What the New Year Brings

January 1, 2015

This year has begun with a brighter day than most we’ve had in December. The sun is shining and that makes me smile.

The first day of a new year is like opening a new writing journal for me. I have a clean slate on which to begin. It is mine to do what I will every day, make it mundane or exciting. On my Gratitude List today, number one is: I am here in this lovely place which inspires me to write and to share with other writers. 

Last May, as I started up my stairs, I had a sudden muscle strain in my left hip, fell and for two months, as I visited one doctor and another, I worried that I might have to stop holding classes in my studio, Writers Circle around the Table. I could not walk up and down stairs for three months without extreme pain. Prescription drugs became a way of life for me. Depression set in as I visualized myself moving to be near family, leaving this place I love so much.

I am not a city girl. The first time I lived in town, I shared an apartment with two girls after college. The girls were great, but I missed my privacy and the open green space of my rural home.  When my husband and I married we lived in a furnished apartment for less than a year. Our poodle, Brandy, soon made it obvious that he was not a city dog. He chewed everything in the place and shredded the sofa cushions. We had to move to a place with a yard.

That was when we claimed our five acres of my father’s farm. My husband delighted in living in the woods and Brandy spent all day outside. 

For thirty years we lived there and when we moved to the mountains of North Carolina, we found a house surrounded by trees, very private but only five miles from our small town. After my husband died, I remodeled my downstairs for my studio. Already, I have excellent instructors lined up to teach classes in 2015. (see Schedule page)

Thankfully, the stairs hold no challenge for me now. With the help of my orthopedic massage therapist and an acupuncturist who introduced me to Pete Egoscue’s book, Pain Free, A Revolutionary Method for Stopping Chronic Pain, the pain in my hip is gone. I do one simple exercise every day. It is called Static Back. The book has many of these e-cises and I also do many of them, but Static Back is the one that fixed my hip problem. 

So on my Gratitude List today are two very wonderful young men, Jay Gibson and Chris Bassett, and a young woman massage therapist, April Stewart. With massage, acupuncture, and the dedication of these therapists, I feel better than I have in a long, long time. Seldom do I need any pain medicine, and when I do, it is over the counter, not prescription. 

We have to manage our own health, learn all we can about our problems, and follow our gut instincts. I was told I needed to see a back surgeon. I was told that all of us live with pain and I could expect to deal with it the rest of my life. I would not accept that. 

When Chris Bassett told me I didn't have to live in pain. I could work on my posture, aligning my body by lying on the floor twenty minutes a day with my legs on a chair, I wanted to cry with joy. He took time to show me how I walked, what I was doing that aggravated my muscular problems, and gave me the hope I needed to go to work on myself. Simple stretches every day will keep our muscles from atrophying. The acupuncture helped with the pain, as did the massage therapy, but I had to continue treatment on myself so that I was not re-injuring myself. 

Yes, this New Year has dawned bright and beautiful and full of prospects for challenges and successes.

I hope all of you, my readers, will have much to be thankful for in 2015, and I hope you will start your own gratitude journal today. Write five things each day for which you are thankful. This stimulates the positive in your life instead of the negative. 

I might write “I am thankful for the butterfly flitting around on my flowers.” I might also write, “I am grateful today for the good test result for my friend.”  This is your journal and no one needs to see it. 

Although we hear all the horrible things on the news that make us feel that our world is coming apart, our words, deeds, and ideas can help to make a better world. They really do matter.

Shelby Dean Stephenson - new Poet Laureate of NC

News in the literary world of North Carolina

Shelby Dean Stephenson has been selected the new Poet Laureate of North Carolina and will be installed in February, 2015.

Read more here.

Why Count our rejections?

I am always surprised when I read that a writer knows exactly how many rejections he has received. I wonder why one would want to rub salt in the wound that occurs when the rejections arrive. I make note that the journal has rejected my work, and then put the info away in my files. I have two files in the drawer. One has all my acceptances and the other has rejections. Those that come now by email get filed in my documents. I have no idea how many times my work has been rejected.

Once a poem has been turned down a couple of times, I revise it and send it out again to different publications.  I have an idea of the number of  publications I have because I list them on my blog, but I have never counted them to make me feel good or bad. If I counted all the rejections , I am sure I’d be unpleasantly surprised. Since I have no idea of their number, I never think about it.

