Judy's House

                                                                        

I was delighted to have this picture pop up on Facebook--an old photo of Judy Shelton's cabin. I'd never seen a picture but it was much as I'd imagined--a two story log cabin. (I suspect that the sagging bit on the right was a later addition.)

 That cabin was the setting for several important scenes in my historical novel And the Crows Took Their Eyes. 

Nothing but the chimney remains of the place where the thirteen victims of the Shelton Laurel Massacre were held the night before their execution. Nothing but memories and ghosts.

Meeting with Readers

A spectacular sky led to a warm, mainly overcast day.  Frogs are singing in the pond, and John just pulled a tick off Jenny.

It was a nice day to drive to Hot Springs to meet with a group discussing Crows. The group was notable for having as many men as women.  And there were great, serious questions that showed these folks really thought about what they read. We talked about the horrors of war, the role of women at the time, the current division in the country and if it was like that before the Civil War. 

They were interested in my research, and I explained that much of what I used was from primary sources--government records and newspapers from the time. I warned them that none of that was guaranteed to be accurate, and we all agreed that the same could be said for news sources today.

One question I'd never had before: We were talking about my use of dialect, and I was asked if I perhaps wrote a scene in standard English and went back and put it into dialect. The answer there is no. Writing the local dialect is like breathing. I just remember who's speaking and say things the way I think they would.

One woman commented on how much she'd learned--how I'd managed to pack the story full of interesting information--like the Red Strings and the bandage-rolling societies. Another woman confessed she had no idea how milking a cow worked and how did I know. Research, I told them. About 15 or 20 years of hands-on research. I just didn't know at the time that it would end up in a book.

Perhaps my favorite comment was the woman who said she read the books that the group discussed because they were assigned, and she sometimes had to struggle through them. But she really enjoyed reading Crows--not a struggle.

Next month they're reading The Plague by Camus.

 

A Dilemma

There's an interesting blog post HERE by another author who has written of another sad part of Madison County's history. (See the post for more details.)

He gives CROWS a nice review--very nice--but I was struck by one comment" "Still, several characters’ casual use of the N-word, while historically accurate to the time period and the Southern Appalachians, is still jarring. One character, in East Tennessee, a Quaker abolitionist involved in the Underground Railroad, reproves her sweetheart, telling him she “can’t abide that word.” 

"At the time, Democrats routinely referred to their adversaries as “black Republicans,” despite the fact that there were few slaves and fewer free people of color in the county. It is still jarring to hear the N-word used today in Madison County, where there are still few African Americans to be found. "

I think I understand--and I did agonize a bit over the use of that word (though not over 'Black Republican' as I was quoting from primary sources.) 

What's a writer to do when writing about a politically incorrect time? The war was horrible--and I wrote about it. Ditto the Massacre and the torture of the women. I put vulgar language into the speech of some of the characters, feeling that it represented the time and situation and characters. And I used the N-word--sparingly but as I thought the characters would have used it.

Balancing historical accuracy with modern sensibility isn't easy. And the fact that I'm White means that I can never truly understand what any given Black reader might feel on reading that word.

It's a dilemma.

A Letter from Judy--repost

 

When I teach classes in novel writing, an exercise that has proven quite useful is to have my students write letters to themselves in the voice of their main character, explaining why that character wants his/her story told. In some cases, these letters are quite moving, and in most cases  they help to clarify the author's vision of the book under construction.

So, of course I did this for my Civil War book. But I had to write five letters.

Here's a brief synopsis of the novel:

During the American Civil War, the western North Carolina county still known as Bloody Madison was deeply divided, with the wealthier townspeople supporting the Confederacy and the poorer folk, especially in the outlying communities known as the Laurels, opposed. ANS THE CROWS TOOK THEIR EYES  follows events surrounding the Shelton Laurel Massacre -- the execution by Confederate soldiers of thirteen men and boys suspected of Unionism.  

The story unfolds in five alternating voices of witnesses from both sides. Judy, the strong-willed unmarried mother of a growing brood, the descendant and keeper of traditions of the earliest settlers in the Laurels, is the voice that opens and closes the book. This is her letter to me.

