A Moveable Feast

* This content was also posted at my author web site.

I’ve just returned from a fabulous visit to Pawleys Island, South Carolina, where I was the featured author at Litchfield Books’s Moveable Feast.

Oh, Pawleys Island. Oh, wonderful readers. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

I’ll do that in a minute.

But for now, here’s the play-by-play of the event.

Moveable Feast is a joint project of Litchfield Books, an independent bookstore, and area restaurants. Every Friday, a different author appears at a different restaurant. Participants pay the price of the ticket, which covers the lunch, the author’s presentation, and a discount off the price of the novel. Featured authors in the past have included writers like Pat Conroy, Nora Roberts, Mary Alice Monroe, Ron Rash, Elizabeth Gilbert, and more.

I’m the luckiest of authors, for two reasons.

1.) October is a gorgeous month to be on the South Carolina coast. Daytime temperatures drop to the low 70s and upper 60s, the influx of summer traffic thins, and the humidity disappears. Sunrises and sunsets over the ocean are crystal clear, awe-inducing, and dusk is a silver-purple dream.

2.) My event was hosted and catered by the famous Sea View Inn, known for its delicious food, island hospitality and incredible view. I know, without a doubt, that there were many attendees who showed up just because of the venue. And I think that’s great!

I grew up spending summer vacations on the South Carolina coast, at nearby Garden City Beach. Pawleys Island has always been a special spot for my family—my father grew up spending summer vacations there, and sometimes his parents would rent an old beach house (the oldest houses on the island were built in the 1700s) for the entire summer. His mother, his siblings and he would live the 1950s island life while his dad drove down from Columbia (the state capital) when he was done with work on the weekends.

So I have a host of stories in my head about the place, including all the ghost stories my dad told us—"Alice’s Grave," "The Gray Man," and more. Most South Carolina kids grow up--or used to--knowing these stories, but actually being in the place where they happened? And trying on your mother's engagement ring while walking backwards around Alice's grave 14 times, to see if it disappears? Priceless. And a whole other story.

Back in August, my parent rented a wonderful 1920s oceanfront house on Pawleys, and they, my sister and her husband, my family, and all our dogs spent an idyllic week wandering the shore, finding starfish and baby stingrays in tidal pools, biking around the island, and sitting on the screened-in porch that faced the sea, drinking adult beverages and rocking in old rocking chairs.

Ahh, summer. Where was I?

Oh, yes. Friday. Moveable Feast. And my very first author event for Keowee Valley!

So, suffice it to say, it was an utter treat to return to a place that I love. I arrived early, parked my car in the sand-shelled lot—it was already packed— and hiked up the wooden steps and into the Inn. A lovely fire was burning in the fireplace in the main room, and the smell of woodsmoke and the view through the windows out onto the huge front porch, over the dunes and into the ocean had me grinning in delight. It was a gorgeous, sunny, cloudless day.

There was a small table set up in the corner of the room, where the Litchfield Books manager was selling copies of Keowee Valley and Michael Morris’s Man in the Blue Moon (Morris is on tap to be the next featured author at Moveable Feast).  Here’s a shot of me in that lovely, light-filled room, reading over my presentation one last time.

My mother and a dear friend, Gayle, were also in attendance. It was such fun to have them there: both took photos, and every time I passed Gayle she was talking up Keowee Valley to somebody. It always helps to have back up. Especially when that back up is completely supportive and in no way unbiased.

The innkeeper showed me around the dining room, which was set up with pretty place settings and flowers, and tables ready for the 60+ readers in attendance. Then, after we were all seated, she introduced me with a flourish, and I was on.

I talked about many things, but mostly told the crowd a little bit about myself, about the inspirations behind Keowee Valley, and about my writing life. What a wonderful audience they were! Attentive, bright-eyed, smart and inquisitive, they even laughed at my jokes. I thoroughly enjoyed taking their questions at the end, especially. I just love to talk books.

Talking Keowee Valley, microphone in hand



Then, the lunch. Oh, the lunch. Sea View Inn fried chicken, squash casserole, potato salad, sweet rolls, peach cobbler. How do I love thee?

