Back to Poetry Group

After five years, I finally went back to my poetry critique group tonight. I am so glad I did. We had a great group, small but all of them excellent published poets, and my poem was well discussed. 

Janice Moore, poet, has facilitated that group for many years. She teaches English at Young Harris College and although she retired this year, she is still on staff as an adjunct professor. Having her as our leader is a bonus because she is knowledgeable about all things literary. 

I believe that any serious writer should be a part of a well-run critique group with people the writer respects. Most writers or poets who publish books will list their writing group on their acknowledgements page. I know I did. Janice Moore was one of them. She also wrote a blurb for my poetry book, Now Might as Well be Then. I was honored.  

We will have some excellent writers and poets at the Netwest Writers Conference in Sylva, NC on May 10. Conferences are great to meet new writers, make friends with like-minded people, and take classes with top writers. We will have Judy Goldman, Susan Snowden, Kathryn Byer, Nancy Simpson, Gary Carden, Newt Smith and William Elliott at this conference. Any one of their sessions will be well worth the small charge for attendance. 

In the coming weeks I plan to get back to my own writing and get that poetry book published that I have on hold. Time is flying by and I have so much I want to do. Tonight's energy-filled meeting has me pumped up and feeling creative. 

What makes you feel creative? 

Do You Support Other Writers and Friends?

JC Walkup, writer, editor and publisher

On www.netwestwriters.blogspot.com site, JC Walkup wrote a post about why writers should join our chapter of NCWN. I like what she said about us. She said we are not in competition with each other, we support each other and always help our writing friends when they need it.

It sounds too good to be true, but she is right.
I don't know if I could have published as much of my work if I had not had writers like Estelle Rice, Michelle Keller, Janice Moore, Carol Crawford, and Nancy Simpson who read my stories and poems and gave me honest and helpful suggestions to how I could make my work better. We do this for each other.

Get Feedback
I can share my work with other writers in NCWN West and get good feedback, not mean-spirited criticism, or jealousy. I think we all truly want the best for each other. Nothing pleases me more than to see the success of my friends and my students.

Wouldn't it be great if more people, instead of trying to step on someone to get ahead, tried lifting someone instead?

I have found that when I lift someone up, I rise with them. 

I have never gained anything good by putting down others. 

When I try to improve myself, when I compete with my own results, I come closer to achieving my goals.

Be an Example

If I had a child, I would tell him, "Try to be the best person you  can be, and treat your fellow man as you would want him to treat you. Then you can live and enjoy a good life." 

And the child would likely say, "Please, don't preach to me!"

Because, you can't tell people anything and expect them to listen. Just as we say in writing class, show, don't tell.
Let you life be a lesson.  

SNOW DID NOT STOP OUR BOOK SIGNING

Phillips and Lloyd books on the square in Hayesville, NC hosted a book signing last Saturday. The light snow in the morning did not deter the customers looking for Christmas gifts in this delightful store. My friends and  family enjoyed shopping. Elizabeth and Joe filled a table with holiday cookies and we drank a pot of their good coffee.

Don K., Barry's good friend, came by to pick up a copy of Now Might as Well be Then. Don and Barry sang together in the Methodist Church Choir and also in the men's chorus, Singing Disciples. Don has inherited Barry's favorite hand carved wooden cane that he used for a short while.

From left: Janice Moore, author of Teaching the Robins, Karen Holmes, editor and publisher of the Netwest Newsletter, Award winning poet, Brenda Kay Ledford, Jo Carolyn Beebe, geneologist and writer, and Carole Thompson, poet and fiction writer all have work in the new anthology, CLOTHES LINES, edited by Celia Miles and Nancy Dillingham. They had fun and enjoyed signing both Christmas Presence, published last year by Catawba Publishing and Clothes Lines at Phillips and Lloyd books on Saturday, December 7.