Writing a book, are you? About the Massacre and them Thirteen buried up yon? And you want my opinioning?

Don't seem like an unlearned mountain woman can have much to say to a book writer. Still, I was there and you wasn't. I know what it is to go through hard times, to hear my young uns crying for hunger, to fear the soldiers plundering our food . . . and worse.

When you first begun to spin the story, going back to one of the beginnings of the trouble, I couldn't see what good a book would do -- what happened, happened, and ain't nothing can change that.

But as I come to think on it some more, I thought of all the tales going around concerning them dreadful times -- and they's mostly about the men. The women don't feature much in stories about the war.

But it was the women held things together while their men was off playing soldier or hiding away from conscription up in them old rock houses and thickets on the mountain. 

So, you tell about the women and how they kept old Laurel going.  Tell as how we're still here. Now that would be a fine thing to have writ down.

And don't forget to tell about that other feller buried up yon where the Thirteen rest. . .

                                                        Your friend,

                                                                  Judith Shelton 

All I Want for Christmas . . .

World peace, serious action addressing climate change, homelessness, and poverty, the disappearance of Covid in all its manifestations (along with the disappearance of most of the Republican Party and two Democrats--maybe they could all be caught up in The Rapture and leave the rest of us to get on with solving problems.)

As that may all be a rather big ask, here's a more modest one. If you liked Crows, consider leaving a review and rating on Amazon and/or Goodreads. Consider giving it as a holiday gift. Consider reading it, if you haven't (still $1.99 on Kindle.) Ask your library for a copy and if they don't have one, suggest they order it.

Any of these would brighten an author's Christmas. And to those of you who've already done the things, my heartfelt thanks!!!
 

And Here It Is!

 And the Crows Took Their Eyes is one of five finalists for the Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Prize, the winner to be announced in December! This is a Big Deal to me because it's a validation for the many years of research and writing that went into this book of my heart.

Below is information from the email I received. Crows is such good company--it's an honor to be included!

The WNC Historical Association presented the first Thomas Wolfe Memorial Literary Award to Wilma Dykeman in 1955 for The French Broad. Last year the winner was Dr. Sandra Muse Isaacs for her nonfiction work, Eastern Cherokee Stories: A Living Oral Tradition And Its Cultural Continuance. Others who have received the award include Wiley Cash, John Ehle, Charles Frazier, Gail Godwin, Michael McFee, Robert Morgan, Ron Rash, Fiona Ritchie, and Lee Smith.

 

This year’s five finalists were chosen from a wide range of original nominations. Listed alphabetically by author last name, they are:

Mary Othella Burnette

Lige of the Black Walnut Tree: Growing Up Black in Southern Appalachia

 Wayne Caldwell

Woodsmoke

 Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle

Even As We Breathe: A Novel

Vicki Lane

And the Crows Took Their Eyes

 Matthew Wimberley

All the Great Territories

 

The award ceremony will take place via Zoom this year on Thursday, December 9 from 6:30pm – 8:00pm via Zoom. .

Good News Coming!

 But I can't share it till 12 noon EST. Stay tuned!

Podcast-Part 2

The second part of the podcast about the Massacre is up now  HERE.  I was pleased that they chose to end with my reading from the prologue of Crows.

If you missed the first part, find it OVER HERE.

                   

Talking About a Revolution . . .

I've been asked to speak to a local chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution about And the Crows Took Their Eyes and have been struck by how appropriate the book is to their interests.  

In my research I found that many Confederates thought of their cause as a second American Revolution--fighting against what they saw as tyranny. Indeed, one newspaper article told of Southern women cutting up for bandages the linen sheets, spun and woven  by their great-grandmothers--"the women of one revolution, thus, as it were, coming up to the help of the women of another, even as the memory of the patriotism of the women of the past causes to glow with increased ardor that of the women of the present."

The people of Shelton Laurel saw it differently. Judy Shelton says, "They say Grandpap Roderick was a big, red-headed man, six foot tall and two hundred pounds. He had fought in the battle of King's Mountain to set the States free of the king of England, and it was with a land grant on account of what he'd done in that war that he took up this place right here. . .