Part of my approach to life is making sure I don’t poke sticks in my eyes anymore. Why torture myself when it is unnecessary and does no one any good? Why would I lash myself with a big whip?

Instead of thinking of the negative, I glory in my acceptances when they come and share them with friends that I know care about me. I think it is best to celebrate our greatness every chance we get.

Classes for 2015

We are happy to have Paula Canup, former English teacher, writer and journalist, join our faculty in 2015. She will teach a workshop in March.  The date and time will be announced later.

We can always use a brush up on our basic skills and new writers often have forgotten those details of grammar that we learn in high school and college. I see many problems with new students such as when to use ellipses, where to place quotation marks in dialogue, what is an em dash and where to use it. How often can we use an exclamation point or when should we use it?

Put it on your calendar now to sign up for Paula’s class at Writers Circle next March.

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Glenda  Beall teaches at TCCC in March

I will be teaching in March at Tri-County Community College. The dates are: March 24, 31 and April 7 and 14. Time for all classes is 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. The title of the class is Write Your Life Stories for Your Family or for Publishing.

I have taught adults to write stories about their lives for a number of years. The stories are often written for grandchildren or other family because the writer wants to leave a legacy of what life was like before cell phones, before computers and video games, before families were too busy and before they were scattered all over the country and around the world. 

Each of us has a unique story, and in this class you learn

• where to begin
• how to begin
• how to organize your work
• what to write and what not to write
• how to write so that your audience will want to read your stories

Each student will have several stories completed and written by the end of the course in an entertaining and interesting form. Each student will carry home a number of tools he/she can use in the future. 

Classes for 2015

We are happy to have Paula Canup, former English teacher, writer and journalist, join our faculty in 2015. She will teach a workshop in March.  The date and time will be announced later.

We can always use a brush up on our basic skills and new writers often have forgotten those details of grammar that we learn in high school and college. I see many problems with new students such as when to use ellipses, where to place quotation marks in dialogue, what is an em dash and where to use it. How often can we use an exclamation point or when should we use it?

Put it on your calendar now to sign up for Paula’s class at Writers Circle next March.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Glenda  Beall teaches at TCCC in March

I will be teaching in March at Tri-County Community College. The dates are: March 24, 31 and April 7 and 14. Time for all classes is 6 p.m. until 8 p.m. The title of the class is Write Your Life Stories for Your Family or for Publishing.

I have taught adults to write stories about their lives for a number of years. The stories are often written for grandchildren or other family because the writer wants to leave a legacy of what life was like before cell phones, before computers and video games, before families were too busy and before they were scattered all over the country and around the world. 

Each of us has a unique story, and in this class you learn

• where to begin
• how to begin
• how to organize your work
• what to write and what not to write
• how to write so that your audience will want to read your stories

Each student will have several stories completed and written by the end of the course in an entertaining and interesting form. Each student will carry home a number of tools he/she can use in the future. 

Michael Diebert will be teaching at Writers Circle in 2015. Time and date to be announced.

Michael with students at Writers Circle

JOIN US FOR AN EVENING WITH AWARD-WINNING APPALACHIAN POET

JESSE GRAVES

Monday, Oct.20

6:00 p.m.

Wilson Lecture Hall

Sponsored by the Center for Appalachian Studies and Community Engagement

From my journal, September 30, 2014

Today is September 30, 2014, our first full day at the house on Cape  Breton Island in Nova Scotia, Canada. I slept better last night than I have in a long, long time. The bed is just soft enough and has the exact right amount of cover. I cracked a window to get the fresh cold air into the room. When I turned off the lamp, darkness settled over me so black I couldn’t see anything. I closed my eyes and immediately fell asleep.

This is an unusual occurrence for me. I have been an insomniac all my life. Being thousands of miles from my responsibilities makes a huge difference I think, even though my waking hours are often filled with concern about my work and my house. Will my plants die while I am gone? Did I get the article into the newspapers soon enough? Will I stay healthy for this week away from home?

But those thoughts didn't enter my mind last night. I am on vacation with my sister and brother-in- law and they are great traveling companions. 

