelf in Tryon, North Carolina. I haven’t had any success with public library bookings. I’m not giving up!
(2) Continue to blog every day. I was doing very well with that until I read that I shouldn’t blog every day. (That was the one thing I thought I was doing right!) I’m struggling to find a schedule that suits me and will keep my followers interested. I have a lot of learn.
(3) Continue to research and write captions for a Piedmont NC vintage postcard book. I continue to work on that.
(4) Spend two hours each week building a list of places that might sell a Piedmont NC vintage postcard book. I haven’t kept a record of the time I’ve spent doing that, but I have worked on it a little.
(5) Continue to search for writing contests to enter or magazine articles to write. I’m pleased with the progress I’ve made on meeting this point of my plan. I have entered one contest and made a chronological list of more contests to enter this year. I’ll be ready in a few days to pitch an idea to Cobblestone magazine. I’ve written a piece about Maggie McCurdy that I hope the magazine will use in its March, 2016 issue. I wrote an article for Cobblestone in 2007 titled, “Aunt Lula Buys a Model-T.” Putting this “Writing Plan of Action” on paper nudged me into working on this aspect of my freelance writing.
(6) Set aside one day each week to edit my historical novel manuscript. This is where the wheels fell off the wagon. I have only worked on this one day in the last four weeks.
(7) If Arcadia Publishing rejects my author proposal for a Piedmont NC vintage postcard book, start in earnest to find a literary agent to represent me and my novel. I cannot submit a proposal to Arcadia until after February 25.
Overall, I’m pleased with what I have accomplished since making this writing plan. It definitely helps me to have a written plan. Based on this plan, I have made daily lists of things to do. I tend to be too optimistic and end up moving many items from one day to the next.
I will eventually get most things on the list done, and I will try not to beat myself up over the things left undone.
I just read Mudhouse Sabbath, by Lauren F. Winner. Dr. Winner is a Jewish Christian. In Mudhouse Sabbath, she explores various facets of the Jewish faith and practices in which she grew up and makes comparisons with her current Christian faith. Each of the 11 chapters looks at a different practice or ritual, including keeping the Sabbath, prayer, fasting, candle lighting, and weddings.
Dr. Winner misses some of the practices that gave her comfort when she was a practicing Jew, and she looks for ways to incorporate them or similar activities into her life now as a Christian.
Mudhouse Sabbath is an easy read in that it is written in layman’s terms and in a personal style that has the feel of sitting and having a conversation with Dr. Winner. Although it can be read quickly, it will leave the reader with a number of things to ponder.
Rocky River Presbyterian Church near Concord, North Carolina, will begin a Lenten study tomorrow based on Mudhouse Sabbath. It promises to be a thought-provoking study as we examine some of our practices and beliefs as compared to those of the Jewish faith out of which Christianity grew.
Another rejection. Such is the life of a freelance writer. I submitted a devotional to The Upper Room last June. After eight months, I had forgotten about it. Yesterday I received an e-mail telling me my piece had not been selected for use in the daily devotional publication.
The devotional I submitted in June was about Mary and Martha in the Bible and my sister and me. The way my sister and I interact with one another and many of our personality traits remind me of Mary and Martha.
I am disappointed that my work was not accepted for publication. It would have been helpful if I had been given a reason for the rejection so I would know where I failed. The number of submissions The Upper Room receives prevents critiques.
I will probably try again sometime, when I think I have something worthwhile to contribute. It takes patience to try to write for magazines or daily devotional publications. The lead time is months long or even one year. Like happened in this instance, one can forget about a submission by the time a piece is accepted or rejected by the publisher or editor.
Today is John Grisham’s birthday. I have enjoyed reading his books, and I got to hear him speak in Charlotte a few years ago. He is an entertaining speaker, just as he is an entertaining writer. I find hope in the story of how he couldn’t even give away copies of his first book. He traveled around The South with copies of the book in his trunk. The first bookstore that agreed to try to sell his book has the honor of being the site for his book launches. I love that!
I read that John Grisham has developed a beef allergy and has said that he would kill for a cheeseburger. I ate a cheeseburger and homemade potato chips at Jake’s Good Eats in Charlotte yesterday in homage to John Grisham.
Thank you, Mr. Grisham, for all the hours of enjoyment your books have given me. It must be gratifying to know that millions of people eagerly await the release of each of your books.
I aspire to be a published novelist. I take heart in knowing that even authors as successful as John Grisham had a bumpy road in the beginning.
I meant to write a tribute to James A. Michener yesterday in honor of the 108th anniversary of his birth. One of his novels, Centennial, is one of my all-time favorite books. Since reading it in 1975, I have wished I could write such a book.
I loved the way the second chapter started by telling about the formation of the world, the way it talked about the Earth’s layers, how Colorado was formed, and how the fictional town of Centennial, Colorado fit into the grand scheme of things. It was a powerful visual. I loved the characters in the book and how it carried through from generation to generation. Mr. Michener managed to weave geography and history together in a way that resonated with me. What a gift!
Forty years later, I recall more details of Centennial than most of the books I’ve read in the last year.
I have taken advantage of two free classes at the Harrisburg Branch of the Cabarrus County Public Library System recently. You can’t beat FREE!
I took a PowerPoint class because I think that skill will eventually come in handy with my writing. When I speak at a library or bookstore, it would be nice to be able to have a PowerPoint presentation to offer for the event.
The Skype class a couple of weeks ago was informative. It’s something I’d like to be able to do with far-flung friends and relatives, and it is a tool that might be advantageous in my writing. I can see that a literary agent might want to communicate via Skype. Many authors offer to “meet” with book clubs using Skype.
Last year I took a free Microsoft Excel class at the public library and almost immediately put that new skill to use by creating a tri-fold brochure about my books.
The public library is much more than a repository for books! If you haven’t visited your local public library lately, you need to “check it out!”
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