An Excellent Historical Novel

I just finished reading an excellent historical novel. Cataloochee was Wayne Caldwell’s debut novel, and what an entertaining story it is! I read now as an aspiring novelist. Historical fiction is my first love, so I constantly try to identify and learn from what published authors do well. Reading Cataloochee on the heels of the 2014 publication of my vintage postcard book, The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina, made the story all the more vivid for me.

I like the way Mr. Caldwell follows families through several generations. In fact, that is what I am working toward in my own writing. Mr. Caldwell’s descriptive writing put me in the setting. I can see the plants he refers to and I can smell the flowers and other scents he mentions. His careful use of colloquialisms is a model I hope to emulate in my debut novel that has the working title, The Spanish Coin.

Cataloochee is historical fiction at its best, and I look forward to reading Mr. Caldwell’s second novel, Requiem by Fire. It carries forward some of the Cataloochee families as Great Smoky Mountains National Park becomes a reality and changes their lives forever.

Being from North Carolina, I am familiar with many of the places mentioned in Cataloochee. One of my late uncles lived on Hemphill Road in the Jonathan Creek community, and another late uncle was a Methodist preacher at Cataloochee in 1928. Oh how I wish I had asked Uncle Grady and Aunt Clara questions about their time there! Aunt Clara wrote a book, Lingering Echoes of the Blue Ridge: A Charge to Keep about some of her and Uncle Grady’s experiences in his various pastorates in western North Carolina.

Reading Cataloochee prompted me to reread Aunt Clara’s book. She and Wayne Caldwell are good storytellers and their books paint a picture of life in the Appalachian Mountains. On my next trip to the Great Smoky Mountains, I hope to visit Cataloochee. According to Aunt Clara’s book, the church where Uncle Grady preached was still there a few years ago. Since it is on national park land, I trust it is still being cared for and protected.

It was not until I was two-thirds of the way through Cataloochee that I thought about Aunt Clara’s book. Making this family connection with the places in Cataloochee was serendipitous. I can’t stop smiling!

A Week in the Life of a Struggling Writer

I debated over several possible titles for this post, and I settled on “A Week in the Life of a Struggling Writer.” Perhaps other struggling writers will read this and take comfort in reading about how my writing life is going. The content of this post will not be uplifting. Hang in there with me, though, to the last paragraph. After a bit of a pity party, in the end I was able to end on a positive note.

I promised in at least one earlier blog post that I would report on the outcomes of all the writing contests I entered. The last week or so has not been the highlight of my writing endeavors. I thought it was bad enough when I was notified that I had not won two competitions, but yesterday I received word that I had not won or placed in yet a third contest. I promised to report to you, so here goes.

In March, I submitted my short story titled Someone is Trying to Kill Me, in the Gemini Magazine Short Story Contest. My entry did not make the cut.

In June, I entered George Govan, A Gentle Man, in the Northern Colorado Writers’ Personal Essay/Creative Nonfiction Contest. I really thought I had a good chance to secure at least an Honorable Mention for that piece; however, it was not to be.

In July, I wrote a piece about the experiences I had a few years ago when I had the privilege of interviewing Mr. Ira Lee Taylor about his military service during World War II. He was part of the D-Day Invasion of Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge, and other battles in the European Theatre. I presented his memories of the war as a human interest story titled, Telling World War II Stories, and submitted it for the Page Crafter’s Prize in the On the Same Page Book Festival coming up in a couple of weeks in West Jefferson, North Carolina. I was proud of that piece, but I learned yesterday that I did not win or place in that competition.

I have entered nine writing contests in 2015. So far, I have not won or placed in any of them. I am more than a little discouraged today, but I will press on. The only way my writing will improve is through writing, writing, writing. It would have been helpful if I could not gotten some feedback from those nine contests, but I only received constructive criticism on one. It is difficult to learn from one’s mistakes when those missteps are not identified.

From these nine writing contests this year I have learned that I’m not as good a writer as I thought. That is a valuable lesson, lest I start thinking too highly of myself.

As I proofread this blog post, it occurred to me that I enjoyed the process of writing each of the nine pieces that I submitted in these contests. If that is all I get out of writing, that’s enough! Having the luxury at this time in my life to do some things that bring me joy is a gift that many people never experience.

Troutman, NC Branch Library

I had the privilege of presenting a program about postcard history and my vintage postcard book, The Blue Ridge Parkway of North Carolina, at the Troutman, NC Branch Library on Thursday evening. The J. Hoyt Hayes Memorial Library – Troutman Branch – is a beautiful five-year-old facility that grew out of a grassroots effort in the Troutman community.

Front of the J. Hoyt Hayes Memorial Troutman Library
Front of the J. Hoyt Hayes Memorial Troutman Library

Janet speaks @Troutman 005

The library patrons in attendance were interested and responsive to my remarks, and I really enjoyed interacting with them. They took my trivia questions in stride with good humor.

