Looking Back, Looking Ahead: Storytelling, Writing, Family

It has been a week of writing, planning, and performing for me. I have been working on so many different things that the days flew by.

But first, the event Tuesday evening, More Than Words, In Hurricane, WV. Brenda asked how it went, and all I can say is, what fun!

The event was held in the Copper Room at Hidden Creek Mercantile, a business selling woman-made arts and crafts, with most of the artisans being from West Virginia. There is a nice cafe, too, and the food is excellent. I tried the strawberry-almond salad--oh my! So good. All of the food looked delicious, well seasoned and presented beautifully. They serve wine and beer too, along with good coffee and a variety of teas.

photo by Cat Pleska

The Copper Room is an upstairs meeting room. There is no elevator although there is a (steep) ramp to the upstairs. I wasn't looking forward to dragging my heavy suitcase of books and CDs and the other also heavy one of coal mining artifacts up the steps, but the staff jumped right in and took the cases for me. Now that's service. Food is ordered downstairs, and can eat there in the cafe or the staff brings it upstairs. We opted to eat upstairs so I could get set up.

photo by Cat Pleska

I was happy to see so many friends and acquaintances come to listen. Most were from the writing community, as More Than Words was established by Cat Pleska as a venue for writers to read and promote their works. I am the oddity, in a way--I write, but most of my focus is on oral performance of stories. So I planned a program of storytelling, poetry reading and ballad singing. I also asked my friend, old-time musician Paul Gartner, to join me with his fiddle and banjo.

It was great. The stories and music flowed well, and on a couple of pieces Paul played behind me as I told--a really intriguing effect. I sold a good bit of books and CDs too, always nice! I gave a special twist to the sales. You have probably read here about all the pickles I've been making. So I brought 4 pints with me, and the first 4 people to buy two or more CDs got a pint of pickles in the bargain! Those went fast.

It was a pleasure to have had the opportunity to present for More Than Words. Friends, good food, and lively conversation mae it a memorable evening.

My friend, poet Nancy Anderson, was in the audience, and she told me about an open mic event coming up later in the week. On the spur of the moment, I decided to go, taking my friend Suzy with me. This was in Charleston, at the Little India restaurant near the Capitol. So last night I was there for their "Songwriters Stage" open mic. Nancy assured me that poetry and stories would be welcome, and indeed they were. I had a great time and really enjoyed having some Indian food for the first time in quite a few years. I will probably go again, as this is a good venue to try out new material.

Tomorrow I'll be at a fiction writing workshop. While I don't write novels, I do write a few short stories, and the same principals apply.

It's turned into a busy month, with the focus mostly on writing. I'm working on plans for a weeklong creative writing workshop I've been asked to lead next summer, and also plans for a ghost stories storytelling workshop coming up in October. And then there's the brochure to finish for the Celtic Storytellers--my storytelling friend Judi Tarowsky and I have been developing a multimedia presentation of Celtic stories and ballads. We've presented it a few times and had great feedback, and now it's time to start promoting it. I've also been mailing out publicity to schools and hope these will result in some performances this school year.

Today I will be watching my grandson's graduation from Navy basic training via live feed. I am so proud of Clayton, who chose the Navy years ago but waited to join until he finished college. We've had Army and Air Force and National Guard, and Larry was a Marine, but this is the first Navy member in our immediate family, although my cousins and one uncle were Navy veterans. He's carrying on our family's military tradition, along with granddaughter Haley who is in the Army National Guard.

Then, booth work at our Ravenswood booths. Never a dull moment around here.





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