Kidding. But that meal was to-die-for. My mother, who probably has a tinier waist now than she did in high school, had to keep herself from audibly groaning with happiness. (She loves fried chicken.)

A lovely reader with several books in arm

 

I have to say, though, that my absolute favorite part of the event was meeting readers—folks who’d already read Keowee Valley, and those who bought the book there. (Actually, Litchfield Books sold out of the novel at the event and at their store. I can only imagine that this is a good thing.)

I just love people in general, especially readers. They used to call my paternal granddaddy “Speaker,” because he couldn’t walk down the street without talking to everyone he knew or didn’t, and I think I may be the same way. I also used to be a reporter, and I could hold a conversation with a brick wall. Who knows what stories it has to tell? (Not sure what that says about me, or the wall, but it's true.)

Signing books

 

Those folks at Moveable Feast were a joy. I loved hearing their stories, answering questions, and just talking about history and literature and the people and places we had in common. I hope they’ll keep in touch.

Happy readers, happy author!

 

 

 

Signing books in front of the Inn's beautiful fireplace
(by the way, I firmly believe that cowboy boots are a necessary aspect of any social occasion)

 

Meanwhile, as my mom, Gayle and I were enjoying good food and good, booky fellowship at the Sea View Inn, my dad and Gayle’s husband, Willie, were on granddaddy duty. They took my 3 year-old daughter to the beach to build sandcastles, to the condo pool, to Quigley’s Pub for nachos and quesadillas, and to Walgreen’s for a giant bag of lollipops. Wylie was returned to me with a host of stories about her day and a mouthful of bright blue lollipop.

 

My beach girl

 

A good time was most definitely had by all.

All in all, the whole thing was a roaring success—and a fantastic way to kick off the next couple of months of book events for Keowee Valley.

Thanks so much to all the folks at Litchfield Books, the Sea View Inn, and to those wonderful readers who came out to hear this first-time author. I do hope we meet again!

 

* Next up:

On Tuesday, I give a presentation in Brevard, North Carolina, at the Transylvania County Library’s Bag Lunch Arts Series. It’s called “The Slanted Truth: When Fiction Meets History,” and I’m going to discuss my life as a historical novelist, what draws me to historical fiction and my own research process, and even the ethics of writing within the genre. Highland Books, Brevard’s independent bookstore (and a favorite haunt of mine), will be selling Keowee Valley there after the talk. If you’re in the area, please join us! And if you’re not, look for a blog post re-cap at the end of the week.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Old October

Laurel Creek, in the Pisgah National Forest

Happy Fall, All!

Yes, I’ve resorted to rhyme. Such is the state of my brain these days.

This is, by far, my favorite time of year. And October is the best month of them all to be living where I do, in the mountains of Western North Carolina. The colors, the crisp air, the blue skies, the pumpkin patches and corn mazes, the smell of woodsmoke, hiking leafy trails, and the influx of tourists to my tiny mountain town—I love it all.

In honor of the glorious month of October, and of Autumn in general, here are Five of my Favorite Fall Things:

1. The leaf-changing.

Driving through town last week and looking up towards the Blue Ridge Parkway, I can see that the patchworking has already begun: yellows emerge first, then the reds and oranges, and soon the mountains around my tiny town will be aflame with Fall colors. The change is oh-so-brief, which makes it more the mystical, more the special. It’s breath-taking.

In our team colors

2. College football.

I am a Clemson Tiger: most of my family members graduated from the university, and my great-grandfather was even Mayor of Clemson back in the day. My blood runneth orange. And I absolutely adore college football. This being the busiest Fall of my life thus far, we haven’t physically made it to a game yet. But in my house, on game day, we get the DVR ready, wear our colors, and fire up the grill. Then we settle in for Saturday heaven.

www.made-in-china.com

3. Fleece.

Now that a chill is officially in the air and the flip-flops have been put away, it’s time to bring the bins of cold-weather clothes down from our attic. Since my husband and I spent years working in outdoor/experiential education (basically, playing in the woods with kids for weeks on end), we own a lot of fleece clothing. Fleece is a beautiful thing, especially when you live in a house built in 1948. In fact, I write this post from the comfort of my favorite fleece pants. Ahh.

