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...

I was in Asheville this weekend for a gathering of writers, and was delighted to read at Malaprop's, one of the great bookstores. Emoke, founder of Malaprop's some 30 years ago, was honored for her life's work by the state's writers, and it was a well-deserved recognition. And here's a shout-out to Alsace, Jan, and all the folks who make an author feel welcome in the shop. Asheville crowns the mountains with grace and good humor, a irrepressible young queen of the high country. The annual Bele Chere festival filled the downtown for the weekend, and despite the heat and threat of thunderstorms, everyone seemed to have a grand time. I enjoyed the music, both the stage productions and the intimate sound of buskers along the streets, and art of every variety. Speaking of queens - I'm in the Queen City on Aug. 13 to visit Park Road Books from 1-3 p.m. Pam Kelley is giving away a copy of Blood Clay - stop by her website before Wednesday, Aug. 3, to get your name i...

It was the long way around, but I got there. On Saturday, I was driving to the Literary Bookpost in Salisbury, using the car's navigation system for directions. When I got off I-85, the sign pointed right to downtown - but the nav system sent me left. Hmmmm .... well, maybe it was the back way around a lot of traffic lights. So I followed. Out into the country. Really into the country. Three miles, four miles. Then I saw the sign, "Welcome to Faith." The nav system came alive and told me I was approaching my destination, 110 S. Main St. And there it was, in the tiny downtown of Faith, a house on the lefthand side. And the nav system insisting that I was in Salisbury. So I tried the GPS on my phone, and it sent me back the way I'd come, toward the downtown, and to 110 S. Main St., the Literary Bookpost. A few minutes lost, no more. One of the folks attending the workshop said it was meant to be, that taking the detour had perhaps prevented an accident, had taken...

I've been re-reading a classic novel that I knew as a girl. Gene Stratton Porter wrote "A Girl of the Limberlost" about Indiana's great wooded swamps, thick with moths and mysteries. It appealed to me because I, too, was a solitary child wandering the woods, exploring the patch of second-growth woods below our house, chasing butterflies in the hayfields. The book (I remember it with pale green covers, the color of a luna moth) seems antique now, the sentiments labored and the transitions often choppy, yet the old allure is there, like the music of the Limberlost. The poor country girl facing the challenges of a city school, her hunger for knowledge, the dangerous beauties of wild places - those remain fresh. Each chapter is titled with a promise of what lies ahead, "Wherein Elnora has more financial troubles, and Mrs. Comstock again hears the song of the Limberlost." These titles are an enticement, but also a pledge - you will experience this, you will l...

Press 53 has announced the winners and finalists of its Open Competition , and it's exciting to welcome these authors into the family. One thing about being part of an Indie publisher like Press 53 is that, year by year, you see the community grow and make connections with other writers from coast to coast - and beyond. Among the winners and finalists this year were friends from the Triad - Michael Gaspeny, Ray Morrison and others. Their work emerged from blind judging, along with that from writers from as far away as Bellingham, WA; Watsonville, CA; Brooklyn, NY; and British Columbia, Canada. It will be fun to get to know them through their work in the 2012 anthology. Publisher Kevin Morgan Watson often speaks about choosing his first two poets, without knowing where they were from, and finding after he decided on the manuscripts that they were from Greensboro (me) and Winston-Salem (Joseph Mills.) Although the press publishes North Carolinians, its reach is nationwide, with a r...

This fall it seems like I've been scheduling a lot of workshops at new places. A novel workshop here, a character workshop there. While I have a handful of "tried and true" programs to work from, it's a lot more fun for the teacher to have something new as well. One of the m ost successful "brainstorms" to come up with a fresh workshop on a theme happened a few days ago at Tate Street Coffee. I'd already worked withTerri Dowell-Dennis, associate curator of education for the Weatherspoon Art Museum, on an ekphrasis workshop. I had gotten a note from Richard Krawiec about a Poets for Change day on September 24 - he wanted to get poets thinking about what they could do in their communities to promote literacy and general Good Things on that day. The date clicked with the new United Arts Council "17 Days" of arts happening in September and October all around Greensboro. Why not put these together? I emailed Terri to ask if she was interested... ...

If you're picking up some novels for summer reading, Ed Davis had nice things to say about Blood Clay.   Author Ed Davis: Great Summer Reading: A Writer to Watch Speaking of watching writers - Ed's novel won the Hackney Award, so watch for him moving up the charts in a few months.