September Writing Series at Tri-County Community College -Register now

September 2016

Tuesdays, September 6 – October 11 

6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.     $35

Writing Your Life Stories for Your Family or for Publication: 

Our life stories are a precious legacy. Putting them in writing is a gift to all who know and love us—they can be treasured and enjoyed for generations to come. Facts bring us knowledge, but stories bring us wisdom.

If you are interested in writing family/personal life stories – those significant tales of adventure, transition, love, loss, and triumph, as well as the lovely everyday moments shared with loved ones from the past or the present, come learn specific tools and techniques to retrieve and record them.

Students will write a short piece each week. This class is structured for intermediate or advanced students who have completed at least one writing class. 12 hrs.

Instructor: Glenda C. Beall, published author and poet, experienced teacher and blogger. Owner/Director of Writers Circle Studio, Clay County Representative for NCWN West.

Contact Lisa Long at Tri-County Community College to register
(828) 835-4241
LLong@tricountycc.edu

Reading by Glenda Beall - John C. Campbell Folk School - Thursday, September 22, 7:00 p.m.

Lumberton, a Novel by William Council

Genealogy is like a disease that those of us who come down with it can't seem to get over, even after twenty years. 

My curiosity about everything underlies most of my writing as well as my interest in the family tree. I recently found and ordered a book by William Council. The title is Lumberton and the main character is Mary Polly Council, a real person who lived in Robeson County, NC. The book is written as ficton. The author has used facts he found in his genealogical research, wills, census records and vital records, court records and other writings about Robeson County residents. Mary Polly was a direct descendant of John Council, the first Council to arrive in Virginia, Isle of Wight County in the sixteen hundreds. 

William Council is a descendant of that line of Councils. I believe I am also a descendant of the first John Council. The families that migrated to Robeson County and surrounding counties from Virginia in the 1700s included members of the Council family. 

My great grandfather was John Cecil Council. Oral history has his family living in the area of North Carolina where they sold "naval stores", products produced from the sap of the pine tree. Pitch, turpentine and tar are naval stores. They were used by carpenters to caulk the seams of wooden ships. The present products of pine tree sap – turpentine and rosin – are still known by that name. 

In 1998 I published a family history book about my grandfather, Tom Council and his ten children. In this book I also included all of Tom's descendants which meant gathering hundreds of names and vital information. This book is written with all the facts known by me and my cousins and other family. 

To write a novel based on truth makes for more interesting reading, I think. Lumberton is a page turner and I only wish the author had hired a professional editor before he published this book. My pet peeve is authors who are in too much of a hurry to see their manuscript in print or don't think they need a professional editor to help them polish and perfect the book before letting it see the light of day.

As a writer, I am stopped each time I see a typo, misspelled words, incorrect punctuation, and in general a book with sloppy text. This is a good story, poorly edited. 

Mary Polly marries the older rich man although she loves the sheriff. Their love story mingled with the history of the era, and knowing she was a real person, perhaps a distant relative, adds to the tension in the book.

I have readers who are family or are researching the same lines that are in my family history book. If you are part of the Council family, I suggest you read William Council's book about Mary Polly Council. 

Lumberton, a novel by William Council  ISBBN 978-1-60743-346-0 (PBK), published by Financial Quest, LLC

Upcoming Classes at Writers Circle around the table

If you are interested in Genealogy and writing about your ancestors, you must sign up now for Bones to Flesh, the class starting at Writers Circle in August. Mary Michelle (Mary Mike) Keller is once again holding her popular class on discovering your ancestors with the great resources she offers, and then fleshing out the stories of those men and women to make them come to life. .
Mary Michelle Keller - Wednesdays, - August 31, September 7 , 14
  10:00 AM -1:30  PM -
Michelle Keller, a seasoned genealogist and published writer, will teach a class on finding your ancestors and how to write their stories.

Bones to Flesh, Genealogy and Writing Class

The class will be an introduction to genealogy, how to do research and where to look, not only for the obvious, but those details that will give life to the person you are writing about. You do not need to know who your ancestors are to join this class. We will find them.
All handouts will be included in the fee of $40. For information call Michelle Keller (706)896-1899 or contact Glenda Beall, 828-389-4441 or nightwriter0302@yahoo.com

Michelle Keller will teach a follow up class for those who took her class last year and those who take her beginning class this year. The class will introduce unusual places to find information, pitfalls that can easily snare the researcher and lead them down the wrong path and new option on the internet for much easier searching. The class will also address how to move forward when you seem to be mired down.