I write southern historical fiction, local history, and I've written a devotional book. The two novels I'm writing are set in Virginia and the Carolinas in the 1760s. My weekly blog started out to follow my journey as a writer and a reader, but in 2025 it has been greatly expanded to include current events and politics in the United States as I see our democracy under attack from within. The political science major in me cannot sit idly by and remain silent.
If you are a writer or you are curious about what makes a writer want to write, please read yesterday’s post and visit Cathy Pickens’ website, https://cathypickens.com/.
For the little village of Mt. Pleasant to attract famous authors is a feat for which the festival’s organizers deserve great praise. It started a couple of years ago as an idea. It has grown beyond their wildest imaginations. I can’t wait to see what the third annual festival holds in store for us in 2027!
This year’s festival attracted 16 authors. I’m still kicking myself that I was too late to register for Kate Quinn’s presentation on Friday night.
Mt. Pleasant Literary Festival 2026
After Cathy Pickens’ Writer’s Workshop, I was excited to attend a presentation by New York Times Bestselling Author Meagan Church.
I thoroughly enjoyed hearing Meagan Church and seeing her in person on Thursday evening. I read her first two novels and blogged about them (The Girls We Sent Away in my September 2, 2024 blog post, Books I Read in August 2024 and The Last Carolina Girl in my May 1, 2023 post, Some of the Books I Read in April 2023.)
The Girls We Sent Away, by Meagan Church
The Last Carolina Girl, by Meagan Church
I have much less time to read now than I did several years ago. I unable to read much of Meagan’s Church New York Times Bestseller, The Mad Wife, before it had to go back to the public library. I’m on the waitlist again so I can finish it.
She mainly talked about The Mad Wife and what led her to do the research and write it. She talked about the history of the term “hysteria” and how it has always been relegated to women.
The Mad Wife, by Meagan Church
She talked about how nervous or excitable women and women with such ailments as multiple sclerosis were misdiagnosed through the years as “just being hysterical.”
The most gut-wrenching part of her talk was when she addressed how rampant lobotomies were in the first half of the 20th century and the gruesome ways one particular man used an ice pick through a woman’s eye socket to perform a lobotomy. This led many women in vegetative states which, unfortunately, was the objective.
Meagan Church, during her presentation on March 19, 2026, at the Mt. Pleasant Literary Festival in Mt. Pleasant, North Carolina
She talked about how women have traditionally been omitted from medical studies – particularly drug studies – in spite of the fact that women tend to react differently biologically than men from certain drugs. She mentioned how women’s symptoms are often different from a man’s . It was only in the last 30 years that medical science began to acknowledge that and make a few exceptions in research.
It was a fascinating presentation, and the author and audience members were careful to avoid “spoilers” for those of us who have not read or finished reading the novel.
In a nutshell, Lulu is expected to be the perfect housewife in the 1950s in American suburbia. She collects Green Stamps (are you old enough to remember them? I am!) and tries to maintain her home just so for her husband, but cracks begin to appear in her life… and therein lies the story of The Mad Wife.
If you have not read any of Meagan Church’s books, I highly recommend them! Please visit her website, https://www.meaganchurch.com/.
Janet
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.
I had two delightful experiences last Thursday at the first day of the second annual Mt. Pleasant Literary Festival in Mt. Pleasant, North Carolina. The public library staff and The Friends of the Mt. Pleasant Library are real go-getters!
Mt. Pleasant is a quiet little town, more of a village than a town originally settled by German immigrants in the mid-1700s. It is in eastern Cabarrus County.
The Bernheim Literary Society (named for the literary society for the students of Mont Amoena Female Academy, located in Mt. Pleasant from 1859 until 1927), The Friends of the Mt. Pleasant Library, the Cabarrus Arts Council, and individual and commercial sponsors make this annual literary festival possible for the public – free of charge.
Schedule for the 3-Day event
This second annual event attracted such authors as Kate Quinn and Meagan Church! I understand some authors have already been signed on for next year’s festival. I can’t wait to find out who’s coming!
I was too late registering for Kate Quinn’s presentation. Lesson learned for future festivals!
