I Dream Of Christmas written by Granny Wilson

I dream of Christmases of long ago

Of trampling home thru cold and snow

Of sitting by the hearth with hearts aglow

And looking forward to Christmas.

I think of times that used to be

When Mom chopped down the holly tree

And James was probably not more than three 

And we had the grandest Christmas.

At Christmas there's more love and cheer,

Perhaps because our Lord seems…

Creative Nonfiction Competition

from press release, December 16, 2016



The 2017 Rose Post Creative Nonfiction Competition is now open for submissions. This contest awards $1,500 in prizes to a piece of lasting nonfiction that is outside the realm of conventional journalism and has relevance to North Carolinians. Subjects may include traditional categories such as reviews, travel articles, profiles or interviews,…

Day-long writer's retreat in West Asheville

(from press release)

Flatiron Writers has opened up  the Flatiron Writers Room at 5 Covington Street, West Asheville, and hosts a day-long retreat that includes communal writing, time for yourself, an individual session with novelist Heather Newton and fellowship with other participants. 

You can also add on an optional neck and…

My new novel on the American Revolution War is out. "A Passel of Trouble - The Saga of Loyalist Partisan David Fanning." is a fact-based story about one of the most extraordinary characters who fought in the Carolinas.

During the first three years of the war, he was captured fourteen times in South Carolina.  He went to North Carolina in late 1780, was commissioned a colonel by the British Army and created havoc in the central part of the state. Among his most notable raids…

Over the years I've learned to be wary when one of the girls run up to me holding out her hand telling me to look and see what she found. One time it was a handful of hairless baby mice another it was the entrails of a recently butchered deer. 

So a few weeks ago…

Hi folks:

     As you may know, Hendersonville's Ken Butcher regularly posts interviews with NC authors on his website, themiddleoftheair.com.  I was honored recently to do one of these podcasts and some of you might find it interesting.  All the best.

THE SINISTER SMILE, an adult fiction thriller complete at 63,500 words and featuring William and Willa Mae Lawrence, and Howard Thomas. Howard, the affluent son of a wealthy and influential family, who is suspected of feigning insanity to avoid capital punishment for murdering Willa Mae’s mother plus three others.

The novel begins with William and Willa Mae visiting Howard Thomas, a patient who had been in a mental hospital for almost thirteen years. His psychiatrist thought…

The Sinister Smile, A Sequel to A Haven for Willa Mae gives the reader a view of an insane mind or is Howard Thomas, the affluent son of a wealthy and influential family, feigning insanity?

The Sinister Smile, A Sequel to A Haven for Willa Mae gives the reader a view of an insane mind or is Howard Thomas, the affluent son of a wealthy and influential family, feigning insanity?

Is Carden's Kephart play controversial?

Gary Carden's play, "Outlander," receives a "staged reading" in the Reuter Center, UNC Asheville, 2 p.m., Sun., July 31.  Carden will be on hand to discuss the play with the audience.  

It is a controversial play in that it has been criticized by the descendants of Horace Kephart who felt that the play "demeaned" Kephart.  "Ironically," Carden says, "my original purpose in writing…

BRING BACK THE GAME

     Anna and I basically spent a month in Asheville, NC this summer. We returned to Georgia a few days ago, and while we were glad to get home, as we got out of the car, we were met with the suffocating heat that I still have not become acclimated to even though we have lived in Middle Georgia for over 30 years. Every plant in our backyard had dried up and only the belligerent squirrels had survived the summer’s inferno.

      We had a great…

Saluda Grade From Top to Bottom Presented at Saluda Train Tales

from press release

Matt Bumgarner will share the research behind his newest release, Saluda Grade From top to Bottom at Saluda Train Tales on Friday, May 20, 2016, at 7pm at the Saluda Historic Depot.

Matt is an award-winning writer and the regional publisher of Tarheel Press…

UNC Asheville Offers Creative Writing Summer Camps in June and July

from press release

UNC Asheville will offer two creative writing summer camps – Write Now for high school students, and All Things Writing for middle school students – with separate sessions for each age group in June and July.  These week-long programs are designed for writers of all skill levels and offer instruction and experience with many different…

Joe Epley recently was elected to Board of Directors of the Military Writers Society of America.  The MWSA has around 700 members around the country. Details on the website: http://www.mwsadispatches.com.  ; The organization's purpose is to help military service members, veterans, their families, supporters of the military,and historians record history and the complexities of military life--and encourage writing as therapy. The…

Author of key book of our times comes to Asheville

Andrea Wulf makes Malaprop's Bookstore one her stops, Sun., May 1, 5 p.m., in talking about…

The 8^th Annual Blue Ridge Bookfest brings authors to Flat Rock

There are a few oases where writers congregate to share wares and wisdom, and Apr. 22-23, the place is Blue Ridge Community College, featuring 19 readings and workshops, and many more opportunities for conversations with authors at exhibition tables.  See full schedule at…

Yesterday, on the Ides of March, my book, Forests, Alligators, Battlefields: My Journey through the National Parks of the South, was officially launched – a soft launch.

It’s now available on Amazon in both…

Many thanks to Edge Magazine for publishing this excerpt "Wear the Right Garb" from Plant Whatever Brings You Joy in their March issue! http://www.edgemagazine.net/2016/03/wear-the-right-garb/ Copies of my book are available at Malaprop's! xoxo