WOMEN’S SPACES WOMEN’S PLACES - A Give-Away

And, the winner is . . . 

I used a random number generator to choose a name, and as coincidence would have it, the winner is Jill who lives right up the road.  I'm tickled pink that she won, but feel kinda odd about it too - so if y'all will bear with me, I'll have another give-away in a few months.  I hope you'll come back and leave your name in the hat again for a copy of WOMEN'S SPACES WOMEN'S PLACES.  I'll give a shout when I'm ready to do that.  In the meantime, I thank you all for your interest, it means a lot.  Hugs!!!

Kaye

 


I had a give-away when one of my essays was accepted for publication in CLOTHES LINES from 75 western North Carolina women writers a couple years ago, and now I'm tickled pink to have another give-away.

This is for a copy of WOMEN'S SPACES WOMEN'S PLACES from 50 western North Carolina women writers.  I'm every bit as proud of this anthology as I am the first one, and am over the moon about having had another essay included with this group of talented women.

 

We can thank Celia Miles and Nancy Dillingham for both anthologies.  They are tireless advocates for women writers.  Both these women, talented writers in their own right, take time from their work and busy schedules to help other women get their work out there and promote it.  Including their support of The Candy Maier Scholarship Fund, which is a “go to” site if you are a woman who wants to take a class, workshop, conference having to do with writing and need some financial assistance. Founded to honor writer/friend Candy Maier, The Candy Fund assists with up to half the cost (to $250) with few restrictions imposed.  

My hat is off to both of them - they own a little piece of my heart and my endless thanks, along with a great deal of admiration and respect.

How gorgeous is this cover, by the way??  It's by Karen Hollingsworth.  You can see more of her work here:  www.karenhollingsworth.com

Both WOMEN'S SPACES WOMEN'S PLACES and CLOTHES LINES are available at many North Carolina independent book stores, or you can contact Celia at  celiamiles@fastmail.fm  to receive one directly through the mail.

Here's a few links with a little bit to say about WSWP -

An interview with editor Celia Miles at Blind Pig and The Acorn blog

Netwest Mountain Writers and Poets

The Read on WNC

If you'd like to drop your name in the hat for a chance to win a copy of WOMEN'S SPACES WOMEN'S PLACES, please just leave a comment including your email address.  I'll draw a name and mail off a copy to the winner this coming Wednesday, June 20th.

Launch Party for Clothes Lines - You're Invited ! !

Launch Party for

"Clothes Lines"

At

Accent on Books

854 Merrimon Avenue
Asheville, NC
828/252-6255
info@accentonbooks.com

November 13, 2009

6:00 p.m.

On Friday, November 13, 6 p.m. there will be a reception honoring "Clothes Lines" from 75 Western North Carolina women writers; edited by Celia Miles and Nancy Dillingham .

Several of the contributors will be doing readings.

Celia and Nancy will discuss the process of collecting the pieces and editing the book.

This event is free, open to the public, and light refreshments will be served.

Come if you can!

Wednesday Evening Meanderings

Donald and I have just gotten flu shots today.

First flu shots we've ever gotten in our 24 + years together. The only time either of us has had the flu was the first year we were together and we were two very sick puppies. We both missed two and a half weeks of work. That's a huge chunk of missed work at one time!

Since then, we've both had a few pretty bad colds and I had bronchitis once and thought it was going to absolutely put me in my grave, but basically we're two of the healthiest people I know.

All this flu talk this year, along with the fact that I'll be getting on a plane next Wednesday, helped us decide that we might need to break with our "no flu shots" tradition. And so we did. Now we'll just see how it goes. This was the seasonal flu shot, the H1N1 shots won't be available till later, and the way I understand it - that's being recommended in addition to the seasonal shot. Seems like an awful lot of shots to me.

I've not been overly impressed with the seasonal shot in the past - seems like whatever vaccine is chosen ends up being the wrong one to fight that year's flu. But oh well - what do I know.

Anyway. We've had our shots.