The first event I attended on Thursday was a 90-minute Writer’s Workshop with author and professor Cathy Pickens. She has an impressive history as a lawyer, a professor, and a writer, so I was privileged to have the opportunity to finally attend one of her workshops.
Cathy Pickens, teaching a Writer’s Workshop at the Mt. Pleasant Literary Festival, March 19, 2026
She led us through a systematic series of writing prompts to help us clarify the roots of our creativity and why we want to write what we want to write.
Workshop attendees were in various stages along our writing journeys. The first thing she had us write about was our “pinprick.” What was the pinprick that set in motion my desire to write the story I want to write? I knew immediately what the pinprick was for the series of historical novels I’m writing. It was a banjo from Africa.
(That’s all I will tell you about that banjo for now. You will need to continue to read my blog posts and subscribe to my e-newsletter if you want to find out later just how that came about. It seemingly came “out of the blue,” but maybe it is deeply connected to the historical fiction I want to write.)
Back to the workshop… I was able to quickly write an entire page about that banjo as my inspiration or “pinprick” as she called it.
Ms. Pickens talked about how it was sometime between the ages of eight and eleven that something happened that influenced the paths our lives take. Whether or not we are aware of it at the time, something happened that set us on a path to writing. Our worldview begins to shift, and you start to try to figure out what you want to be when you grow up. She asked us to write down everything we could remember from those years of our life.
I was surprised at how many things I remember and in minute detail and how each of those incidents made me feel. As I wrote, it became clear to me that my lifelong interest in the colonial era of United States history and what unbeknownst to me put me on the path to majoring in political science and minoring in history in college started when I was in Miss Judy Ford’s fourth grade class at Harrisburg School in Harrisburg, North Carolina.
Miss Ford made Jamestown and Colonial Williamsburg come alive to us, although we lived a long way from those places and had no hopes of visiting them in the foreseeable future. I’ll never forget that Colby Cochran’s father, Dan, built a pillory for the class so we could in some small way experience what that public form of punishment and humiliation was like for our nation’s colonial ancestors.
As you can see, Ms. Pickens’ questions and writing prompts triggered a flood of memories for me and helped me piece together why in later life I want to write historical fiction.
She talked about how creative young children are, but usually when we are in our teens peer pressure kicks in and most of us begin to stifle our creativity. We’re told to pursue occupations or fields of study to lead us to a way to make a living.
Being a writer is not the occupation one should choose in order to make a living!
CREATE! by Cathy Pickens
Ms. Pickens talked about the writing process. Different participants in the workshop shared what their process is. She asked us what holds us back in our writing. (No one was pressured to voice their answers to any of her questions; it was a very relaxed and welcoming atmosphere.)
Ms. Pickens recommended that we set a goal to write a certain length of time or a certain number of words each day. Even if it’s only 15 minutes, slow and steady seemed to be her advice.
I recently revealed in my February 27, 2026 blog post (My new discovery: I’m a binge writer!) that I’d had the epiphany that I am a binge writer when it comes to my novel(s). I find it easy to work on a blog post or two each day, but when it comes to writing fiction I have not been able to discipline myself to write every day of the week.
Ms. Pickens advised us to be very specific in categorizing what we are writing. She pointed out that the Library of Congress categorizes books in more specific details than the Dewey Decimal System. She suggested that we look inside the front covers of books in the genre in which we write to familiarize ourselves with how the Library of Congress labels books.
She suggested that instead of asking a writer, “How long did it take you to get your book published?” a better question is, “How long did it take you to get your book publishable?”
The road to traditional publishing is typically years and years long.
Ms. Pickens ended by saying that the secret to success is discipline – time, place, and goal. To read more about Cathy Pickens, visit her website, https://cathypickens.com/. She has written a Blue Ridge Mountains series of cosy mysteries, a book of Charleston mysteries, nine true crime books, and CREATE! — a book for writers.
Tune in tomorrow for my blog post about author Meagan Church’s presentation.
Janet
The government should be afraid of its citizens, not the other way around.
The 2017 Bookmarks Festival of Books and Authors in Winston-Salem, North Carolina on September 9, 2017 was fantastic! This free event included more than 45 authors. It was well-organized and supported by a large number of friendly and knowledgeable volunteers.