We left their house in Roswell, GA  Sunday at 8:30 a.m. We arrived in Halifax, NS around 3:45 but did not leave the airport in the rental car until nearly five. We had no GPS and no good directions to the hotel in Dartmouth, so we became lost and finally found the place after dark.  Thankfully a restaurant, on the premises, had a fine menu. A large bowl of seafood chowder, brimming with lobster, scallops, crab and fish was all I could eat. After our meal I collapsed on the bed and slept for nine hours.

I had called ahead and asked for a chemical free room. I was told it was no problem and I found out the entire hotel, A Best Western Plus, used no polluting air freshener or fragranced cleaners. The lobby had no odor and the rooms were completely clean and free of synthetic scents.

I love Canada. The people are far more conscious of the earth than where I have lived and they know how to care for it. Recycle containers are everywhere and people seem to know how to use them. Even in my hotel room, I found recycle containers available.

I remembered that I had heard of a hospital in Halifax for those with chemical sensitivities. Wish I had had time to investigate that place.

The view from the house we rented in Nova Scotia

Today is a bit overcast and the temperature is in the sixties, but that is fine with me. We decided we needed today to rest from the long trip and maybe tomorrow we will get out and drive the Cabot trail around the island. We hear that the views are fantastic to behold.

For now, I think I will take a nap.

Elizabeth Hunter teaches workshop October 25

October 25, Saturday, 10-1:00 p.m.

Elizabeth Hunter, writer, essayist, naturalist

Fee: $35

Second Draft Strategies: Taking the Terror Out of Revision

Congratulations! You’ve completed a first draft. You know it needs work, but where to begin? This three-hour workshop will supply you with a roadmap through revision that will improve your writing and calm your nerves. We’ll work our way through a structured set of questions, beginning with the big one: Have I said what I wanted to say? Others follow, concerning beginning and ending, voice, tone, tense, language, and flow. Students who wish to are invited to bring a first draft (maximum length 1,000 words) to read and critique.

Elizabeth Hunter began her professional writing career as a newspaper reporter before becoming a freelance writer. A columnist, contributing editor and writer for Blue Ridge Country Magazine, she was commissioned to write the text for two coffee table books on the Blue Ridge Parkway and one celebrating the 150-year anniversary of Mitchell County, NC, where she lives. She is a self-taught naturalist, and has taught nature writing at John C. Campbell Folk School for many years.

Take Advantage of Leadership - Read These 7 Tips

If you are a writer, it is likely you don’t want the limelight. You work best in the quiet of your own space. You don’t need people around and you don’t want to be bothered. You are happy working on your book – whatever it may be.

But eventually you have to think about what you will do when the book is finished, published or ready to be read by the public. Wouldn't it be nice if you could just mail the manuscript to someone who would take over and print it, promote it, sell it, and send you a big fat check each month? You could just write and write and never leave the house.

I see many writers who seem to think that is the life of an author. Sadly, that is one of the myths the public has believed for years. In today’s world the author must be seen and heard. The author is the one who markets his/her book.

I want to suggest some painless methods an author can use to reach an audience. Take on a role of leadership. Don’t volunteer for more than you feel comfortable doing, but try the following suggestions.

1. If there is a writing organization in your town or area, join and attend the events.
2. Find ways you can help the organization – lead a critique group, become the helper to the leader, and if there is no job, make one that you want to do, then do it.
3. Offer to do the publicity for your writing group. Write articles on the members and publish them in the local newspapers with your name listed as the writer. Be the one to put your local literary group on the map. Use photos with each article.
4. Join your state literary group. Know the leaders and call them or email them with suggestions of how they might best serve their members. Better—call or email and tell them what a great job they are doing for the members.
5. Become a mentor for beginning writers. 
6. Hold an open mic event in a local coffee shop or book store once a month. Write an article for the local newspapers about who attends and who reads, and be sure the event is on social media with your name attached.
7. As soon as you feel you are ready, volunteer for a major leadership position in a literary organization. When your name is well-recognized, your book will soon follow. Be sure you make as many speeches or appear at as many events as possible where you can mention your book. 

Tell me what you think of these ideas. Do you think they would help you?