In the Family Way

Maternity corset, Victorian era
(www.melissanemitz.wordpress.com)

Yes, I am "with child." I am also...

"In a delicate state."

"Carrying a child."

"Expectant." 

"Fecund," "fertile," "fraught." (Oh, boy.)

"Fruitful."

"Gestating."

"Heavy." (Yes, oh, heck yes.)

"Parturient." (Whaaat?)

"Productive."

"Prolific."

Can you tell I love my Writer's Thesarus? It keeps me warm on cold nights.

But back to the topic at hand: It's true, and at 15 weeks along there's no denying it. I am expecting Baby #2--gender yet to be revealed--on May 8, 2013.

Holy freaking moly.

To say that trying to manage all those things in my life I love to talk (or complain... cough) about has been difficult would be a massive understatement. As so many mamas know, working, parenting a young child, taking care of a house (snort), trying to promote a novel and attempting to be a reasonable spouse all take on an entirely new meaning when you are "in the family way."

Add a full graduate course load and attempting to write a second novel, and it's a circus act of massive proportions. Except, in my case, it's not snazzy, fancy Ringling Brothers, but instead one of those state fairs where the carnies running the ferris wheel look like meth-heads, all the animals in the 4-H competitions bolt for the hills, and carnival-goers all seem to look as if they'd sprouted from the same gene pool.

Nursing corset, circa Thank God NOT 2012
(www.breastfeeding.blog.motherwear.com)

Please forgive me. I'm pregnant.

What I'm trying to say is, the past 3+ months have been a doozy. And I've not done anything--parenting, wife-ing, teaching, writing, novel promoting--particularly well.

See, I'm a college English professor who just used the word "wife-ing." I should be shot.

Thankfully, I seem to have moved out of the I-want-to-die-NOW portion of pregnancy, that oh-so-lovely first trimester. (I'm writing that in a whisper, so the nausea gremlins don't get me). With this move into the Lord-be-praised second trimester, I seem to have reclaimed some of my old energy. When I was pregnant with my now 3 year-old, I used this energy to grade papers, to exercise, to hike some pretty big hills.

Somehow, this isn't the case with Number 2. There's more to do.

I don't have the antidote. The magic potion. The solution. If you do, send it to me. Please. Now. Ye shall be rewarded forthwith.

Some day, "they" tell me, I will write about all this. And I'll be calm. I'll be enlightened, helpful, humorous.

But for now, I'm just pregnant. Happily, but maddeningly, "fecund, fertile and fraught."

Festival Weekend & New Books for the Shelf

Back from the 2012 Dahlonega Literary Festival down in lovely foothills of Dahlonega, Georgia! Though we (my family and I) were only there for a night and a day, we got a great taste of literary fun in a fabulous small town.



Our hotel room view

The hotel room where we stayed--all three of us--was a bit sparse (one of those where you drive up to your door), but we had everything we needed, and something unexpected: a gorgeous view of the North Georgia mountains.








Her daddy promised her lots of "jumping on the bed" on the ride down.

My 3 year-old adored the king-sized bed, and she and my husband had a giggle-fest building pillow forts and "bear caves" on top.

Bears in the bear cave

The fun she had in the hotel room almost made up for the fact that we all slept in there together, and she was up from 2 - 5 a.m. that night. Which meant, of course, so were we. God bless concealer, and the fact that I'd remembered to bring make-up at all.

Gold Rush Museum

The Festival was held on the beautiful campus of North Georgia College & State University. The buildings seemed so new, fresh and modern. I was especially impressed by the Library Technology Center, where I served on a panel of Appalachian writers during a session called "Appalachia in Fact and Fiction." With enormous windows facing all directions, high-beamed ceilings and wonderful natural light, it's just the sort of study spot I'd gravitate to were I student there.

But I spent most of my time in the Regional/Local Authors area of the Festival, held in the giant first-floor room of the Continuing Education Building. Tables were set up in racetrack style around the room, and organizer Ken Smoke did a great job of helping us authors find the perfect spot and get set up. On advice from my publisher, I brought copies of Keowee Valley to sell, a handy-dandy display of my book cover that I've been toting everywhere lately, postcards, and a huge bowl of candy. I am not above bribery.

I also decorated my little table with a long scarf made in the Crawford tartan. I wanted to give a little shout-out to my main character, Quincy's, Scottish roots.

With author Janie Dempsey Watts

It was my first time running a booth at a festival, selling my own books. And it was definitely a learning experience. My favorite part: meeting other authors, visiting, and just talking about the writing life. I also had a chance to make new author friends, like 2012 Georgia Author of the Year  Ann Hite (Ghost on Black Mountain), Mary E. Kingsley (Angel), YA novelist Akaeda Flame (Champion), and so many more. I also got to "officially" meet other authors and writers I've been connecting with online and over social media, including the fabulous Kimberly Brock (The River Witch) and Alison Law, publisher and editor of Southern Spines.