Janet speaks @Troutman 008

I enjoyed the hour I spent with the patrons of the Troutman branch of the Iredell County public library system. It is always rewarding to speak at a public library that has my book in circulation! Thank you, Juli Moore, library branch manager, for inviting me, publicizing the event, and giving me such a warm welcome!

Go Set a Watchman

I’m a little slow to add my voice to the national conversation about Harper Lee’s book, Go Set a Watchman, but I finished reading it last week and want to comment on the book.

Some people are afraid Atticus Finch will fall off his pedestal if they read Go Set a Watchman. They refuse to read it because they’ve heard that Atticus turned out to be a racist. Ironically, those people are a bit like Scout. In To Kill a Mockingbird, little Scout idolized her father. He was her world after her mother died when she was a toddler. Atticus was an astute trial lawyer and a wise father. In Scout’s eyes, he could do no wrong. When the young adult Scout came home from New York on the cusp of the Civil Rights Movement, she discovered that Atticus was human. I urge readers who loved the Atticus Finch of To Kill a Mockingbird to read Go Set a Watchman. It is another literary masterpiece by Harper Lee. You will struggle along with Scout as you and she discover that Atticus is human.

I’ve heard it said that Harper Lee’s editor read the Go Set a Watchman manuscript and advised Ms. Lee to write a book about Scout’s childhood because she wanted to know about that. That might be true, but I have a hunch that Ms. Lee’s editor sensed that America was not ready for Go Set a Watchman. Times were volatile, and Go Set A Watchman could have been an incendiary book at the time it was written. Perhaps it worked out for the best that we were made to wait until 2015 to read and savor it.

Now I hope someone finds another unpublished manuscript by Harper Lee. Wouldn’t that be a treat?

I have set up a Twitter account

I have set up a Twitter account since my last post; however, I have not tweeted yet and I have no tweeples. That’s all the Twitter jargon I know. I keep reading that every published writer must tweet. Being technologically-challenged is a drawback when you’re my age and attempting to launch a new career. Another drawback is that crazy rule that restricts a tweet to 140 characters. Whose idea was that? (Or maybe I have Twitter mixed up with texting.) I write novels and short stories, not Haiku! I might need some tweeting lessons from one of my great-nieces. I would tell you how to follow me on Twitter, but I don’t know how.

I was astonished today to realize that my last post was more than a month ago. Life is still interfering with my desire to write, read, and sew. It is my intention to get back into posting a blog at least once a week. In order to write a “writing blog,” I have to have something to write about. I cannot continue to report that I haven’t accomplished anything.

In preparation for today’s post, I stumbled upon a website with the URL http://www.urlm.co/janetmorrisonbooks.com and discovered that, according to that site, my website was ranked 7,272,262 in the US on January 29, 2014. I don’t know what to do with that information. As my Tennessee cousin would say, “I don’t have a bucket to put that in.” Why is the data so outdated for the World Wide Web? Since I cannot find out how many websites were in the US at that time, my ranking means little. The site also states that my website had an estimated value of $753.94 on that same date. I have no clue what that means. Could I sell it for $753.94? I don’t know how that value was established. Has my site appreciated in value in the last 19 months, or did it depreciate today when the stock market took a hit? Inquiring minds want to know!

Until I have buyers beating a path to my door, I think I’ll just keep it. I’ll also strive to make it worth your time to follow Janet’s Writing Blog.

Oh – and when I figure out how to tell you to follow me on Twitter, you’ll be the first to know.

Sometimes life gets in the way

Sometimes life gets in the way and derails my plans. Throughout a house remodeling project this summer, I found little time to read or write. Planned blog postings did not get written. It seemed that everything I wanted to do or intended to do got postponed to the next day, or the next week, or the next month, or even to next year. The work is complete; however, it will take several weeks to unpack, locate some items, and get everything situated. It is exhausting!

It occurred to me early in the remodeling process that I should blog about living in the chaos and uncertainty of construction, but by the end of each day I was too tired to put words together into coherent sentences. I am not a “morning person,” so blogging first thing in the morning was never an option. Subcontractors arrived as early as 7:00 a.m. and worked as late as 8:00 p.m. No two days were alike.

I met the July 20 deadline for the Ashe County, NC, “On the Same Page” creative nonfiction competition. I came in just under the wire on July 19. My entry was a 995-word piece about the experiences of a World War II veteran. The theme of the contest was “telling stories.” The winner will be announced on August 31. I intended to also enter the fiction contest. By the time I settled on an idea, though, there was not enough time to do the story justice. I’ll keep the idea for another time and venue.

No time spent writing or honing one’s writing skills is wasted.

Northern Colorado Writers Contest

I’ve entered another Northern Colorado Writers Contest. Last night I submitted an essay titled “George Govan, A Gentle Man” in the 2015 Northern Colorado Writers Personal Essay/Creative Nonfiction Contest. I reworked a piece I wrote about Mr. Govan before he died. That necessitated changing the tense in which it was originally written and gave me the advantage offered by the passage of time. Reflecting on the things I learned from Mr. Govan several years after his death afforded me the opportunity to realize the difference he made in my life and just how fortunate I was to have known him.