“Bookmarks is a literary arts organization that fosters a love of reading and writing in the community. Our programming connects readers and authors and includes: an annual Festival of Books, an Authors in Schools program, and year-round events in our community gathering space and nonprofit independent bookstore.”
My sister and I have wanted to go to Bookmarks Festival of Books for years, but this was the first year it worked out for us to get there. The festival is held annually, usually on the second weekend in September. Make plans to attend Bookmarks next year!
We got to hear seven authors speak at Bookmarks! Seven authors in one day! Each one of them took questions from the audience after making their remarks.
Author events were going on throughout the day in six different venues within walking distance, so you could pick and choose which ones you wanted to attend.
Jamie Ford, author
Jamie Ford was the author we got to hear first. He was a very entertaining speaker. He regaled us with some of the comments teens have made on social media as they are required to read his novel, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet in the state of Washington.
Author Jamie Ford @BookmarksNC. (Photo by Janet Morrison.)
Mr. Ford also talked about his new novel, Love and Other Consolation Prizes, and the true story that inspired it. He had arranged to autograph and have for sale copies of this new book even though the official release date wasn’t until September 12.
The book sales tent
After Jamie Ford’s presentation, we had time to visit the Bookmarks large book sales tent to purchase books by the authors participating in the festival.
Authors Kathleen Grissom, Lisa Wingate, & Patti Callahan Henry
I was especially excited about the opportunity to hear Kathleen Grissom speak. I wrote about her novels, The Kitchen House and Glory Over Everything in earlier blog posts – What I read in October and What I read in January 2017.
Ms. Grissom, Lisa Wingate, and Patti Callahan Henry had a panel discussion about Southern Fiction. Although none of them were born in The South, that’s the genre they have written. When we arrived at their venue, it was almost standing room only.
We strained to hear the authors’ remarks and their answers to questions from the audience, but we enjoyed the bits and pieces of the panel discussion that we could hear. They each talked about some of their books and their works in progress. Be on the lookout for future novels by each of them!
Kathleen Grissom, Lisa Wingate, & Patti Callahan Henry – book signing
We split up to take advantage of the book signing by these three writers of Southern Fiction. Patti Callahan Henry was signing copies of her latest novel, The Bookshop at Water’s End. Marie was excited to meet Lisa Wingate and get her to autograph a copy of her new novel, Before We Were Yours, and I was thrilled to meet Kathleen Grissom and get her to autograph a copy of The Kitchen House.
Janet getting Kathleen Grissom’s autograph @BookmarksNC. Author Patti Callahan Henry is seated to Ms. Grissom’s right, and author Lisa Wingate is seated to Ms. Henry’s right. (Photo by Marie Morrison.)
Lunch
A variety of food trucks were on hand to offer several options for lunch or snacks. My burger was delicious, but holding onto the Styrofoam tray it was served in was more than a challenge in the beautiful but blustery day.
Margaret Maron’s book signing
After lunch, we went to the Forsyth County Public Library booth for Margaret Maron’s book signing. She was very gracious. When she saw me taking a picture of Marie at her table, she asked if we were sisters and insisted that I come get in the picture, too. Marie is a big fan of Ms. Maron’s Deborah Knott series of mystery novels, so it was a thrill for her to get to meet the author.
Author Margaret Maron @BookmarksNC. (Photo by Janet Morrison.)
It was a thrill for me, too! I’ve read Bootlegger’s Daughter, the first book in the Deborah Knott series, which means I have 19 more in the series to read.
Bookmarks – an independent bookstore
After getting Margaret Maron’s autograph, we visited the literary arts nonprofit and independent Bookmarks bookstore. It is located at 634 West Fourth Street #110 in Winston-Salem, so please make an effort to support it the next time you’re in that city.
Beverly Tatum and Marc Lamont Hill
Beverly Tatum and Marc Lamont Hill spoke about “The Race Divide: Then and Now” for an hour in the afternoon. This event was very well attended and enlightening. Those of us who are white have much to learn about “white privilege” and all it entails. The more I learn, the more I realize I have not really appreciated or understood in the past. I strive to be more cognizant of it and to do better.