4. Voting.

Yes, I really mean that. Yes, I am aware of the asinine political ads littering local TV and the Internet, and (cough), peoples’ lawns. But when we wade through the malarkey and the posturing and the pomp, hoist ourselves above the shallow surface of what a candidate looks like or sounds like or where they go to church or how much money they make, what we get is a piece of the history cake. A chance to do our research, narrow our options, and vote with our brains and hearts and guts for the leaders of our school boards, our towns, our states and our country. It’s an historic right, and an elegant, inestimable privilege. Plus, it’s a helluva lot of fun.

My town's Halloween festival

5. Being home.

Thomas Wolfe wrote, "All things on earth point home in old October; sailors to sea, travellers to walls and fences, hunters to field and hollow and the long voice of the hounds, the lover to the love he has forsaken."

And isn’t this the truth? In October, that fire-filled month, I want nothing more than to sit by the familial hearth, enjoy the treasures of my town, and stare up into the sky where I live. I long for the easy reach of my loved ones, my dog at my feet.


Wherever you are, I hope that your October is all of this, and more.











 

Afterglow

What a lovely week it’s been! My first novel launched, the reviews are pouring in, and I’ve had nothing but kindness and support from my nearest and dearest.

Who could ask for more?

See. Look at these gorgeous flower arrangements. The one on the left is from the sweetest parents-in-law a gal could hope for, and the one on the right is from a wonderful friend.

There’s so much I could post about here, about the whole process, about what it feels like to finally hold that novel—the physical book—in my hot little hands. And some of this, I will certainly share (as soon as I come back down to Earth). I dreamed of publishing a novel for years, and the reality of it has been both nothing like what I imagined and even more than I’d thought possible.

Life, of course, has been busy--as it is for all of us. It doesn’t come to a screeching halt just for little ol’ me and my book, and that’s okay. On my plate the past week: grading college essays, reading and writing for graduate school, promoting Keowee Valley with emails, calls and letters; solo-parenting when my husband’s been away on business, and trying with all my might to convince my rascal of a 3 year-old—who’s been getting into big time trouble at preschool—that Mama is most definitely The. Boss.

Yes, it takes convincing. She’s not convinced. But she’s still cute.

See:

 

ARGH

 

But back to the week of the book.

 

Two things I’ve learned:

 

1.) Reading back over the Acknowledgements section of the novel (because of course I’ve poured over the whole thing, examining each and every page, time and time again), I came to an incredible realization.

 

Not one person, over the course of my life thus far, ever told me I couldn’t do it. That I couldn’t be a writer. In fact, every single person—family member, friend, family-friends, relatives, and teachers—encouraged me, spurred me on, and believed in me.

 

Imagine if I'd wanted to be a go-go dancer.

 

Kidding.

 

That kind of belief? It's a magical thing, my friends.

 

And

 

2.) Watching your loved ones read the Dedication and Acknowledgements sections of a novel, watching them read words you crafted so carefully in an attempt to thank them for all of that belief and encouragement … watching them tear up with emotion?

 

Pure joy.

 

So, though the initial excitement is wearing off, and it’s back to the work-teaching-grad school-writing-family grindstone (beautiful, exhausting, wouldn’t-trade-it-for-the-world life that it is), I’m still planning to savor the moment. And we’ve got some fun things in the works: launch parties in my hometown and in the town where I live, and more. Great book events at fantastic indie bookstores, participation in book festivals, library presentations and more.

 

It’s going to be a busy, busy Fall. I hope you’ll follow along!

 

 



 



 

KEOWEE VALLEY RELEASES TODAY!

I’m thrilled to announce that Keowee Valley has been released TODAY!

This has been a long, wild and wonderful journey. I’ll continue to talk about it, and other aspects of the writing-parenting-teaching-just-plain-living life, here at The Writing Scott.

Keowee Valley is available in both Trade Paperback (bigger, nicer paperback) and as an eBook at the following outlets:

Amazon
Barnes & Noble
Bell Bridge Books
Your local Indie book store!