But I don't really want to talk about the flu, or flu shots.

Many of you are members of DorothyL, so you'll be familiar with this lovely little book that I do want to talk about. THE WRITER'S JOURNEY JOURNAL: Inspiration, Information and Humor to help you find your way as a writer. It came up in conversation at DorothyL just this week. It is a lovely little book! It's compiled and edited by Tony Burton, and it's available through Wolfmont Press. Mine was a gift from my friend Radine Trees Nehring who writes the "Something to Die for" mystery series, which I adore. In the first book of the series, A VALLEY TO DIE FOR, this passage in the introduction grabbed me, and the series has maintained its hold on my heart ever since. "She began to turn slowly, still looking up into the treetops. She was, she decided, performing a symbolic ritual--turning away from asphalt, traffic, lined-up buildings, and rushing people. She was also turning away from Mrs. Amos Anderson McCrite, city wife. She was now Carrie Culpeper McCrite, independent woman, and Ozarks forest dweller.

She stood in a green well with walls unbroken by anything but the narrow window of her lane to the road."

This passage SO perfectly describes the very feelings I had the day Donald and I moved into this little house we now live in here in Boone, NC. We moved to this little town in the North Carolina mountains from Atlanta. And I did feel just like Carrie; like I was turning away from asphalt, traffic, lined-up buildings, and rushing people. I was totally blown away that someone could write what I was feeling! I immediately felt a kinship towards Ms. Nehring, but had no idea we would go on to become friends.

I was touched and honored by Radine's gift. I admired it, I picked it up over and over and read the essays included - many written by people from the mystery community who I know, or know of, and I enjoyed reading the quotes included on the top of each page. It's a simple delight. But I never wrote the first word in it. During a recent conversation about THE WRITER'S JOURNEY JOURNAL at DorothyL, I mentioned that I may have finally decided that I was actually ready to put the journal to the use for which it was intended and actually write in it. Maybe.

I've been in the terrible habit of jotting down ideas about things I want to blog about on whatever's handy - my desk calendar, a sticky note, the backs of envelopes - you know what I mean. We're all guilty of jotting those odd and random little notes to ourselves, many of which we never see again. One of the DorothyL members, Jenny Milchman, who writes the wonderful "Suspense Your Disbelief" blog suggested a fun thing. Start using the darn book, and then put a copy of one of the pages from the journal with my notes on it right here in Meanderings and Muses. So here 'tis. You probably can't read my notes, and that's O.K. - they're all ideas that will end up here anyway, and probably pretty soon. And I must say - allowing myself to finally write in my Writer's Journey Journal is fun. It's satisfying, fulfilling, makes me smile and it's just . . . fun. I've always been a firm believer in doing little things for ourselves which make us happy. We all need to allow ourselves little pleasures that bring us those feelings of fulfillment and bring forth a smile. Life is short. We only get to do it once. No dress rehearsal, as that saying goes. So why not do it with a smile? And if it's something as small as allowing yourself to write in a sparkly new journal, with bright shiny pages begging to be written upon, then what's the hold-up?! Go ahead, write away, then sit back and admire how beauteous 'YOUR' words look upon that page.

And now -

I LOVE give-aways, and wish I could do more of them.

I'm going to work on that.

But while I'm doing that, I do have a copy of a book I'd love to give to someone who might be interested.

Nope - NOT a copy of THE WRITER'S JOURNEY JOURNAL - Sorry! You'll have to find your own copy of that (and you should!).

But, if you're interested in receiving a copy of another book I've been squealing about here at Meanderings and Muses lately, (squealing about quite a lot, actually), just leave a comment at the bottom of this post. I'll draw a name on Saturday, and post the winning name on Sunday. Please check on Sunday, and if you're the winner, send me an email with your mailing address so I can get the book in the mail to you on Monday. (If we don't take care of this on Sunday and Monday, it will have to wait till I return from Bouchercon, and I'd rather not have it wait that long. )

Have you guessed what the book is?! Bet you have!