Add to all that a quick visit from my sister-in-law and favorite niece who drove up from Atlanta, and it was a jam-packed and thoroughly enjoyable couple of days. I left exhausted, but happy, and ready to add so many great books to my to-be-read pile.

Including Ann Hite's Ghost on Black Mountain, which I loved hearing her talk about, and is set up in my neck of the woods. Can't wait to get started!

Writing is often such a solitary pursuit. It's so nice to know there are other folks on the same journey, all struggling with time management, with the juggling act that is work-family-writing, with issues with the publishing industry--and who wouldn't change any of it for the world.

P.S. A couple more shots:

Historical marker on Dahlonega's truly cool Public Square.

And, Marilyn Monroe cowgirl boots, just sittin' in a shop window on that same Public Square. Awesome.

Down to Dahlonega

I’m thrilled to be headed down to the Dahlonega Literary Festival in lovely Dahlonega, Georgia.

Tomorrow, I’ll run a booth for Keowee Valley, and will speak at 2 p.m. as part of a panel of Appalachian writers in a session called “Appalachia in Fact and Fiction.” Also on the panel: authors Ann Hite (Ghost on Black Mountain), Walton Young (A Gathering of Eagles), Nick Wynne (Flighty Jo Jones), and Mary E. Kingsley (Angel).

I’ve never been to Dahlonega before, and I always look forward to spending time in cool little mountain towns. The weather is supposed to be gorgeous, and the literary line-up a real treat! Some of the other authors appearing include Karen White, Kimberly Brock (another Bell Bridge Books author, like me), Mark Warren, Cherie Priest, Carole Townsend, A.J. Hartley, and more–including keynote speaker Barbara Brown Taylor. I had the pleasure of hearing Brown Taylor speak at the Southern Women Writers Conference earlier this Fall, and she’s wonderful–witty, smart, souful and refreshing.

Even better, I’m being joined this time in my book travels by my husband and my three year-old daughter, who plan to roam the Festival and enjoy the kids’ events while I do my thing. Lately I’ve been traveling alone, so this’ll be fun! (Look for a tall man chasing a little blonde blur.)

If you’re in the area, I hope you can join us!

I've Been Interviewed!

I've been interviewed by blogger and author Amy Sue Nathan, and it's up today at her fabulous blog Women's Fiction Writers.

http://womensfictionwriters.wordpress.com/2012/11/08/author-katherine-scott-crawford-says-that-womens-fiction-is-simply-darn-good-fiction/

It was such fun, and she asks the best questions!

Hope you enjoy!

Election Day Chili... and Some Other Good Stuff

Crock Pot, how do I love thee?

On this election day, my mother, my daughter and I are making chili.

Election Day Chili.

Okay, so my mom really made it. But we're all going to eat it!

Okay, so my 3 year-old won't eat it.

It smells and looks absolutely delicious. We adapted the recipe from Southern Living magazine. Here it is:

Turkey & Black Bean Chili

Ingredients
3 (15 oz.) cans black beans
1 large sweet onion, chopped
1 lb. ground turkey
1 Tbsp. olive oil
4 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 (14 oz.) can low-sodium fat-free chicken broth
2 (14.5 oz.) cans petite diced tomatoes

Our adjustments: Sometimes we use meat crumbles, sometimes ground turkey. Mom always adds a can of Rotel. We eat ours with good ol' Jiffy cornbread!

Toppings:
sour cream
shredded Cheddar cheese
sliced jalapeno peppers
chopped fresh cilantro
chopped tomatoes
lime wedges
corn chips or cornbread

Our plans for tonight include eating this fabulous chili, then heading to my family's church for a special election night communion. Then, Mom and I will surely stayed glued to the T.V. to see what's in store for the next four years.

* * Just for fun--and because I have a quote obsession--here are 5 quotes for Election Day 2012:

"Democracy is the only system that persists in asking the powers that be whether they are the powers that ought to be."
 ~ Sydney J. Harris

"The politicians were talking themselves red, white and blue in the face."
~ Clare Boothe Luce

"My experience in government is that when things are non-controversial and beautifully coordinated, there is not much going on."
~ John F. Kennedy

"Our political institutions work remarkably well. They are designed to clang against each other. The noise is democracy at work."
~ Michael Novak

"A politician thinks of the next election; a statesman thinks of the next generation."
~ James Freeman Clarke

Happy Election Day to all!

 

Snow in October, Hallowe'en in My Head

* Full disclosure:

 

This a re-post from Halloween 2008. I liked it, and thought I'd share it again. A few things have changed since then: I have a 3 year-old, and we'll definitely be joining all the little monsters in town Trick-or-Treating tonight.