Independent booksellers in the Southeast who’ve happily offered to stock Keowee Valley:

Highland Books, 277 North Broad Street, Brevard, NC, 828.884.2424
City Lights Bookstore, 3 East Jackson Street, Sylva, NC, 828.586.9499
Fiction Addiction, 1175 Woods Crossing Road, #5, Greenville, SC, 864.675.0540
Litchfield Books, 14427 Ocean Hwy, Litchfield Landing, Unit G, Pawleys Island, SC, 843.237.8138
Books on Broad, 944 Broad Street, Camden, SC, 803.713.READ

And more to come!

*** Southern Literary Review has made Keowee Valley its “September Read of the Month”! Check out the review here.

Happy Day!

Bet Your Bottom Dollar

This morning I'm channeling Annie. Yes, the curly-red-headed gumshoe orphan from the 1982 film.

When I was four years old, I was entranced by Annie and her Daddy Warbucks world. My mom bought me an Annie wig, I dressed like her, and I staged musical numbers in the living room of our house in Greenville, South Carolina. Anyone who came over--babysitter, aunt, parents' friends, the mailman--was subject to a performance.

It didn't matter that I was Annie's opposite: Southern, very much NOT an orphan, freckle-free, with blindingly white-blonde hair. When I put on that wig and belted out "Tomorrow," I was Annie.

Here. Remember?

The kid even inspires FDR. She's amazing!

So.

The reason I'm channeling Annie is this: as most of you know, my very first novel, Keowee Valley, comes out tomorrow. I dreamed the impetus and details of the novel for years before I put it to paper. I researched for six months and wrote and rewrote for another year and a half. I queried literary agents for about four months (we're talking pages and pages of printer paper, stamps galore, and, finally, four offers of representation amid the nearly 200 rejection letters). The nail-biting decision on which agent to choose. Then, the agony of waiting to find a publisher ... three years of it. And, finally, an offer from a publisher I've come to thoroughly like and admire. Another year plus until publication.

Anyone want to count the years from writing to publication? I wouldn't. It's terrifying.

But tomorrow, my novel will be published.

When I say it's hard to believe, I'm not making it up. Lately, I've existed in a state of numbness, hardly believing it to be real. I've pushed aside any excitement in order to simply deal with the myriad details of my busy life.

And, if I'm honest with myself, the thought of people--strangers and those I know and love--reading Keowee Valley makes the nerves jump beneath my skin.

I know, of course, there will be some readers who love it. Most likely my mom. Okay, hopefully more than just my mom.

There will be some readers who simply like it, or feel neither this way nor that about the story. There may be even some who expected more from me, and didn't get it.

Gulp.

And then, there'll be those who hate it. Who think that I can't write my way out of a paper bag.

Those will sting. Ain't gonna lie. And I've never had the thickest skin. But I hope--I plan--to be like the turtle, and let the water (and the negativity) just roll off my back.

My graduate advisor at the Vermont College of Fine Arts this semester, the incomparable Connie May Fowler (How Clarissa Burden Learned to Fly, Before Women had Wings), told me this about bad reviews in a recent letter. I don't think she'd mind me sharing:

Do not allow small, inconsequential things to mar your joy over this success. The publication of your novel is an achievement NO ONE can take away from you. It’s a monumental achievement and it will cast a love-shine on all the days of your life. So glory in it!

I love her.

And I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that the sun'll come out tomorrow, the day of my publication. And it'll be good.

Bet your bottom dollar!

The Countdown Continues!

Keowee Valley will be released in two days!

My husband asked me yesterday, “So what really happens on Thursday?” As if something magical were going to take place.

“Nothing,” I told him. “It just means that the book is available in bookstores and online, or bookstores can order it for customers if they don’t happen to have it in stock.”

And, really, this is all that happens on my official publication date. Press releases do go out, and my publishers at Bell Bridge Books do a bunch of behind-the-scenes marketing, sending the book out to libraries, review sites, and more. Keowee Valley will be featured on the front page of the BelleBooks/ Bell Bridge Books web site, and of course available for purchase through them, too.