Here tis - ta DA!



Clothes Lines from 75 western North Carolina women writers.

i just love this book.

Friday Night Meanderings

This has been a particularly fun filled, eventful week. I've had some very sweet blessings bestowed upon me, like a sparkly tiara placed upon my head.

My friend Radine Trees Nehring, author of the "Something to Die For" mystery series which I adore, left the following at DorothyL:

"WOMEN ONLY: Just finished CLOTHES LINES, edited by Celia H. Miles and Nancy Dillingham. WOW, every woman here on DL should read this, though it is not a mystery. It's a collection of essays, little stories (true) and poetry by 75 women from western North Carolina. Kaye Barley is one of the authors, with her "Needing a Little Something Red in My Life." I loved Kaye's thoughtful opinion piece and tell-all about wearing red (and indeed, it seems wearing red, especially red shoes, cheers many women here and in the general population). I think all female readers will find many things that cause them (sure caused me) to click their tongues, smile, and say "Yesssss!" A couple other favorites of mine were "Let's Talk Bras" by Nancy Purcell, and "Sixty-Something," a poem by Nancy Townley Moore. And...oh shoot, I loved it all. Poignant, funny, REAL. Enjoy!"

'Course, now I've already squealed about winning the MWA Hot Ticket Event at Bouchercon for Lee Child, and - well, I guess I'm still squealing about it a little bit. But in case you missed it, please see the post below (big grin).

While I was squealing about that a few days ago (please see the post below), I came across a lovely little surprise that had been left in the comment section (which you can see in the post below).

Bloggers ponder about who some of their anonymous visitors might be. Who are they? What brought them here? What did they think?

It's always nice when those visitors finally feel comfortable enough to leave a comment and let you know they have actually dropped in more than once or twice and have found your little spot to be to their liking. That's a very rewarding feeling.

Patricia Stoltey, author of THE DESERT HEDGE MURDERS and THE PRAIRIE GRASS MURDERS not only dropped by and left a comment, she left us an award. And it's a very meaningful one. (I could say please see the post below, but I won't this time).

The Honest Scrap Award. Doesn't really sound all that meaningful by the title does it?! And it made me chuckle. Scrap, huh?! harumph. (Bloggers are rarely accused of being humorless.) But. The meaning of the award - as Patricia remarks at her blog - is sweet and kind and worthy of sending on to the right folks.

It's an acknowledgment of bloggers who post from the heart.

I'm honored to have been included, and very much appreciate Patricia's generosity of spirit.

The award rules are simple - pass the award to seven worthy bloggers who post from the heart, and list ten honest things about yourself. Along with the rules, this statement was added: "You don’t have to pass it along, unless you want to, but you do have to list 10 honest things about yourself."

I do want to pass it along.

It's fairly easy for me to choose blogs I think are posted from the heart. It's hard to narrow it down to seven.

I'm known for breaking the rules when it comes to keeping a list to the number requested, so in an effort to appear grown-up about it all, I'm going to play by the rules tonight. Here are my seven picks for the Honest Scrap Award.

These are folks who blog with a huge amount of heart. Heart which shines through their writing as clear as crystal. I think I could read anything written by any of these people and know right away who it was written by. If you're not already familiar with their blogs, I encourage you to stop by and check them out.

Jen's Book Thoughts

Blackwater Tales

Coffee With A Canine

Exile's Return

Swetzel's Weblog

Will Read for Food

Vicki Lane Mysteries

I remind each of these folks that it really is not necessary for them to pass it along. I happen to know that some of them are exceptionally busy right now, so it's understandable that they not have the time. A couple of them are getting ready to go to Indianapolis for Bouchercon, one is working on a manuscript in hopes of having their first published novel (and it is WONDERFUL!), another is working on their next book, one is traveling . . . life does keep us hopping.

