NaNoWriMo...except for non-fiction

Have any of you done National Novel Writing Month?  Each November, a intrepid group of writers sign in to write a novel in November.  They cheer each other on and do word counts and generally keep everyone focused on the work at hand.

I was thinking this morning that it would be fun to do something like that with non-fiction.  The new book is about 1/3 of the way to a strong first draft but I've been travelling so much this year that I haven't given it the attention due.

I posted a query on Facebook and then Googled it and found there is such a beast.  Here's the link--

http://writenonfictionnow.com/about-write-nonfiction-in-november/

I signed up and will spend the rest of this evening--where I've been mostly updating my blogs--looking over all my notes about the new book.  I really would love to have that first draft done by the end of December.

"Gnarly Roots" but first...a second book on you-know-what

I spent three wonderful weeks in Scotland and England this summer and part of that time I was doing field research of those future Appalachians--the Border Reivers.  There's a lot of research still to do before we get to the place where "Gnarly Roots" is ready to be written.

One reason is I love to research and will keep on doing that for a while. I still have some field work among the Hexen and Pow-Wow folks up in Pennsylvania and with the folks out on Qualla Boundary. And I'm hoping to find a little grant money somewhere that will give me another month or two in the Debatable Lands in Britain.

But you know what really needs to be written next? A Hillfolks Hoodoo book for the experienced practitioner. My friend Diotima has given it its working title--Egg Binding: a Sourcebook for the Advanced Hoodoo Practitioner. Or something like that.

I set up the file and have started writing.

Whew.

Appalachian Studies Association National Conference

This afternoon I got back from the ASA conference in Boone. I presented a paper there that is one of the starting points for my new book. The paper is "Gnarly Roots: Exploring the British Sources of Appalachian Folk Magic."

Here's the abstract--

 As Appalachian mountain culture is transformed through modern technology and generations of rural isolation are broken by in-migration, some of the older folk traditions are fading into obscurity. My area of research is folk magic and superstition and “Gnarly Roots” marks the next step in this research. In this paper, I will link certain practices and beliefs to similar ones in the British Isles and attempt to find the migrational links that brought these practices into the southern Appalachians. I began my formal exploration of this material with the presentation of the paper “Hillbilly Hoodoo and the Question of Cultural Strip-mining” as part of the Forging Folklore colloquium, hosted by Harvard’s Department of Folklore and Mythology, in 2007. My continuing study led to the publication of a primer on these traditions called “Staubs and Ditchwater” in June 2012. My next step is to look at the sources of these traditions—Cherokee, Scots-Irish, German and English, beginning with English and Scots-Irish. With the help of colleagues in Britain, I will be acting as a “spellcatcher”—as earlier musicologist were “song catchers” in the southern highlands tracing the haunting mountain music to its British roots. “Gnarly Roots: Exploring the British Sources of Appalachian Folk Magic” is the first step in this cultural exploration and will continue with a research trip to Great Britain and Ireland in the summer of 2013.

And here are the opening paragraphs--

My roots in these old mountains are deep and gnarled. My story is a familiar one of poor soil and a narrow escape and a return home. And even as these roots grow older, I am looking backward over my shoulder. Looking eastward.

Some of my people practice old ways of healing and justice that academics may refer to as Appalachian folk magic. It is called “granny magic” and “cove doctoring”, too, but most of the people who practiced it—and practice it still—don’t have a particular name for it. They are country folks who know what herb to use for what and how to whisper warts away and blow the fire out of a nasty burn.

 I grew up in a cove in west Buncombe county at a time when a silver dime on a string was worn by teething babies and a tired woman could prevent a pregnancy with the strategic use of Queen Anne’s Lace seeds. Those old ways stuck with me through college and graduate school and have come full circle in a book I published last year—a primer called “Staubs and Ditchwater.”  In this modern age, an author can’t simply write a book and find a kind publisher to print it up.  She must give talks and do book-signings and those have been a delight and an education as I learn what other people have done in their own coves and hollers.

A Place to Dream and Scheme

Since this is the portal for the first book and that whole process, I'm thinking I'll shift a bit here and let this also be the place where I chronicle the path to the second book.

I'll tell you all about the plans for presenting papers and getting myself to these interesting, inspiring and exhausting conferences.

