Dancing won't make you old. You get old when you stop dancing

Happiness !! Gay dancing with Chris Stone

When Gay and I were teens, we loved to dance and took every opportunity to do so.

Today, while Gay dances several times each week, I write. That brings me happiness. 

I am delighted that Brooke, at NARRATIVE BOOKS, in Murphy NC is carrying my books now. I hope you will drop by and meet Brooke, the nice young woman who owns this unique store.

NARRATIVE BOOKS -104 Tennessee St. Suite C, Murphy NC - find my books on the shelf with local writers.

Paws, Claws, Hooves, Feathers and Fins

City Lights Bookstore, Sylva, NC - order my books from City Lights

Now Might as Well be Then - poetry, published in 2009.

Visit our Writers Circle page at City Lights

I am so happy to be affiliated with City Lights Books in Sylva, NC. This is one of the best Independent book stores anywhere. Chris Wilcox and his staff can help you with anything you need and they carry many local authors, meaning North Carolina writers and poets. 

Chris gives me a page on his site for our Writers Circle classes.

  http://www.citylightsnc.com/writers-circle-around-table

Check it out and while you are there, look at the books - real books with pages you can turn and hard covers or soft covers. Look for my poetry book: Now Might as Well be Then, published by Finishing Line Press.  On the sidebar is a place to search for the title.

You can order from Chris just as well as that other big company. 

I was there last Sunday and met my friend, Rebecca, in the bookstore where I had been browsing.

We then went downstairs to the cafe and talked for three hours.

I recently heard that real books are not dead as was predicted. Those of us who love to hold a book in our hands, to mark on the margin of books we keep, to pick up that book many times and read parts of it after we have read it through, spoke loudly and independent book stores are not going to be obsolete after all.

But we need to support them if we want to keep them.
Visit City Lights either online or in person. You will be happy you did.

Thanks Jackson County Netwest and City Lights for a Great Open House

We had such a great time in Sylva at City Lights Books. Kathryn Byer and Ellen Schofield organized a terrific event with good food and drink and time to chat. Sylva, NC is not too far from Hayesville, where I live, and the drive is beautiful over Standing Indian. Staci Bell and author, Nadine Justice, rode with me. I was happy that Nadine had the opportunity to show off her memoir, I'm a Coal Miner's Daughter But I Cain't Sang. It is now available for sale at City Lights.

One of the featured readers for the day was Pamela Duncan, delightful novelist, who might be interested in teaching at Writers Circle next year. Her short story was met with long and loud applause. 

It was good to see poet, Michael Beadle, who is one of the busiest people I know, teaching, writing and working in schools in North Carolina. To get to know him better, visit this link and hear an interview with him. 

Newt Smith, Jackson County Representative and treasurer for Netwest, was born to be an M.C. He is clever and witty and we all enjoyed him today. 

My long time friend, JC Walkup was present today. Her first book will soon be out and I look forward to reading it. Susan Snowden, author of Southern Fried Lies, edited JC's manuscript.  

I picked up a few copies of Fresh, the literary magazine JC brought over. 

Once again I was struck by the caring and encouragement of the successful writers for those who are still struggling, hoping for their first publication. That is what I found in NCWN West seventeen years ago when I first joined.

Today a young woman, maybe college age, read three poems. She said she was not yet published, but I am sure her work will be out there soon. By joining NCWN she will find a large group of writers and poets who can meet her needs. 

Some Netwest News for our Readers, Happening on November 10

This should be an afternoon of fun for all writers, as NCWN West invites you to come to meet and greet other writers in the area and hear from some outstanding writers, Catherine Carter, Brent Martin and Pam Duncan. 

• Save the date: Sunday, November 10, for the Netwest Open House at City Lights Bookstore in Sylva, from 1-4 pm. From 1-2 pm, we will enjoy a social hour upstairs, where we will serve light refreshments so that we can mingle and perhaps find some great reading material. 
• From 2-4 pm, we will go downstairs to the cafe, where drinks and additional goodies will be available for purchase during the readings and open mic.  Guest readers will be: poet Catherine Carter, naturalist writer Brent Martin, and novelist Pam Duncan, with an Open mic to follow. Please mark your calendars for this outstanding event.

I plan to attend this event and hope to see many writer friends, bloggers and poets there.