Moving on to Rule #2. A list of ten honest things about myself. There wasn't anything included about these things having to be things some of you may not know about me, so this is pretty easy. I'll just list ten things I love (in no particular order, but just as they pop into my mind) - how's that? And notice I said "things," so I won't include the people (or pets) I love.

books, pizza, Meanderings and Muses, positive people, chocolate, my cowgirl boots, jewelry, sunrises, my digital camera, good coffee. It's fun to list things you love!

I'd have to say this has been a very good week.

Y'all. Life is good.

Clothes Lines Meet and Greet

Saturday, September 12 was a fun day!

Celia Miles and Nancy Dillingham invited all the women who contributed to Clothes Lines to a Coffee/Tea and Cookies Party. It was an opportunity to meet one another, exchange hugs with old friends, take a few pictures and enjoy the camaraderie of being part of a lovely endeavor, of which we're all quite proud.
































Thank you Celia and Nancy for a lovely, lovely day.

Mr. Bill Mosher took some terrific pictures which can be found at his webpage, including this one -


I think Celia and Nancy have some plans cooking for upcoming gatherings and I look forward to them. What an honor to be involved in a project with such exceptionally talented women.

Happy Dance !!

This book arrived in today's mail -

Lovely, isn't it?!











































AND - -

lookee here -



oh my.

How cool is that?!

VERY cool!!

Who's included?

As you can see from the title page - 75 western North Carolina women are featured in CLOTHES LINES - Edited by Celia H. Miles and Nancy Dillingham.

Seventy-five women.

Including Me!!

Many of the women included are local or regional names I'm familiar with, some I've admired from afar, some I'm only now becoming aware of. I'm quite honored to be included among them.

Three of the women, however, are giants in my mind.



Novelist Joan Medlicott, author of the award winning Ladies of Covington series,











Novelist and poet Isabel Zuber, author of SALT,










and




North Carolina Poet Laureate (2005 - 2009) Kathryn Stripling Byer.











oh my.


Am I over the moon?! you bet.


I have been a huge fan of Joan Medlicott's for a number of years and snatch up her newest Covington novels the minute they hit the shelves.

Isabel Zuber's "Salt" is one of my favorite novels ever. One that I reread with some regularity.

Kay Byer writes some of the absolutely most perfect poetry I've ever had the joy of reading, and her words enrich my life.

It was through Kay's blog, "Here Where I Am," that I learned of the call for submissions for this anthology, which is the second edited by Celia Miles and Nancy Dillingham. The first was "Christmas Presence, from 45 west North Carolina women writers," published in 2008.

This submission call was for " The Clothes We Wear . . . stories, memoirs, essays/reflections, poems for an anthology about the garments we wear — metaphorically, symbolically, literally---from hair bow to bra to Birkenstocks, from christening gown to prom dress, from waitress uniform to nine-to-five stiletto heels" and I immediately thought of a piece I had written for Meanderings and Muses about needing a little red in my life. Not allowing myself to think about things too much for fear of getting cold feet, I revised it and sent it in. Still not allowing myself to think about it too much, I was tickled beyond belief to hear back from Celia and Nancy that my piece had been accepted.

Had I known that Ms. Zuber, Ms. Byer, and Ms. Medlicott were to be included there is no way on God's green earth that I would have given any of this a second thought. Which says to me that sometimes we just need to put aside our fears - our lack of confidence in ourselves, and just say "oh, the hell with it," and stretch ourselves. By stretching myself, I've been granted an opportunity to be a part of something that I'll always be proud of. And that's a lovely thing, indeed.

Note: some of you have sent emails wanting to know how to get a copy of Clothes Lines. My copy of the book is, I believe, an early release, and we're all supposed to get together next Saturday to discuss "stuff" at a "Meet & Greet Tea." (won't that be fun?!!) I'll find out about distribution then, I'm guessing it will be available through amazon, along with our local and regional indies (I'll keep you posted). BUT - in the meantime you can order copies from the publisher - Catawba Publishing or from the editors: Celia Miles - celiamiles@fastmail.fm or Nancy Dillingham - nandilly@earthlink.net