I'll share bits and pieces of the writing that will form the foundation of "Gnarly Roots" and generally blather on and on about traveling--which is the big thing I'm doing this year.

I'll make sure the links work--thanks, Fern!--and try to amuse you as the mood strikes.

Off we go!

Return of the Prodigal

Y'all, I have been so busy with this little book that I have not been blogging about it, but doing it.  Since it was published last June, we have sold nearly 500 copies of the darned thing and I made an appointment for another book event just this morning!

I had no idea how much interest there would be in this old information and am very, very grateful.

If you are on Facebook and would like to keep up with "Staubs" there, I made a page for it.  Here's the link-

https://www.facebook.com/staubsandditchwater

The big news I want to share with you are a couple of conferences and a research trip planned for the summer.  I will be presenting a paper at the Appalachian Studies Association conference in Boone at ASU on March 22-24.  The title is "Gnarly Roots: Exploring the British Sources of Appalachian Folk Magic."  I'm still working on it, of course, but hope to have a good rough draft by Wednesday.

I'm presenting at a conference in April called Sacred Landscapes. That one is in Columbia, SC and I'm presenting "Rock-candy Cairns: How the Irish and Scots-Irish Diasporas Produced Pagans in Old Appalachia."  Here's the link for that conference--

http://www.cherryhillseminary.org/students/degree-programs/intensives-and-conferences/ronald-hutton-featured-in-spring-chs-usc-symposium-more-info-tba/

Ronald Hutton is the keynote speaker and he was also at the Harvard conference that started this all so long ago.

And finally--I'm heading over to Britain in July to do some field research on the border reivers and to talk to folks who practice what I do, but over there.  It will be the basis of the sequel to "Staubs" which will be "Strange and Gnarly Roots: an Appalachian Spellcatcher in Britain" (or something like that).

I'll be tring to keep you posted here about the process and will give you some chances to participate in gathering information, if you're interested.

Thanks for checking back in with me!

Waiting...waiting...and scheming

apple blossom on the Cortland tree

Yes, a new batch of books have been ordered and yes, I continue to take orders and make a nice fat list of who gets a book from the second batch. I haven't heard the ETA of the shipment but suspect it will be about a week.

So I am catching up with the other work of being a subsistence farmer in Appalachia--harvesting herbs, veg, berries and processing all that for the winter.

Also, eating it.

The beautiful kale keeps producing prolifically and I am happy for it.  And the big patch of blackberries in the yard has to be picked pretty much every day.  Tomorrow I start processing apples--they will be cleaned, peeled, chopped and frozen for hard cider a little later in the season.

Mmmm cider.

And I am booking some book talks here and there.  I'm waiting to hear from Malaprop's and Blue Ridge but have a gig at City Lights in Sylva at the end of August.  Lots of sweet reviews are flowing in and there may be one in Rapid River, in the August magazine.

I'm already scheming about how to spend some time in the high country, talking to old folks and to practitioners of the kind of work I do.  Drinking some strong coffee and setting on the porch.  I hope I can make that happen sooner rather than later.

If you are waiting on a book--thank you for your patience.  And if you'd like to order a book, well, let me know.

and I peeked around the corner--there were more people

Hi, all. I'm trying to get my life back to what passes for normal and catching up with blogging is one of my happy chores.  I wanted to tell you all about the launch party on Friday night--it was worth all the nail-biting of publication to be in that happy crowd, reading from this little book.

I arrived with husband, daughter and friend around 5 to set the bookstore up for the party. We set out food on the table that Lewis had set in the back and put the iced tea in the fridge to chill a bit longer. People started arriving soon after and all the chairs were filled when Patrick introduced my near 6:30.  I talked for a bit about the making of the book, read a couple of passage and then answered questions.  When everyone was tired of hearing me talk, I went to a different table and started signing books.

I had no idea how many people were around the corners of the shop--people I couldn't see from my perch in the front of the chairs.

That was especially nice.  In a way, it must be sad for famous authors who only scrawl their name in the front of the book.  I knew many of the people who stood in front of the table and it was my delight to say something very specific to them about how we knew each other. It was like signing yearbooks in high school--except: no high school.

We sold out of the first printing of this first edition but more are on the way from the publisher. And now I can think about more ways to get the word out about this little book.