". . . This is holy ground to most of us. Over the years the old folks has handed down a love of the land that almost passes the love of God, though I'd not say that to anyone else.  Ever one of my young uns, one of the first things I do, soon as I'm outten childbed, is to put their little bare feet to the dirt, same as my mama done me, and tell them that the land is their birthright, to have and to hold."

At one point in the book, Judy encounters the wife of the colonel commanding the 64th Regiment NC State Troops (Confederate) and she says this: "They call us traitors and home-grown Yankees . . .but I reckon my grandpap, him that fought agin the king, would say it was you and your husband the colonel and all these other Rebs what is the traitors. And all so you rich folk can hold on to your slaves."

One man's revolution is another's insurrection. And the winners write the histories.

 

Podcast!

                                      

  A few weeks ago, Joe Kendrick of WNCW and Southern Songs and Stories came out and interviewed me and two others for a podcast about the Shelton Laurel Massacre. The other two, Sheila Kay Adams and Taylor Barnhill, did a radio show some years back that had a segment on the Massacre, and bits of that old show are included in the podcast. Sheila Kay is a noted ballad singer, banjo picker, novelist, story teller, and her memories and family stories go way  back.

As Joe directed our conversation, he was attempting to show the relevance and the uncomfortable parallels between the political climate during the Civil War and today's uneasy and undeclared uncivil war. It's a subject that was on my mind during the writing of Crows.

Go  HERE for more information and for a link to Part 1 of the podcast. Along with some interesting Madison County history, there's some very nice old time music. If you enjoyed it, a LIKE  and  a comment would be appreciated. 

                                

Magic Numbers 6 and 10?

Authors are advised not to obsess over book reviews and ratings--i.e. stop checking the numbers on Amazon and Goodreads all the time. But I'm pretty delighted that Crows has hit 90 ratings (the stars thingy) and 44 reviews on Amazon--much better than any of my previous books have done.

I'd like to think it was due to the quality of the book--but I suspect my nagging reminding has something to do with it.

I'm hoping for the magic number of 50 for the reviews--supposedly that's the number that makes Amazon's algorithms sit up and take notice and perhaps begin recommending--as in, 'If you liked X, have a look at Crows!'

So, 6 more reviews --and just because it would be nice to hit 100--10 more ratings are the magic numbers in my head. And then I could stop obsessively checking.

 

Giving Thanks

False Solomon's Seal

I've been so cheered by the many positive ratings and reviews on Amazon and Goodreads, and/or personal comments from folks who've read Crows.  It would be wiser, no doubt, simply never to look at reviews, as sometimes people can be ugly, but I can't resist and so far folks have been kind and even enthusiastic. 

Writing a book takes a lot of effort--something like birthing a child--and one wants that child to do well and for people to appreciate it.

And now, Crows has had more ratings (number of stars) and more reviews than any of my previous books. My heartfelt thanks to all of you who've taken the time to leave a rating and/or review for this child of mine.
 

Star of Bethlehem

The First In-Person CROWS Event!

What joy! I spoke to the Marshall Library Book Club--outside and all of them masked-- about CROWS and they asked the best questions! They really seemed to understand what it was I was trying to accomplish.

I've done some Zoom events but in the beginning my old computer was a bit wonky and the conditions just weren't ideal. What a pleasure to be in person!

I even managed to ask them to post reviews. It seems so tacky to be doing that but it really helps the book to get more notice. And there's some kind of algorithm on Amazon that kicks in when a book reaches 100 ratings--CROWS is at 82, which is more than any of my other books, due, I suspect, to my periodical nagging.

Many thanks to the folks at the library and the readers who made this event possible. It felt like old times. Except for the masks.

 

No Foolin'!

Nope, this is no April Fool's joke. Smoky Mountain Living magazine did a wonderful multi-page spread on Crows!

They began with an essay I did about researching and writing the book.

Then they printed a lengthy excerpt from the beginning . . .

Plus, those are my photos!

And then there was a lovely review!

 I am so happy!

It's been very different, bringing out a book during this troubled time with no bookstore or library events. Something like this will, I hope, bring Crows to the attention of more folks--folks who already love these mountains--their people and their history.