 

Also interesting: though my town didn't see snow, it snowed several inches not too many miles away last night, and many towns in Western North Carolina have been under winter storm warnings due to the after-effects of Hurricane Sandy. (Stay safe, everyone!)

* *

 

On Tuesday morning, it snowed in Brevard. And not just a few, miserly flakes: the stuff came down--so thick it hid the mountains from view, and made my drive to work feel like inching through a blizzard. But, because it is the South and only October, it melted by 9 a.m.
I am a fool for snow. If it had stuck around long enough, I would've tromped my students outside to stand in it, and somehow managed to make the weather relate to writing... just so I could get my time in before it melted. I come by this snowmadness honestly: When I was growing up in South Carolina, my parents--especially my Dad--made snow days more magical than Christmas. (And Christmas was pretty freaking magical in my house.)

The year of the Big Snow, something everyone who grew up in the '80s in Greenville, S.C. still talks about, it snowed well over a foot, and school was out for nearly two weeks. My father took buckets of water and washed down our driveway and road, so it'd be perfectly slick for sledding. He and his friends tied our sleds with old ski ropes to the back of someone's Waggoneer, and they tugged us around our neighborhood for hours, the moms in the way back with the hatch open, giggling and hanging on. We sledded for hours down the hill near a local Baptist church, a gang of StayPuff marshmellow kids in our snowskiing gear (bibs, jackets, gloves, boots, hats)--which the nearest house with the nearest mom would dump into her dryer, filling us with hot chocolate before sending us out again.

My neighbors, formerly of the coast, pulled out their surfboards and removed the fins, and we surfed down the hill in front of my house. My black lab, Magic, raced circles around the house in a blur of white. Each morning, my sister and I woke up, raced to our parents' bedroom where they had the radio on by their bed, to wait anxiously to hear whether My 102.5 would announce that school was cancelled again in Greenville County. My God, it was magic.

It doesn't snow much any more. And even though I've moved to the mountains of Western North Carolina, a much higher elevation than my hometown, I've only seen a few inches each year--mostly ice--that melts in a day, leaves me sad and a little slushy. I long for those preternatural sunrises, pressing my face to my cold bedroom window and praying that my world would still be white. I miss the igloo my Dad and his friends built us, the real fires in the fireplaces, the way my neighborhood became a festival of friends for two straight weeks, the fun neverending.

But now, there's Hallowe'en in my head. Feile Samhna to all! Happiest of All Souls' Days, All Hallow's Eves, the night just before Samhain, the night when the door supposedly creaks open between this world and the next, and the spirits roam. No matter what anyone says, or how much we've 'roided Hallowe'en up with commercialism, it is a preternatural night: a night our ancestors (just about all of them, no matter what your DNA looks like) recognized as different. If you stand outside in the chilly dark tonight, away from the squealing kids and orange lights and ringing doorbells, you might feel it brush your face, give you a little shiver. If you do, I say you're lucky. Hallowe'en has many faces, many traditions, many legends associated with it... and not all are scary.

My husband and I have been debating for a week about what to do with ourselves tonight. Our neighborhood, which is not even a half mile from downtown, will become swamped with trick-or-treating children at about 6 p.m., and will not cease until after 10 p.m. They are mini-vanned in from all corners of the county... and sometimes the street up from us is blocked off by police cars so the kids can wander freely. It's not anything out of the ordinary for folks in our neighborhood to spend $400 on candy each year.

Suffice to say, we cannot afford this. And so, we flee after a time... and I think that's what we'll do tonight. But first, we'll buy a couple of bags of candy from the dollar store--if they've any left--and pass it out to the first little ghouls, the cutest ones of the entire night, and then we'll walk downtown to eat, maybe to a movie. We'll leave Scout, our dog, to guard the dark house.

For the Scottish poet Rabbie Burns's famous poem about Hallowe'en, check out: http://www.djmcadam.com/halloween.htm

For an interesting article on the Celtic origins of Hallwe'en, go to: http://www.newacropolisuk.org/ShowArticle.php?artid=6

Let There be Cake (and a New Review)

* Also posted at my author website.

With Rachael, creator of the Perfect Cake

It was a busy book weekend!

We kicked off Friday night with a Book Launch Party for Keowee Valley, thrown by my wonderful parents in my hometown of Greenville, South Carolina. Saturday I headed back up to the mountains of Sylva, North Carolina, for a reading and book signing at the fabulous City Lights Bookstore.

** More on each of these events to come in a later post!

But for now, here’s a new review of Keowee Valley by reviewer Michelle Griep, up at the blog Novel Reviews.


I’ll leave you with a few photos of the utterly incredible cake my friend and the artist/baker Rachael Doss Muldrow created for the launch party Friday night. Made of chocolate, chocolate, chocolate and buttercream icing, the cake was a recreation of the cover of Keowee Valley, and quotes from the novel were iced around the sides.

 

And it tasted as GOOD as it looked!