Even though there won’t be any bells and whistles, the whole thing truly is magic. Mixed, of course, with a helluva lot of hard work and quite a bit of luck.

At my house, we plan to celebrate with dessert from one of the many wonderful restaurants in our little town, and some champagne.

* * *

In other news … (pretend I sound like Tom Brokaw) ...

 

I returned on Saturday night from the Southern Women Writers Conference at Berry College, where I presented a paper (an excerpt from Keowee Valley). It was a great conference, populated by absolutely fabulous writers, including the other presenters in my session who read from short stories and novels-in-progress. Whenever I attend conferences like these, I’m always astounded at the quality of writing going on out there in the world.

Some incredible writers on the scene for a while: the singer-songwriter-actress Marshall Chapman, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson, poet Barbara Hamby, and South Carolina’s own Josephine Humphreys.

Some new (to me, but certainly not the writing world) faces: Iranian-American author-lawyer-activist-blogger Melody Moezzi, essayist Melissa Delbridge, and Episcopal priest and author Barbara Brown Taylor. All were simply stunning. And what a delight it was to sit over meals, especially, to talk with other attendees and writers and to listen to these funny, brave, incredibly talented Southern women talk about the writing life.

I had to leave earlier than I would’ve liked to get home on Saturday (the conference was Thursday – Sunday), but it was well worth the 4.5 hour drive through the mountains of Western North Carolina and North Georgia.

I chose the route, in fact, because the first half of it traced the journey my characters Quinn and Jack took, in Keowee Valley, when they traveled through the Cherokee wilderness to meet Jack’s family, in Chota (the spiritual capitol of the Cherokee Nation at the time).

Once I got over being in the car alone, and without my dog, Scout—who’s been my travel buddy for the past nine years—I set my playlist to begin with a little Sam Phillips (from the album “A Boot and Shoe. For a taste, listen here). I headed off down NC Hwy 64, heading west. Followed the incredibly gorgeous Cullasaja River--which moves between Highlands and Franklin, N.C.--craning my neck to look down into the gorge as I wound slowly up the two-lane mountain road, wondering if the roof of my Honda Element would scrape the rock outcroppings overhead.

Keowee Valley Spoiler Alert!

The Cullasaja is a special river for me: Nearby, in my fictional world, is where Jack proposes to Quinn, back at the deep of a cave, behind a roaring waterfall. Truth be told, it’s where and how I imagine the modern Bridal Veil Falls—which on my drive I saw plenty of bikers and motorists parked, taking photos and walking beneath it. I can only imagine the Falls in the 18^th century, no road, only a footpath or game trail, rushing through the glossy undergrowth.

(Alert over.)

After following the Cullasaja River for quite some time, up through the Nantahala National Forest, I meandered along past the Little Tennessee River, through towns like Young Harris, Blue Ridge and Ellijay, and then into North Georgia and the gorgeous Chattahoochee National Forest. It was a jaw-droppingly beautiful day—with a crystalline blue sky free of clouds and humidity, just hinting at the glories of October. And it was fun for me, to take that journey again, to remember when I was just dreaming up my novel.

Have I mentioned that Keowee Valley will be released in TWO DAYS?

Just checking.

 

First Review of Keowee Valley & I'm Hitting the Road

I woke this morning to find the first review of Keowee Valley posted by Jill's Reviews at Goodreads. I couldn't be happier!

http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/415241105

Who needs caffeine with a morning pick-me-up like that?!

In less than an hour, I'm hitting the road for Berry College and the 2012 Southern Women Writers Conference. There I'm presenting a paper along with other fiction writers, during a session called "Escaping Beginnings and Coming of Age." But most of all, I'm looking foward to hearing from other emerging writers and from some Southern greats like South Carolina's own Josephine Humphreys, singer-songwriter-actress-author Marshall Chapman, and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson.

I'm traveling without my dog, which always feels odd since she's usually with me whenever it's just me, but I do have my playlist ready. I plan on quite a bit of Southern "girl" power: some Dolly Parton (of course), Dixie Chicks, Indigo Girls, Sugarland, and more.

Road trip!