Read Robert S. King's post on three good ways to promote yourself

I often hear from writers and poets that they can't promote themselves. How sad. If they don't do it, who is?

Robert S. King wrote an excellent post on three ways to promote yourself.

Click here.

I am listed in the directory of Poets and Writers. It wasn't difficult to meet the qualifications. Robert tells you how in this article.

I have been remiss in not using You Tube for my readings, etc. Many times I've watched videos of Kathryn Stripling Byer because someone in the audience videoed her reading. Robert would like to see all the Netwest readings videoed and I think I'll look into it for myself. Although I wouldn't want to watch myself, I think it could be good publicity.

Tipper Presley did teach me how to upload a video of deer in the snow outside my window. I'll see if I can remember how to put it in this post.

Robert S. King will be teaching a class at Moss Memorial Library on Saturday, April 20,10 - 1 PM. 

Translate - a new gadget from blogger

Take note of a new gadget on the sidebar of this blog. Now readers who do not speak English can have the blog translated into their language simply by clicking on the TRANSLATE link and typing their preferred language.

I hope this will increase our readership and we can make friends with folks in other countries.

Snow all day kept me home and busy.

On a cold snowy day like today, I get so much done at home. Today I went down to my studio in my basement and turned on my old desktop computer. That is where many photos and older files are found. I had Bob, my computer guru, clean up that old dinosaur.

View from my deck looking off into the woods and the snow covered mountains

 Now it is quick and I enjoy it more than my fancy new desktop in my office. I am still struggling with learning Windows 8, Microsoft Office Word 2010, and I get frustrated when I have to search for all the new ways of doing things.

I have learned that not all young people know more about computers than I do. In fact, I find that most of them know how to use their smart phones, but when it comes to what I need to learn, they tell me they don't know anything about computers.

The next time someone tells me to just ask a twelve year old how to hook up my computer or use a program that is new to me, I will tell them that I don't have time to teach a kid or have the patience to try to get him/her off their cell phone. 

I hope that Ronda Birtha's class on using Social Media for marketing your writing will make. I look forward to learning how to do that properly and how to be safe on Facebook and Twitter. I see people giving out their home addresses on FB, and putting their young children's pictures online and I wonder if that is safe. I know I wouldn't give out my home address on Facebook. But Ronda is an expert in all this and I'm sure she can tell us what to do and what is not safe to do. 
Mainly, I hope she will help our writers see how they can promote their writing and reach a larger audience.

I hope all of you are warm tonight. I think about my parents and grand parents on cold nights like this. They couldn't go in and flip the thermostat higher to take the chill off.
Even when I was a small child we had only one heater in the house. Mother would warm a blanket and wrap up our feet when we climbed into the cold bed. Then she would pile quilts on us and we slept warm, my little sister and me, cuddled up together.

Cary Carden playwright and story teller. His play "Coy" will be presented at  Valleytown Cultural Arts Center, Andrews, NC April 27, 2013

CHAUTAUQUA ANDREWS APRIL 26, 27

I hope you will put these dates on your calendar. April 26, 27.

The little town of Andrews, NC will continue with their Spring Chautauqua and has a wonderful lineup of events. Check them out on the link below.

http://www.chautauquaandrews.org/calendar.htm

At 2:00 p.m.  Saturday, see "Becoming Elizabeth Lawrence" presented by Emily Herring Wilson at the Valleytown Cultural Arts Center.

One of Gary Carden's plays , "Coy," will be presented by Tom Dewees at the Valleytown Cultural Arts Center 7:00 P.M. and several other theater productions will take place that weekend.
If you have somehow missed seeing a Gary Carden play, you must make sure to take in this one. You will spend a delightful evening with his characters.

Although Andrews is not so far from Clay County NC, Towns County and Union County Georgia, we hear little about this event. Thanks to Linda Ray at Curiosity Books in Murphy for sending the link.

After the last performance of one of Gary's plays at Chautauqua  I heard rave reviews. I am determined to get to Andrews for this one. Hope to see you there.

Local Writers will be interviewed on radio.

Recently Shawna Rose, hostess of the Blue Sky Show, called me to inquire about having local writers appear on her radio show.

I was on my way out of town and didn't get back to her until a week ago. Meantime, Brenda Kay Ledford, had contacted Shawna and is going to appear on the WJUL/WJRB FM Radio Station 97.5 at Young Harris, Georgia on Saturday,  March 2, 2013 at 11:30 am, 2:00 pm, and 7:30 pm.  The program, "Blue Sky Show," will also air on Sunday, March 3, 2013 at 7:30 am, 12:30 pm, and 2:00 pm. 

Shawna interviewed Brenda Kay about her new poetry chapbook, BECKONING, that was recently released by Finishing Line Press (www.finishinglinepress.com).

Maren Mitchell, author of Beat Chronic Pain, an Insider's Guide,  is expected to be a guest of Shawna Rose soon.

WRITING CLASS IN MARCH BEGINS MARCH 12

The writing class, Writing Stories for Your Children and Grandchildren, at Tri-County Community College in Murphym, NC will be postponed for one week. 

The classes will begin on Tuesday, March 12, one week later than was originally planned, 3 - 5 p.m. each Tuesday for six weeks. So we will end this course a week later than planned.

We have met our minimum for the class and I am looking forward to meeting new writers and greeting some of my former students.

In spite of the title, this class is for anyone who likes to write true stories. We write narratives about our lives for our family or for publication. 

Back in the fifties friends gathered for a party

My students have run from age 21 to 92. All have had wonderful stories to tell. One young woman is now writing guest posts for a blog, Busted Halo, as well as writing her own story on her blog.

She is being paid for her writing, and had never thought she could do that until she took my class at John C. Campbell.

Another student published her memoir last year. We never know until we try, just what we can do. 

Nadine Justice with her memoir, I'm a Coal Miner's Daughter  But I Cain't Sang

Gread Reading at John C. Campbell last night

For the first time in a while, I went out to a reading last night. Nadine Justice, author of I'm a Coal Miner's Daughter, But I Cain't Sang, was delightful and the audience loved her. She has a sense of humor that comes through in her writing. 

Mary Ricketson, one of my very favorite poets, always brings me to tears when she reads poems about her only child, her son who is super smart and won a scholarship to MIT or one of those big colleges. I feel I've watched him grow up from a boy by reading and listening to Mary read her poems about him. 

I told her last night that, although I've not had a child, she touches my maternal instinct or maybe it is my growing up with a mother like Mary. I saw my mother go through all the angst of teenagers making mistakes she couldn't prevent, seeing hurts she couldn't heal, and just giving them all the love a mother can give. I know Mother prayed for her children. I was one of her main worries. Always wearing my emotions on my shoulders, I came to Mother to ease my pain when I was hurt. 

Mary's son is grown and on his own now, but her poems about him continue to show a strong bond between mother and son.
The Journal of Kentucky Studies has published one of Mary's poems, her first in a literary journal. That was the first literary journal that published one of my poems. In fact the editor, Gary Walton, has published a number of my poems over the years. And I am grateful.

Nadine's book, which I watched develop from the beginning, has memorable stories about her own childhood with a mother she couldn't relate to, and a father she adored. In her memoir about her life growing up in the coal camps, then her travels overseas, and her failed marriages, I see another strong woman like Mary. Nadine has two daughters and I'm sure she has prayed many times for her children. I find her book extremely interesting and by the mail she has received, others find it a good read, too. 

Anyway,  I am so glad I went out to hear these fine writers share their work last night. I appreciate all those who came and really appreciate the Folk School for hosting Netwest each month.

And thanks to Linda Smith who schedules the readings.