I've had some nice reviews from friends and colleagues--

"Nearly finished reading Staubs and Ditchwater by Miz Byron Ballard. I love it SO much. Practical, powerful home-grown wisdom."  Rose


 "Love the book! I can hardly put mine down. I certainly hope you'll be writing another. 


Funny, thoughtful, and informative. Not to be missed. A must have! Thank you so much!" 


Mari

Today is the Day

and it's a good day for a launch party, don't you think?  I'm supplying many of the treats so my friend Star and I will be chopping up vegetables for a nice tray and I'll make some ham biscuits and sweet tea.

The Moon Pies were acquired yesterday.

In addition to catering, I've also been thinking about what to say when I'm introduced tonight.  Who I want to acknowledge and thank, what I can say about the journey from practicing folk magic to writing about it.  I have a little list of people--some of whom will be there--but I want to have it in my head about what I say about the process.  I could trust to chance--but who knows what would come out of my mouth?  I think I'll be too excited and freaked out to be wholly reliable.

Orders are now coming in and I am filling them as quickly as I can. My dining room table has become the Staubs and Ditchwater Order Fulfillment Center and I'm grateful to have such a nice problem.  I've mailed out almost all of the pre-orders--I needed a couple of addresses but those are in hand now and the remaining 3-4 will go out today.

I've had the enviable position of wondering if I'll have enough copies for the launch tonight.  Accent on Books only has one copy left of the ten I left on consignment, and I only have 35 copies left of the initial print run.  The publisher is ordering more on Monday, so running out of copies tonight would be kind of nice actually.  Especially if we run out as the last person who wants one today gets her copy.

If you're out and about this evening in the Asheville area, come by the store at 854 Merrimon Avenue and have a snack and a sip of tea with us. I, for one, am planning to have fun.

Signing and Mailing

At my little table, signing the pre-sells.

I've been feeling like a "real" author these days.  Which is funny considering I've been writing for years, have been published in all sorts of places and had plays produced locally ad regionally. But there's something about holding a little book in your hand--one that is all yours--that feels different.

All the people who believed in me enough to pre-buy the book--even before it went to the publisher--deserved a little something extra.  So I made handmade bookmarks as a thank you.  Each bookmark has a pendant that is a red dirt talisman.

So preparing the books for shipping was about signing them, creating a bookmark, making a cute shipping label, wrapping the book in tissue paper, tucking the bookmark in, popping it into a mailer, then going to the post office.

Which I did today.  Well, the post office part.  A really nice postal worker named Rick chatted to me through the whole--one by one--process. It was a great pleasure to have them on their way to the good folks who were waiting for them.

There were several to be hand-delivered and I've started that process, too.  But for now, I am focusing on Friday's book launch party.

It's in My Hands---and Out the Door

I picked up a couple of boxes of books from the publisher a couple of days ago and am now fulfilling those pre-pub orders.  I thought I was more or less ready but am finding that there were several more things I could've done to get ready for this wild rush.

I had acquired padded  mailers and counted them out.

I had printed out labels, but hadn't addressed them.

I had started the red dirt talismans but still had to pour the liquid resin in.

I had designed the bookmarks but hadn't figured out the text. Or printed them out.

I had chosen a date for the launch party but hadn't created a poster.

It's been a bit hectic--but in a nice way--around here.  I'm spending the rest of today tucking a wee bookmark into each book, signing it to the person who purchases it, wrapping it in some tissue paper and sealing it into its mailer.  Then the label. Then the post office.

And it is all great fun.

Launch Party info

Accent on Books is pleased to celebrate H. Byron Ballard's book "Staubs and Ditchwater: a Friendly and Useful Introduction to Hillfolks’ Hoodoo" with a launch party on Friday, June 15th at 6PM. The book is Ballard's first and is published by Silver Rings Press. Ballard will speak about the process for creating "Staubs and Ditchwater", read a little from the book and copies will be available for purchase. Light refreshments will be served. For more information, contact the bookstore at 252-6255 or info@accentonbooks.com. Accent on Books is located at 654 Merrimon Ave, in north Asheville.

Announcement of Publication--Ta-da!

Silver Rings Press, an imprint of indie publisher rENEGADE pLANETS pUBLISHING, Candler, NC, is pleased to announce the publication of “Staubs and Ditchwater: a Friendly and Useful Introduction to Hillfolks’ Hoodoo” by H. Byron Ballard. Ballard, a popular blogger and essayist, is a western North Carolina native whose work has appeared regionally and nationally.