Dr. Tatum and Dr. Hill’s remarks and discussion centered around race relations in the United States in the 1990s as compared to race relations in 2017. This year marks the 20th anniversary of the publication of Dr. Tatum’s nonfiction book, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?: And Other Conversations About Race.
A new edition of this book has been published this year to include some updates and to cast more light on the fact that although Brown v Board of Education was heard by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1954, little real racial integration takes place today in the lives of most Americans. Schools are racially-integrated, but churches, neighborhoods, and friendships are still very much one race or the other.
Margaret Maron, author
Hearing Margaret Maron speak late in the afternoon was a highlight among many highlights of the day, especially after meeting her and seeing how gracious and friendly she was when Marie got her to autograph Long Upon the Land: A Deborah Knott Mystery. Those of you who are Margaret Maron fans will be sad to learn that she does not plan to write any more novels. She said she might write some short stories. Her new novel, Take Out, marks the end of her nine-book Sigrid series.
Ms. Maron was an entertaining speaker. She talked about living in Johnston County, North Carolina and enjoying how her Deborah Knott series allowed her to travel around the state as Judge Knott was assigned to court cases in various locations.
Diana Gabaldon, ending keynote speaker
Unfortunately, I was unable to return to Winston-Salem on September 10 for Diana Gabaldon’s keynote address. I’m a big fan of her Outlander book series, so it would have been a wonderful to have heard her speak. Perhaps she’ll participate in the Bookmarks Festival of Books again in the future.
Until my next blog post
I hope you have a good book to read. I’m reading The Light Between Oceans, by M.L. Stedman. Published in 2012, this was Ms. Stedman’s first novel. I’m also enjoying getting back into some quilting.
If you’re a writer, I hope you have quality writing time.
It was my privilege on March 14, 2017, to hear author Dr. A.J. Hartley speak at the annual meeting of the Friends of the Harrisburg (NC) Library. Dr. Hartley is a man of many talents. He is the distinguished professor of Shakespeare in the Department of Theatre at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, which is just several miles up the road from Harrisburg.
Author Dr. A.J. Hartley, speaking at the annual meeting of the Friends of the Harrisburg Library, March 14, 2017
Dr. Hartley’s background
Dr. Hartley has published more than 20 books, ranging from academic to mysteries, thrillers, historical fiction, and fantasies for adults, young adults, and middle grades. He credits the book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, by C.S. Lewis, as being his passport out of his economically-depressed hometown of Preston, England. He read the book when he was 10 years old, and reading subsequently opened up the world to him.
His thoughts on Shakespeare
In his very entertaining and educational presentation at the library on Tuesday night, Dr. Hartley pointed out something about William Shakespeare that I had never considered before. Shakespeare lived and wrote at a time when live theatre was a big thing in London, a town then of approximately 100,000. Going to the theatre was a common activity for all spectrums of the population. Therefore, Shakespeare had to write in a way that would appeal to everyone from the illiterate to the highly educated, from the poorest to the richest in society.
His writing routine
Dr. Hartley welcomed questions from the audience. I noticed that the teens in attendance asked some of the most interesting and probing questions. He spends a lot of time walking his dog six miles-a-day, and that is when he does most of his writing. When he gets home, he types what he “wrote” in his head while he was walking. He used to just wing it, or in the lingo of writers, he was a pantser. That means he wrote without an outline. He now writes short outlines. Every writer has to find what works for them.
My takeaways
As a writer, the main points I came away with were the following:
“If you’re wondering if you’re a writer, try quitting. If you can, you’re not.” – A.J. Hartley
“Words are free.” – A.J. Hartley
Dr. Hartley wrote fiction for 20 years before his first novel was published. I don’t know whether to take encouragement from that or not. He started at a much earlier age than I did!
Dr. Hartley’s website
If you’re interested in reading any of Dr. Hartley’s books, check with your local public library and also online. His website is ajhartley.net.
Until my next blog post
I hope you have a good book to read. If you’re a writer, I hope you have quality writing time. Never pass up an opportunity to hear an author speak!
