The Mason Talks Lecture presented by Susan Rivers was originally scheduled for March, but due to the pandemic, it has been tentatively postponed until Spring semester 2021. Watch this space for updated information.
(THE MASON TALK WILL BE RESCHEDULED IN THE FALL OF 2020, HEALTH CONCERNS PERMITTING.)
In the Halton Room at the Atkins Library the writer will share her techniques for using archived material to create the detailed world and craft the authentic voices of characters for a novel set in the past. Q & A to follow. The public is welcome.
Contact: Dawn Schmitz
Public is invited; reading and discussion are free of charge. Copies of the book may be pre-ordered or purchased on-site and author will sign.
Contact: 864-577-9349
I’ll be giving a fiction craft lecture on Thursday afternoon, Jan. 2, to candidates in the Converse MFA program (content to be determined), and will be taking part in faculty readings that evening, from 8-9 pm.
Friends of the Library will host Rivers at an autumn brunch. The program includes a presentation, reading, and Q & A, with signings to follow. Copies of THE SECOND MRS. HOCKADAY will be available for purchase.
Contact: Jim Gulledge
In this unique presentation, members of the Rosedale Book Club will discuss the novel THE SECOND MRS. HOCKADAY with the author and will take part in a specially designed house tour of the historic plantation home built in 1815. This tour will bring literary connections to life by spotlighting artifacts from the archives and sharing oral histories of residents from the past who, like Placidia Hockaday, faced unimaginable challenges. Lunch is included.
Contact Read It @ Rosedale coordinator, Kathryn Freeman, for details: 704-335-0325.
Contact: Karen Normington
Presentation, reading, Q & A. Signing to follow. Paperback copies of THE SECOND MRS. HOCKADAY can be purchased on-site.
Contact: Holly Tichenor, Adult Services Librarian
CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW? How to Craft Authentic Voices for Characters From the Past
Readers of historical fiction know that a novel must be based in sound, accurate details of the time and place involved if it's to be convincing. Most importantly, they recognize that a novel sinks or swims by virtue of the authenticity of its characters' voices, whether shared through a 1st or 3rd person narrator.
In this hands-on workshop, Rivers will share her methods for creating compelling and believable voices from the past, methods she employed while writing her Civil War-era novel, The Second Mrs. Hockaday (Algonquin Books, 2017) as well as her early 20th century milltown novel, Troublefield, which will be published in 2021. These techniques involve intensive research digs for primary source material including letters, newspaper stories, inquest reports, memoirs, journals, diaries, and oral histories.
Bring a character profile with you if you're currently working on an historical novel, or a specific period of time in a particular region. And don't forget your notebooks!
Rivers will read from The Second Mrs. Hockaday and sign books from 5:00 pm-5:50 pm, prior to class. The workshop will be held in the same room from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm.
ALL EVENTS AND WORKSHOPS AT UPSTATE WRITING MONTH ARE FREE! However, you are asked to register in advance for workshops. Log on to the Upstate Writing Month website to register, and contact Brock Adams, badams@uscupstate.edu for more information. No registration is required for the 5:00 reading and signing. https://www.uscupstate.edu/academics/college-of-arts-humanities-and-social-sciences/languages-literature-and-composition/upstate-writing-month/
To park free at The George, turn off E. St. John’s on N. Liberty, turn left to enter garage. Coming out on ground floor, enter building through Entrance, take elevator to second floor. Come out of elevator to rotunda, turn right into the long hallway and follow it to Room 280 on the left.
WRITER'S WORKSHOP: "YOU TALKING TO ME?" Text and SUB-text -- How Less Really Can Mean More When Writing Dialogue
Fiction can get bogged down in an excess of description and exposition -- 'telling' rather than 'showing.' In filmed and staged texts, no description is possible, and dialogue must do the heavy lifting: providing exposition, character and plot development, and showing conflict. Dialogue can function just as effectively in fiction, while engaging the reader more fully, if it works on multiple levels to define relationships and objectives and is authentic to the character's time, setting and situation. Rivers will share techniques with writers for pinpointing the goals of individual speakers in a scene and maximizing the power of subtext, helping participants to turn up the dramatic power in their dialogues.
FACULTY READINGS: 4:30 p.m. Sat. Nov. 3; Rivers joins other featured authors to read from their works and sign books.
Read a piece on the NCWN website about what kind of publisher I’d create if given tons of money.
The first literary festival ever held in the historic town of Wake Forest kicks off on Friday, Oct. 19 with events for younger readers, including a performance by the ArtsPower National Touring Theatre. On Saturday, Oct. 20, workshops and readings by nationally-known authors are scheduled throughout the day at different venues in town.
Susan will lead a workshop on historical fiction writing from 1-4 at the Wake Forest Historical Museum at 414 Main Street: "Transforming 'Then' Into 'Now;' Crafting Compelling Historical Fiction." (Bring your notebooks -- you'll be writing in class!) Tickets for the 3-hour class are $45 and can be purchased through the website: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/transforming-then-into-now-writing-compelling-historical-fiction-with-susan-rivers-tickets-48893263066
The author will also take part in the Author Speed Dating Dinner at 6:30 p.m. that Saturday which concludes the festival. To reserve tickets for the dinner or for other events at the WFLF, click on this link: https://www.page158books.com/litfest
For more information, contact Suzanne Berube Lucey at Page 158 Books: 919-435-1843
Novelist Susan Rivers talks about the true event that inspired her Civil War story of infanticide and forgiveness. All book clubs in The Palisades and their guests are invited. Social hour begins at 6:00pm with cash bar, presentation at 7:00pm, with signing to follow.
Contact: Beth Barry
The AAUW's mountain chapter holds a fundraiser annually at the historic Sunnydale building in Tryon NC, one of Appalachia's prettiest and most vibrant towns. Funds raised from the event assist local high school graduates who are college-bound.
Contact: Sidney Gooding
Blue Bicycle Books of Charleston is sponsoring this luncheon, produced by Hall's Signature Events at 5 Faber Street in the Historic District (just off East Bay Street). Tix through Brown Paper Tickets, 32$, or $50 with signed hardcover of The Second Mrs. Hockaday.
Link to ticket reservation site: https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3487668
This long-running event, presented by Blue Bicycle Books, features four authors presenting 1,000-word stories based on a prompt, with this year's prompt being: "I ducked into an alley…" The event at the Charleston Music Hall is free and open to the public.