If not for my freelance writing job from 2006 through 2012, I probably never would have met Mr. Govan. I was under contract with a local weekly newspaper, Harrisburg Horizons, to write a local history column titled “Did You Know?” That work pushed me way out of my comfort zone and into the homes and lives of several elderly area residents. I visited Mr. Govan many times and never failed to learn something from him. As an elderly black man, his life experiences were much different from mine.

I’m glad I had the opportunity to know Mr. Govan. I must try to live in such a way that someone will say that about me someday.

A review of my book!

Imagine my surprise when I quite by accident found an online review of my book, The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina! To see the review, visit the website of Smoky Mountain Living Magazine. Go to http://www.smliv.com. Click on “Departments,” and then click on “Book Reviews.” The page of book reviews titled, “Western Carolina In Our Minds” will pop up. Click on “more” and then scroll down to the second book review by Jeff Minick titled “For the History Buff.”

This is just the second review of my book of which I’m aware. I knew about the one on Amazon.com in advance, but the one at http://www.smliv.com was a pleasant surprise.

Feel free to write a review of my book on your local public library website, for your local newspaper, or for a magazine. I love free publicity!

The Sauline Players

One of the rewards for writing the “Did You Know?” local history column for Harrisburg Horizons newspaper from 2006 through 2012 is that people still tell me they miss it since the newspaper ceased publication. Another reward is that I occasionally receive an e-mail from a stranger asking a question or making a comment about one of my local history column topics.

My most recent such communication came from a woman who was looking for information about the Sauline Players and discovered that I had written about them for the newspaper. I shared my two-part series on the acting troupe with her and we corresponded for a couple of days to compare our memories. She recalled seeing them perform at Marion Junior High School and Glenwood High School in McDowell County, North Carolina in the 1950s, and I have fond memories of seeing them perform in the auditorium of Harrisburg High School in the 1960s.

It is gratifying when someone expresses that a newspaper column or short story I wrote has enlightened them or brought them joy. One of the beauties of the internet is that it makes serendipitous connections possible.

My Writing Plan of Action Update

I blogged about my writing plan of action on January 18, 2015. It’s time to give you an update.

You may recall that my plan in January included goals for my anticipated book of vintage postcards from the piedmont of North Carolina. That book did not come to fruition, so my plan was revised. This is what it looks like today:

(1) Schedule book signings/author events (on-going);
(2) Continue to blog every 5 days or so;
(3) Continue to search for writing contests to enter or magazine articles to write (on-going);
(4) Set aside one day each week to edit my historical novel manuscript, tentatively titled, The Spanish Coin, (until I get it polished as much as I can); and
(5) Start in earnest to find a literary agent to represent me and my novel.

I continue to try to schedule book signings and other author events. The only one I have on my calendar this summer is at the J. Hoyt Hayes Memorial Troutman (NC) Branch Library on August 27. With our house being remodeled during the next several weeks, I did not want to schedule any events until later this summer. It’s not like people are beating a path to my door begging me to come speak about my vintage postcard book, The Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina! I did not want to schedule any events in June or early July. I didn’t have any requests for that time period, so it worked out fine.

Originally, I thought I needed to blog daily. I came to realize that no one wanted to hear from me every day. My writing life is not that compelling. I adjusted my plan to blog every five days or so, but I will not blog just for the sake of blogging.

I continue to work on stories to submit to writing contests, although I haven’t produced any winners yet in 2015. I wrote a creative nonfiction piece about my 4th and 5th great-grandmothers for the GENEii writing contest sponsored by the Southern California Genealogy Society. I entered a contest in which the prize was to have an entire manuscript evaluated by Barbara Kyle, but I didn’t win that one either. I entered “The Other Woman,” a 1,000-word short story in the Bevel Summers Short Story Prize competition sponsored by Shenandoah Literary Review, but I learned a couple of weeks ago that it did not make the final round of judging. Such is the life of a writer, but at what point does it become counter-productive to keep entering writing contests and not winning or placing? There were more than 1,000 entries in the Bevel Summers competition. My story was eliminated going into the third round of judging. No time spent writing is wasted; however, I must be selective because most contests have an entry fee. Getting no constructive feedback from writing contests is a drawback. My money might be better spent in getting my novel manuscript evaluated by a professional.

We’re down to number four on my plan. This is where the wheels begin to fall off my wagon. I thought it would be easy to set aside one day each week to edit and revise the manuscript of my historical novel, The Spanish Coin. I have failed to discipline myself to accomplish that. I have worked on it for a few minutes here and there, but that is a terrible way to approach such work. I must block out at least an hour or more on a regular basis to do it justice. Being surrounded by the noise of a remodeling project is not conducive to any form of writing, especially something as important as a novel. Until I get number four under control, I can’t move on to number five.

A written plan for my writing makes me accountable. I’m a discouraged at the moment, but I will keep writing. It’s what I love to do!