Author Mark de Castrique was the guest speaker last night at the February meeting of Rocky River Readers Book Club. He spoke to our group a couple of years ago, so we all looked forward to his return visit to talk about his two political thrillers, The 13th Target and The Singularity Race.
Mark de Castrique , speaking at Rocky River Readers Book Club, February 27, 2017
The 13th Target
Mark talked about how the economic recession of 2008 prompted him to write about the Federal Reserve in The 13th Target. For that novel, he created a protagonist named Rusty Mullins who was a former Secret Service agent.
The Singularity Race
Mark continued the Rusty Mullins character in The Singularity Race. That second thriller is about artificial intelligence. Mark pointed out the difference between the arms race in the 20th century (a race between nations) and the singularity race of the 21st century (a race between nations, organizations, corporations, universities, and possible a 17-year-old computer geek working at home.)
The book presents the conflict between the two opposing points of view by experts in the field as a backdrop for the story: (1) Ray Kurzweil, Director of Engineering, GOOGLE, says artificial intelligence will be “pivotal” in meeting the “grand challenges of humanity;” however, (2) Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking says, “The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race.” The book deals with the danger people who are working on artificial intelligence can be in as the race heats up. Rusty Mullins gets involved in trying to protect certain individuals who are in that race.
General remarks
In his planned topics and in answering questions from the audience, Mark talked about various aspects of writing fiction, including the following:
Beware of information dumps
When writing a series, it can be challenging to come up with fresh ways to describe location and a continuing character. You don’t want to bore the series reader, but the new reader needs to know some background from earlier books in the series.
The difference between a mystery and a thriller
If you create a world for a novel, you have to remember where everything is, whereas, if you set your story in a place that actually exists you can revisit the place to refresh your memory or even use Google Maps for details.
I have merely hit the highlights here. As I have said before, never pass up a chance to hear a writer speak.
Until my next blog post
I hope you have a good book to read. If you’re a writer, I hope you have quality writing time.
Hearing a published author speak is one of my favorite things to do. I had the opportunity to attend a presentation by Diane Chamberlain yesterday afternoon at the Ashe County Public Library in West Jefferson, North Carolina. Her appearance was part of the annual Ashe County Arts Council’s On the Same Page Book Festival.
View of downtown West Jefferson, NC from the Ashe County Public Library in the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains.
In her opening remarks, Ms. Chamberlain said that her books are “part suspense, part mystery, and 100% family drama.” She quoted a Japanese fan who wrote, “You make me believe life is beautiful even if it is full of pain and rage.”
As is the case with most authors, Ms. Chamberlain’s publishing journey was tough. She said that a writer needs three things in order to get published: “talent, perseverance, and luck.” She started writing her first novel in 1981, but it was not published until 1989. She kept writing and finally got lucky in 2008. Her book, The Secret Life of CeeCee Wilkes, was chosen as the Target Book Club Book one month which meant it was prominently displayed in every Target store.
Also in 1981, the wife of a United Kingdom publisher visited Ms. Chamberlain’s publisher in the U.S. and requested a book to read on her flight back to England. The book she was handed was the CeeCee Wilkes book. After reading it on her way home, she told her husband that he had to publish it in the U.K. She has been published in the U.S. and the U.K. ever since.
Each of Ms. Chamberlain’s books is different. She enjoys finding the perfect setting for each of her novels and draws from her own life experiences, including her education and first career in the field of psychology. I found it interesting that she occasionally asks her fans on the Diane Chamberlain Readers Facebook page to suggest names for characters or locations. She related an amusing story about how for a while she got ideas for male characters by going on an online dating site.
I’ll save some of Ms. Chamberlain’s comments about her 2015 novel, Pretending to Dance, for my blog post in a couple of weeks after Rocky River Readers Book Club meets to discuss the book.
Until my next blog post, I hope you have a good book to read — perhaps one of Diane Chamberlain’s best-selling novels.
Janet
Disclaimer: I attended this event and wrote this blog post on my own volition and received no compensation for endorsing Diane Chamberlain’s books.
I had the pleasure of hearing Angela Davis-Gardner, Author, speak at the 2015 Ashe County On the Same Page Book Festival in West Jefferson, NC on September 18, 2015. A Distinguished Professor Emerita at North Carolina State University, Ms. Davis-Gardner lives in Raleigh, NC. She spoke, took questions from the audience, and signed books at the Ashe County Public Library.
