NCWN West has a new website

The North Carolina Writers' Network - West has a new website set up by our new Program Coordinator, Ellen Schofield. It is still "in process" but the new website will link to our original blog, www.netwestwriters.blogspot.com 

Visit the new site by clicking on the link below.

www.ncwriters-west.org

Ellen is making herself available to members, visiting events in all the counties as much as she can, and has started her new job with enthusiasm and energy. 

Dana Wildsmith at Writers Circle in 2014

NEWS

Dana Wildsmith, a writer and poet I admire, lives outside Atlanta on an old family farm. She has been teaching at John C. Campbell Folk School for years but I've not been able to catch one of her classes.

So I recently asked her to teach at Writers Circle next year, 2014.

She said she would love to. We have been working on a date for her class which is to be for non-poets, memoirists, novelists, etc. as Dana writes poetry and prose. 

Today, she sent me an email and I was delighted to see that my friends at FutureCycle Press are publishing her new poetry book,

Christmas in Bethlehem.

Visit her blog to read one of the poems included.

I think we will have to have Dana come back in the fall and teach a workshop on poetry, don't you?

Reflections of Billy the Elder

I received this from Bill Ramsey today:

"My new book of essays, "Now That I Think About It - (Reflections of Billy the Elder),"  is now available in print from Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.  It is also available on all E-reader devices like Kindle and Nook. 

Concise, original essays on a wide variety of themes are intended to stimulate reader thinking. We need to think critically and not allow others to do our thinking for us. Be assured, as you read them, that I do not seek to have you agree with me."

"I had the help of preview readers, an editor, a book and cover designer. Their names are in the acknowledgements.

I tried to price it right so the paperback is $12.95 and the e-book version is $4.99. If you search Amazon.com and do a site search, it will be there. You can use their "Look Inside" feature to see the table of contents and a sample of the essays.
Your consideration of my book would be appreciated.

All the best, Bill Ramsey"

Bill is affiliated with the Blue Ridge Bookfest in Hendersonville, NC. His first book was about his childhood in the fifties and based on the success of that book, he has written the second book of personal essays. 

Bill is a member and supporter of the North Carolina Writers' Network and Netwest. Congratulations, Bill. I look forward to reading this book soon.

Eye of the Beholder

One of the favorite instructors at Writers Circle has a new book out, Eye of the Beholder.

Read a short but incisive review here.

Interview with Ellen Schofield published on Netwest Website

Recently the new program coordinator for our writing group, NCWN West, a chapter of the North Carolina Writers' Network, answered some questions for an interview published on our Netwest website. 

Ellen Schofield impressed me with her plans to serve our mountain group as our leader. I see good things ahead for our writers and poets in the far west portion of the state. 

Ellen is from Montana, originally, but has lived in our area since 2006. Her husband, Paul Schofield, is an author of a science fiction trilogy. 

You can read the interview here. 

Visit Ellen's lovely blog here.

Call for Submissions - Poetry and Flash Fiction

My friends at FutureCycle Press are calling for poetry and flash fiction submissions now. Take this opportunity to send in your work Diane Kistner and Robert S. King put out good books. Check out their website below.

Call for Submissions

FutureCycle Press is now reading poetry and flash fiction written in the English language for books, chapbooks, and anthologies to be published globally in both print-on-demand and Kindle ebook formats. We read year-round, simultaneous submissions are okay, and we try to respond within three months or less. Detailed guidelines and to submit: www.futurecycle.submittable.com. Catalog: www.futurecycle.org. (Tip: Amazon’s “Look Inside” feature is a great free way to get a feel for what we like. Also see our Good Works and Archives tabs and Free Kindle Saturdays promotions.)

GOOD WORKS PROJECTS

In 2013, FutureCycle Press introduced its Good Works projects, thematic anthologies with all proceeds donated to a related worthy cause. Previously published work is considered if all English-language print and digital rights have reverted to the author and a credit to the original publisher is provided.

Malala: Poems for Malala Yousafzai.Poems in honor, and in the spirit, of the young Pakistani girl shot on October 9, 2012, by the Taliban for bravely advocating for the education of girls in her region. Malala was runner-up for Time’s 2012 Person of the Year and has been nominated for a Nobel prize. We will publish this anthology to commemorate Malala Day, November 10, as declared by U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon. Reading Fee: None. Deadline: August 1.

Homeland: Writings About Homelessness. Poetry and flash fiction on the theme of homelessness with an emphasis on understanding. Reading Fee: None. Deadline: None.

Our Place: Writings About the Earth. Poetry and flash fiction dealing with themes of the environment, climate change, humans in the context of our ecosystems, etc. Reading Fee: None. Deadline: None.

Metamorphosis: Writings About Aging. Poetry and flash fiction on aging: the good, the bad, the ugly, the transcendent. Reading Fee: None. Deadline: None.

BOOKS AND CHAPBOOKS

Our tastes in poetry are eclectic; we ask only that you send fresh, well-honed work that hangs together well as a book. Our flash fiction line presents quick reads that can be serious or light-hearted, irreverent or quirky, fantastic or futuristic, or just plain fun. Include an acknowledgments page and bio with your submission. Reading Fee: $15. Deadline: None.

SELECTED POEMS SERIES

Our Selected Poems series will feature contemporary poets with a substantial body of work to their credit. Reading Fee: $15. Deadline: None.

Terry Kay speaks at Byron Herbert Reece Society

If you know of Terry Kay, author of To Dance with the WhiteDog, made into a Hallmark movie, and many other terrific books, you will want to read this eloquent speech he gave at the Byron Herbert Reece Society annual meeting in June. I am delighted that it was printed on the website since I was unable to be there.

Terry Kay speaks to me in his books and in this address he gave to members of the society. I am thrilled to have met him, spoken to him and had him sign one of his books for me. I even have a photo with him.

He is a novelist, but he understands Reece because they share the same background. They both grew up on a farm in Georgia (as did I) and their dreams often developed from behind a mule and a plow. Visit this link to read Kay’s entire speech. Come back and let me know what you think. OK?

Self Published book makes NY Times best Seller List

While reading C. Hope Clark's Funds for WRiters newsletter today, I became excited about a conference on her itinerary. As I read about it, I found out it is this weekend, too late for me to attend.

But on the conference website I saw that the keynote speaker was a woman from Nebraska who had written and self published a novel which made the NY Times Best Seller List.

She has sold over 75, 000 copies - all online-  at 99 cents each. She has made lots of money and has refused to publish her second book by a traditional publisher. She also has an agent.

See the sidebar for a link to her story.