The book—part memoir and part instructional primer—is an entertaining introduction to southern Appalachian folk magic.

Ballard leads local and regional workshops on these traditional practices and techniques. After much thought and conversations with a wide range of people, she decided to share some of this information from, in her words, the fading traditional cultures of the southern Highlands. She found that there is a hunger in both the dominant culture and in her spiritual community for authentic information on this subject. She did some research, talked to some home-folks and created a series of workshops based on what she’s learned and practiced over the years. This little book—drawn from the workshop series-- gives the student a good over-view of techniques, history and a glimpse into the culture from which they all flow.

Available June 15, 2012, this book may be ordered through the author at www.myvillagewitch.com, byronotthepoet@gmail.com.

Ballard is a witty and engaging speaker, so if you’d like to book a reading with her, she’d love to discuss that, too, at byronotthepoet@gmail.com. 828.216.8961

Green Folders Full of Information: Press Packets Are Us

Hi, all!  A quick note to give you the update on the little stinker of a book.  We checked out the proof earlier this week and had a few things to tweak.  I am hopeful it will be uploaded to the printer in good time--perhaps before the weekend.

Last week I spent many days enjoying myself at the Pagan Unity Festival in middle Tennessee.  I talked about the little book and handed out my hand-made handouts--colorful tracings of my hand with the book info in the palm.

It's one of my little jokes.

Before I left for the festival, I created some fat press packets to deliver to a couple of local bookstores.  They contain a press release, some bio information, a photo, reviews/blurbs of the book and ordering information, a Moon Pie--all tucked into a pretty green folder.

They are great fun to make.  I'll create a half-dozen more and send them to stores out of the area.

I'm starting to arrange library talks--one so far. I hope they'll host me at the Enka-Candler branch since that's where I grew up.  And at the West Asheville branch--where I spent most every Saturday morning.

We designed the shipping label for the books that are being mailed out and I'll start prepping those tomorrow.  I pre-sold several more copies at the festival and need to make a few more of these super-cool bookmarks.

In other words--so far, so good.

Got It Covered...sort of

 It seemed so simple. Easy. Gentle.

This lovely cover was designed ages ago by my formatter and friend, Dio.  I even have it on a 7-day candle that I use for my Village Witch displays.

But it was a little stinker, as we say around here.

When the "back matter" had been added and the allowance made for the spine, there was a problem with the trim line and the text being too close to it.

Mercy.

So it took some time to solve that little dilemma.  And I worked on my patience for a bit.

la la la  drum, drum, drum (imagine me with my elbows on the table, gazing out the window, drumming my fingertips...)

I have so much to learn about patience and trust and this little book has been an awfully good teacher.  I hope you learn as much from reading it as I have from going through the process of publishing it.

Lawsy.  Keeps my gratitude spout wide open though.  Nice to remember there are good people and great kindness in my little corner of the big world.

Trailer Trash? I Don't Think So

Donna of Authentic Hearts Productions is a member of our women's marketing collective, To Market, To Market.  At a recent meeting she asked if I'd be interested in creating a book trailer for the little book.

Would I?  Yes!

Now, what the heck's a book trailer?

So I did some research (which included watching many book trailers) and discovered that it's a promotional opportunity, very similar to a movie trailer.

We set up at Accent on Books, a great indie bookstore. Here's Donna, making some stills before we started the video part.

I did several mini-tutorials on different aspects of my work and even did a little plug for the book.

The stuff Donna got today will go to her editor-friend and I'll post the bits and pieces when they get to me.

It was great fun!

Back in the Saddle...again

I was out of town all last week and have spent the last 36 hours catching up on correspondence and sleep.  The little book is having its cover tweaked and I am holding myself in patience.

I don't do that but so well, to be truthful.  But I think it's a book worth waiting for and I want it to be as right as it can be.

I am very grateful to my formatter and to my publisher--both of whom are keeping me sane and assuring me it will come out.  It really, really will.

Writing a book is a very interesting process.  I do a lot of writing, in all sorts of places.  But when I started this project, I really wasn't sure I could finish it.  I mostly do short pieces, you see, and this was a lot of material to fit between two covers.

