MOUNTAIN MEMOIRS:

An Ashe County Anthology

Main Street Rag December Newsletter
Click here to read a Postal update from Publisher Main Street Rag.

Click on the above link for some answers to a curious early-ordering problem that cropped up. Be sure to let Main Street Rag know if you ordered a copy of Mountain Memoirs and you did not receive it. Especially if you live in Ashe County!


Theo Arvidson, Chris' nephew sent in this shot. Bow hunting in Michigan!

Lorie and Mary at the Bel Lago winery in Leelanau County, Michigan!

Peggy! with help from Mr. Bill -- in Arkansas.

Susan Sewell, Marshall, NC.

Kathy Finnie, Essex Junction, Vermont. HI KAF!

Editor Chris Arvidson with her copy of Mountain Memoirs at her house in West Jefferson, North Carolina. That's Mt. Jefferson, the town and the library in the background.

Looking for your book? We got a few books early for the On the Same Page Literary Festival and were able to give advance-ordered attendees of the Festival some of their ordered books for signing at the Festival, but the actual release date from the publisher for the book is October 16. So, those of you who ordered books at the advance order price should expect your books shortly!



ABOUT MOUNTAIN MEMOIRS

In Mountain Memoirs: An Ashe County Anthology, twenty writers craft works about their relationships with this frequently beautiful and sometimes mysterious corner of the North Carolina high country. They write about its mysteries, its beauty, and the people who are sometimes lost and sometimes found in the landscapes.

The Writers:

Chris Arvidson
Fran Cook
Clyde Edgerton
Mickeal Goss
Rebecca Gummere
Gene Hafer
Edith Pierce Jones
Ron Joyner
Barbara Kidd Lawing
D.G. Martin
Nicole Osborne
Kimberly Perzel
Janet C. Pittard
Scot Pope
Diana Renfro
Sam Shumate
Lee Smith
Becky Stragand
Pierrette Rouleau Stukes
Julie E. Townsend

Something about this particular little place -- amongst the peaks and on the riverbanks – inspires writers. They live here and visit and hideout and work. Some are well known, like Lee Smith, Clyde Edgerton and D.G. Martin. Some are known only locally. Like the very small towns that sparsely dot the area, the writers in this anthology are sprinkled in the hollows and along the river, writing stories, poems and essays about how this very specific place has shaped, changed and informed their lives and the lives of those around them.



Check this out -- A Jessica Weaver painting entitled "Bessie Phipps Homeplace" it could have been painted for Fran Cook's story, The Sentinels.

Photo by Scot Pope

WORDKEEPERS - Saturday, June 15

Come on out Saturday, July 15, to the Ashe Arts Center in West Jefferson, NC, for the next Wordkeepers Salon. Many Mountain Memoirs contributors will be reading at 4:00 p.m. Email us at this website for more information.


Mountain Memoirs is now a part of the UNC Library's North Carolina collection.
Click here to see the notation.

As many of you know, Mountain Memoirs' editors, Julie, Scot & Chris, are also the founders of WORDKEEPERS a bi-monthly reading salon. Every other month, local and regional writers gather at the Ashe County Arts Center to share their work with an ever-growing and appreciative audience. Many of the contributors to Mountain Memoirs came to the attention of the editors via WORDKEEPERS.

We start each salon with some music from Scot Pope and Henry Doss at 3:00 p.m. and then segue into the open mic readings at 4:00. Everyone gets their 5 minutes of WORDKEEPERS fame. You never know who is going to come to listen, and we always have new writers with new material.

Here are the dates for 2013, all at the Ashe County Arts Center at 303 School Street in West Jefferson:

April 13
June 15
Aug 17
Oct 19
Dec 21

If you're a writer and you'd like to sign up for your 5 minutes of WORDKEEPERS fame, just email Chris via this website and we'll make sure you get on the bill.


WORDKEEPERS in the 12.21.12 Jefferson Post.

Editors Julie Townsend and Scot Pope signed and sold Mountain Memoirs at the Boone Mall in December.

MOUNTAIN MEMOIRS AROUND THE WORLD!

Mountain Memoirs Friends: We're going to post pictures of readers with their books in far away and wonderful places, or even just your own house! First photo posted won a book and it was from Francine Hachem in Ferndale, Michigan. Thanks, Francine! Now, get to work. Get those cell phones and cameras out and take a picture of yourself with your copy of Mountain Memoirs. We'll think up a new contest and post it soon. Send your photo via email to chris@chrisarvidson.com

From Main Street Rag Publishing's October newsletter:

"Another anthology that needs mentioning is Moutain Memoirs: An Ashe County Anthology. This is an Appalachian collection. No, let's narrow it even further, it's an Ashe County collection of nonfiction and poems. Really specific to the northwest corner of North Carolina. Here's the thing though: We sold out of the first printing before we finished binding them. It wasn't even scheduled for release until October 16, but we had to get some out in mid September for a book festival and several big orders came in after we'd printed covers, so we went ahead and ran the whole lot. Lo and behold, sales kept coming in. It was our second biggest summer time seller. Anyway, we've printed additional covers now, but we only have a handful of first printings that we held back, everything else we ship from here on out is marked as a second printing on the copyrights page. What do these folks in Ashe County know that we don't? I guess you need to order a copy of the book to find out."


Mountain TV
Pier and Becca talk about Mountain Memoirs on Mountain T.V. with Ashe Arts Council ED Jane Lonon.
The book launch at the On the Same Page Literary Festival was a tremendous success! We packed the room, sold and signed books, and a dozen contributors read from their work. WE WERE A FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHT!

That's Mountain Memoirs contributor Becky Stragand - signing contributor (and literary star!) Lee Smith's book.

From writer Jodi Helmer: "The essays, profiles, meditations, reflections and poems in Mountain Memoirs create a strong sense of place, bringing the beauty, wonder and mystery of Ashe County to life. The varied depictions of life in the mountain community, written by established and emerging writers, showcase the diversity in the landscape and those who live there. It's a collection for all those who consider Ashe County home, in address and in spirit."

Jodi Helmer is a North Carolina travel writer whose work has appeared in National Geographic Traveler, American Way, Hemispheres and Charlotte Magazine. She's the author of several guidebooks, including the forthcoming Moon Blue Ridge Parkway.

You can still get lost in Ashe County, North Carolina, and GPS won’t help. Once called The Lost Province, it’s a place of gravel roads, gorgeous mountains, and the first tricklings of the New River. And, here are writers...


Mountain Memoirs in the newspaper CLICK HERE
Mountain Memoirs makes news in the Jefferson Post.
Photo by Scot Pope

ORDER MOUNTAIN MEMOIRS HERE
Click on the link above to order Mountain Memoirs.
Amazon Mountain Memoirs
Click here to order Mountain Memoirs on Amazon.com
Order Julie E. Townsends's novel "Seafood Jesus" by clicking here.
Mountain Memoirs Editor Julie E. Townsend released her novel "Seafood Jesus" last year. Published by Main Street Rag, Julie's novel is full of crack-brained heroes, off-beat Jesus freaks, eco-wackos and a side-order of commercial real estate in Myrtle Beach, SC.
Click here for Scot Pope's email.
Mountain Memoirs Editor Scot Pope's photography graces both the cover of the book and these web pages. If you would like to purchase any of these images, or others Scot has on hand, contact him via this email address, or, go see him at Ashe County's Farmers Market in West Jefferson, NC, every Saturday 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
Click here for Mountain Memoirs Editor Chris Arvidson's personal website and blog.
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