Appalachian Mystery, Children’s Books, and Writing the Ending First

Podcast: Download (Duration: 1:27:36 — 80.3MB)

In this episode 318, Kathie Collins joins us as guest co-host as we explore Culley Holderfield’s novel Hemlock Hollow, a family drama centering around a century-old murder. We’ve also got a fun feature with two local children’s authors, Sheryl Smiley-Oliphant and Christopher Singleton, talking about writing for children and getting kids engaged with reading, and Cortney Donelson tells us how writing the ending of her novel first helped fuel her creativity and passion to complete the novel.

Today’s Featured Authors:

Culley Holderfield Time Stamp: 6:10

Hemlock Hollow is an Appalachian mystery that flows back and forth from the 1880s to the present day, what one reviewer calls “a definite winner” and what another says involves an evocative sense of place where past and present collide to shed light on a century-old murder.

 Sheryl Smiley-Oliphant Time Stamp: 33:30

Sheryl is a theater arts educator who combines storytelling and crafting, and author of the books My Daddy Doesn’t Need a Cape and New Baby Coming, New Baby Here.

Christopher Singleton Time Stamp: 33:30

Chris is a musician, songwriter, and author of Chris and Frankie: Sight Word Stories 1 & 2 and Chris and Frankie: Intro to Our Ebony and Ivory Keys.

Cortney Donelson Time Stamp: 56:50

Cortney Donelson’s blog post “Everything Starts with the Foot” talks about how writing the ending first revived her process.

Community Updates:

         Listen to our episode for updates on the Charlotte writing community, including events from the Charlotte Writers Club, Charlotte Lit, and more.

Host Updates:

         Sarah: In addition to my fiction and screenwriting, I’ve been writing some advice articles about screenwriting for the Phoenix Screenwriters Association’s newsletter, for this year and next. And I’m looking forward to attending Charlotte Lit’s holiday party!

         Landis: I also plan to attend Charlotte Lit’s holiday party. In addition to updating my Christmas book covers and attending book clubs for Deadly Declaration, I have been busy for the last three months (and I am closing in on the research part of the finish line) on a project where I am pulling insightful quotes from the more than 400 recordings with authors over the first four years and I am excited about the next phase–compiling them into a series of books to share with the world about what I learned about writing and publishing from many talented authors.

Book Recommendations: Time Stamp: 107:12

Libro.fm’s credit bundles are a great way to purchase audiobooks for yourself or to give as holiday gifts. This year, anyone who purchases a credit bundle gets a free seasonal audiobook for themselves. Choices include Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris, Royal Holiday by Jasmine Guillory, The Matzah Ball by Jean Meltzer, and more. For details: https://tidd.ly/3EaWlbL 

Sarah recommends:

         Now Is Not the Time to Panic by Kevin Wilson

Landis recommends:

         Elements of Fiction by Walter Mosley

Kathie Collins recommends:

         A Man’s Place by Annie Ernaux

Mark West, Storied Charlotte Blog, recommends:

Family Reunion by Grace Ocasio

Alyssa Pressler, That’s Novel Books, recommends: 

The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Feed My Reads recommends:

Tales from the Greenhills by Terry Melia

2-Minute Tip: Time Stamp: 20:10

Don’t miss Charlotte Lit co-founder and creative director Kathie Collins’ tip about what to do with feedback.

Writing Tips:

         From Cortney Donelson’s post “Everything Starts with the Foot,” we take these tips:

  • Don’t feel pressured to write your novel linearly, or to wait until you have a full outline to write if you feel inspired.
  • Having a clear end vision for your project can keep you inspired through drafts.
  • Don’t listen to the naysayers–prove them wrong with your story!
  • You never know where inspiration will come from.

Community Voices:

Thanks to the following authors for sharing their elevator pitches:

Cortney Donelson

Tara Marshall

Sydney Horne (Plus, listen to the end of the episode for Sydney’s poem!)

Takeaways:

We talked a lot today about passion for writing: how to identify what you most want to write, and how to sustain your vision of a project through revisions and feedback. We hope you carry that passion with you after this episode!

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