The last minute adjusting and rewriting of one of the chapters was an adrenaline rush and it also leaves me with a portion of the book that will feel a little new to me. I think that will be delightful.

There are a couple more manuscripts in my personal pipeline.  One is nearly finished--Earth Works: Ceremonies for a Changing Earth. That's its working title. And I'm thinking it would be fun to do a flip book based on my workshop The Joy of Hex: the Nine Levels of Willful Bane.  The first half of the book could be that and then you turn it over and there's another book at the back. It would be the opposite--workings on nourishment, self-care and blessing.

I'm partial to the word "wort" for that title.

Getting Organized

An outdoor display of Village Witch products and such. Note my comfy chair in the background--it has a canopy!

I bought a little green spiral notebook a couple of days ago and am making lists of where to go and what to do and...well, all that stuff.  The little book is finishing up getting formatted and I still don't have a photo for the inside. But I am very, very grateful for the wonderful comments people have made for the back of the book.  I feel a little like Sally Field at the Oscars that time--you like me!

One of the lists in the green notebook is a to-do list--making a marketing plan, a media kit, finish printing labels so I can ship out the books as soon as they arrive.

Another page has a to-go list.  I know I want to have a launch party at my old bookstore Accent on Books but where else could I go to talk about the book and sell a few copies?  Waynesville, Mountain Home, Johnson City, Sylva?  How far do I want to drive and how many times do I want to talk about this?  I'd love any suggestions from you, generous readers.  Do you have a favorite bookstore that hosts events?

So, tomorrow morning I'm getting a haircut, picking up printer cartridges and folders (for the above-mentioned media kit) and thinking about putting out an edition of my newsletter "From the Edges and Hedges" focused on the little book.

a Photograph

In this age of immediacy and instant gratification, making a photo of the author isn't such a big deal.

Is it?

I am hoping to achieve this task today, if the weather cooperates.  We'll do some shots in the garden and near the hive and perhaps at the workbench (that's why a need some sunshine--our porch is pretty dark on a cloudy rainy day).

My book designer says an action shot is best--wrapping an egg or whupping up some hoodoo. With everything about this book and about my public persona, I am striving to be honey without being condescending, to be real and not pander to a stereotype I detest. So, no poke bonnet. No corn cob pipe. No brown jug with XX on it. Over at the Facebook page, I'm going to post a few choices and let you all pick which one to use.

The book formatting is nearly complete, I think.  The rewriting went well and it's a stronger book for having done that. Oddly enough, I am already thinking of the next one and when it should be released and all sorts of things I've learned in this process.

Next on the list is a media packet for potential bookstores. Avec photo.

Probably not one of these, I'm thinking:

I'm Back-pedaling as Fast as I Can

Oops, roadblock!

Not really. The formatting is almost finished and one of my readers said she felt like the last chapter ended too abruptly. It was like hitting "a brick wall."

Yikes!

In practicing this non-attachment, I do still have moments where I am very...er, attached. Or so it seemed last night when I couldn't think of any way to do more or better or...anything with that chapter.

And then I went to sleep and that was refreshing.  When I woke this morning, I sat down here at the computer and started the addition/rewrite.  Finished it up at noon and sent it back to the formatting Fae.

Whew!

But in an odd way, it made me feel like a "real" writer (which I am, of course). Those final edits can be challenging, as many writers will tell you.  Just when you think it's safe and ready to go out into the world, there's a sudden abrupt halt, and maybe a change of direction.

All tidied up for now and non-attachment setting lightly on my shoulders. I finished up the mini-bio and what's-this-book-about text for the back cover and re-read the beautiful kind blurbs that others have written about the little book.

Cheered me right up.

Bit by Bit

I still have some writing to do!  Yep, there's a little paragraph that needs to be put together for the back cover and I'm going to get that to my formatting Fae, Diotima, sometime tomorrow.  Several sister-writers have given me very kind blurbs about the book and they will also be on the back cover.

The cover!  We still have a few of the incidentals (Glossary, Bibliography) to do, but it's all very close.

How blessed I am with good friends and allies.Together we're spinning quite a tale with the little book.

This spinning wheel is part of the Old Bethpage Village Restoration project.

Goodness! Before you know it, we'll be booking launch parties and book signings.