Author Angela Davis-Gardner, signing one of her novels for Marie Morrison
Ms. Davis-Gardner has won acclaim for her four novels. Butterfly’s Child is her imaginings about the life of the son of Madama Butterfly and Lt. Pinkerton after Madama Butterfly committed suicide.
Plum Wine, is set in 1960s Japan. Ms. Davis-Gardner drew heavily from her first-hand knowledge of that country in which she lived while in her twenties.
Forms of Shelter follows a piedmont North Carolina dysfunctional family.
Felice is the story of a girl who grew up in a convent in Nova Scotia in the 1920s after her parents drowned in a shipwreck.
Having written Plum Wine and Felice out of family stories with which she grew up, Ms. Davis-Gardner was shocked to recently learn that her family lore was not altogether true. It was fascinating to hear her tell those stories and then reveal the truth. Hers is quite an amazing story.
I look forward to reading all four of Angela Davis-Gardner’s novels!
On Tuesday, I had the privilege of meeting Ann Weisgarber at Books on Main in Davidson, North Carolina. She primarily talked about her second novel, The Promise, which takes place in Galveston during the 1900 hurricane. Happening long before the advent of weather radar, the people of Galveston had no advance warning that the hurricane was heading their way. At least 6,000 people were killed on the barrier island that day.
Although I had not yet read the book, I thoroughly enjoyed hearing about it, about Ms. Weisgarber’s first novel, and some of her writing experiences. I purchased a copy of The Promise that day and Ms. Weisgarber was kind enough to autograph it and write a note. When I told her that I am an aspiring novelist, she asked me some questions about my manuscript for The Spanish Coin and said, “It’s never too late!”
I’ve checked out her first novel, The Personal History of Rachel DuPree, from the public library. Since our kitchen and bathroom remodeling are scheduled to begin tomorrow morning, I haven’t had any time to read lately. I hope I’ll be able to shut out enough of the construction noise in the coming weeks to concentrate on reading.
Sampson and Lee Ann Parker, authors of Unthinkable Choice, were the guest speakers on Monday night at the monthly meeting of Rocky River Readers Book Club at Rocky River Presbyterian Church near Harrisburg and Concord, North Carolina. I think everyone in attendance felt blessed for having been there to hear the Parkers’ story.
I blogged about the release of the book on September 19, 2014, so please feel free to read my entry for that day.
Sampson was in a horrible farming accident in which he had to take a pocket knife and cut off his own arm in order to free himself from a single-row corn picker and save his life. The injuries he received from the machinery and fire were injuries he should not have survived. It was only by the grace of God that he survived to tell his story. Visit http://www.SampsonParker.com for more information.
If you have not read Unthinkable Choice, please look for it at your public library or local bookstore. If you cannot find it in a store, either ask that it be ordered for you or order it online. It is available at Second Look Books in Harrisburg, North Carolina.
Saturday I had the pleasure of attending the Rowan Reading Rendezvous, sponsored by the Friends of the Rowan County Public Library in Salisbury, North Carolina. It was a wonderful event with many North Carolina authors. I got to hear three authors speak and had the opportunity to talk with several others.
A.J. Mayhew spoke about her first novel, The Dry Grass of August. I never tire of hearing her talk about her insights and experiences as a writer. Be on the lookout for the release of her second novel, Tomorrow’s Bread.
Robert Inman spoke about his most recent novel, The Governor’s Lady, as well as some of his experiences. Many of us in the Charlotte area remember him as “Bob” Inman, a news anchor at WBTV before his writing career took off.
Dot Jackson entertained the audience with her humor and storytelling skills. She told the story behind her novel, Refuge, set in Appalachia and shared how difficult it can be to get a book published. Dot Jackson wrote for The Charlotte Observer for many years and was nominated several times for The Pulitzer Prize.
Other authors spoke in the afternoon, but I could not stay any longer. It was a really fun event! I look forward to attending it again next year. Thank you, Friends of the Rowan County Public Library!
Janet's Writing Blog 