Valerie Nieman v. 3.0

I've been following the Facebook conversation launched by a friend in Pennsylvania who is considering opening a bookstore. "Try with all your might to find the tiniest, nookiest, very least expensive, spot to rent," one comment read. " Bookstores ARE NOT a thing of the past!" said another. And people had suggestions for ways an indie store could add to its revenue stream, as well as warnings about the hazard of starting a new business, any new business. It made me think of Barnhill's in Winston-Salem, a newish store that's working hard to revitalize a community on and around Burke Street. In addition to books, and strong support for the small press (especially W-S's own Press 53 ), Barnhill's has wine tastings from regional vineyards, local art on the walls, children's items, fudge from a nearby shop. None of this is new, but it is part of a pattern of local businesses helping each other out, making networks to sustain them and their cust...

The best writing, in my experience, comes out of direct experience of a place, a people, a time. These are things you know in your body, a somatic memory that allows your character to move in a developed, authentic setting. Grounding, some call this, and it’s a good analogy – like Anteus we take strength from touching our mother earth. Sometimes people write best what they have left behind or lost. Nostalgia perhaps, but it can also be powerful. So what makes a place/setting? Macrosetting is the larger place and time, including the historical and political milieu, artistic and religious presence, climate, architecture, scientific or technological advancement and ethical concerns. And microsetting is the immediate, intimate surround of the story – whether an Atlanta apartment or a West Virginia hill farm. Specifics are the key – a mountain valley in the Smokies has its own biota, from trees to birds, as well as geographic underpinnings, the land-record of logging and farming and mini...