Smoky Mountain Living is a great read for anyone interested in the area. You can find out more HERE.

 

LAST CHANCE BEFORE DRAWING!

 

This handsome mug with Nancy Darrell's artwork will be sent to some lucky reviewer! Come Sunday night, I'll be drawing a name from all of you who've left reviews for CROWS somewhere or other: Goodreads, Amazon, Regal House, B & N, or a mention on FB. 

If you left a review under an alias of some sort (Buttercup? Is that you?) you should tell me so I add your name.

I hate being pushy like this but, by gosh and by golly,  CROWS has far more reviews than any of my other six books. For which I thank you.

And if you haven't left a review, there's still time! Plus I have another mug to give away at a later date.

More from the Dept. of Blatant Self Promotion . . .

 

I'm delighted with the kind and thoughtful reviews many of you have posted for Crows-- heartfelt thanks for doing this! I dislike asking but, in this time of no events and appearances, book reviews are a bit of a lifeline.

Reviews on Goodreads or Amazon (two of the most influential spots for gaining new readers) are great.  My publisher's web site has a place for reviews also, as does Barnes and Noble. I've said it before--a review doesn't have to be long or like a book report--just your reaction to the book is fine. 

A reminder that I'll be doing a drawing from those who leave a  review and ask to be included in the drawing. Do several reviews and I'll put your name in several times.  At the end of February, I'll draw two names and each will win an elegant mug with the Crows book cover illustration (without the words.) If your name was in the pot for the first drawing, it will stay there for this one--unless you were a winner already. (Note that the streaks on the mug pictured are reflections, not part of the mug.)

 More about the writing of Crows HERE

Begging for Reviews--And Another Drawing

I'm beginning to hear from folks who've been reading Crows during the holidays and have been so delighted at the lovely things they've said. 

Now if only they would put those nice words into a review-- on Goodreads or Amazon (two of the most influential spots for gaining new readers.) As I've said before--a review doesn't have to be long or like a book report--just your reaction to the book is fine. 

As before, I'm going to do a drawing from those who do a review and ask to be included in the drawing. Do several reviews nd I'll put your name in several times.  At the end of February, I'll draw two names and each will win an elegant mug with the Crows book cover illustration (without the words.) If your name was in the pot for the first drawing, it will stay there for this one--unless you were a winner already. (Note that the streaks on the mug pictured are reflections, not part of the mug.)

 More about the writing of Crows HERE

                                

Good Reading from Western North Carolina

 

It's always nice to make a list of this sort-- especially when there are so many authors I admire--Ron Rash, Annette Saunook Clapsaddle,, and Leah Hampton, to mention just the first three on the list.

But what was really fun was to find myself sharing space with Renaea Winchester--a fine novelist I also admire and who was in my just-completed class where she was working on her second novel. 

Renea's Outbound Train features  strong women--a mother and daughter struggling with poverty (and the past) in 1970's western North Carolina. Renea's ties to the area (Bryson City) are obvious as she creates sympathetic and believable characters that will keep you turning the pages. 

For the full article and more recommendations, go HERE.

Holiday Gift Suggestions?

from the Department of Shameless Commerce

 

Reminders

CROWS is getting some very nice reviews, for which I'm most grateful--reviews really help an author reach a wider audience. Of course, more would be welcome. On Thanksgiving night, I'll be drawing names for this handsome print, signed by the artist (Nancy Darrell.) To get your name in the hat, leave a review of Crows on Goodreads or Amazon, or Barnes and Noble, or on the Regal House page. A few words is all it takes--a review doesn't have to be a book report.  Leave reviews at multiple sites and I'll put your name in multiple times. Just email me  (vicki3laneATgmail.com ) and let me know where the review is.

AND I still have some book plates--I'll happily sign and personalize one (or more) for you if you send me a self-addressed, stamped envelope (590 Wool Branch Road, Marshall, NC 28763) and tell me how you'd like the book plate to read. (Wouldn't a copy of Crows with a personalized bookplate be a nice holiday gift for a reading friend?)

And that's enough Blatant Self Promotion for a while.