Neva Bryan

St. Peter's Monsters recognized for creativity and originality

2009-10-21T09:43:00.000-07:00

Independent Publisher Online has made St. Peter's Monsters a highlighted title.

This means IPO recognizes it as one of the best of the books received and reviewed by its editorial staff.

These books are honored each month for exhibiting superior levels of creativity, originality, and high standards of design and production quality.

Now I'm on Twitter

2009-10-21T07:26:00.000-07:00

Check out my tweets here.

http://twitter.com/nevabryan

Martinsville TV interview about my book

2009-09-22T12:00:00.000-07:00

Hal Hubener is an excellent interviewer. He actually read the book and asked in-depth questions. I was pleasantly surprised.

Cover to Cover 108:Neva Bryan
episode_url
Here’s the link: <http://www.channels.com/episodes/show/6345442/Cover-to-Cover-108-Neva-Bryan>

Visit Channels.com <http://www.channels.com> to subscribe to video feeds from all over the Web.

Enter my contest and win a basket of my favorite things:

2009-09-11T10:27:00.000-07:00

Enter my contest and win a basket of my favorite things:

A necklace hand-beaded and donated by Leah Lawson: natural stone, quartz, swaro crystals, and sterling clasp.

A Clinch River Farmers Market T-Shirt donated by Lou Wallace.

A music CD donated and signed by the artist, Charlie Engle: Out of the Groove.

A book of poetry donated and signed by the author, Rita Quillen: Her Secret Dream.

Scented soap, hand made by Chastity Jenkins, Scents & Virtues.

A book donated by Frank Kilgore and Stacy Fowler Horton called The Clinch River: A World-Class Treasure.

A Lord of the Rings movie glass goblet.

A $5 gift certificate for cupcakes donated by Babycakes Cupcakery in Abingdon, VA.

A sunflower and bee address book.

A gingerbread-scented candle in a tin.

A signed copy of St. Peter’s Monsters donated by yours truly.

How to Enter

I have hidden ten lines from my book on the pages of my web site (www.nevabryan.com).

2 are located on the Buy the Book page. 2 are located on the What Readers Say page. 1 is located on the Video Trailer page. 1 is located on the Author’s Bio page. 2 are located on the Appearances page. 1 is located on the Publications page. 1 is located on the Contacts page.

Copy and paste all ten lines in the body of an e-mail and send it to me at the following email address:

neva@nevabryan.com

Be sure to paste your answer in the body of the email and do not include it as an attachment. Entitle your message Neva’s Favorite Things Contest.

Include your name, working phone number, mailing address, and working e-mail address in the body of the message.

One entry per person per e-mail address, please.

One winner’s name will be drawn from correct entries.

I will accept entries through noon, September 30, 2009. Detailed contest rules are below.

Contest Guidelines

No Purchase Necessary.

The answers to Neva’s contest can be found on www.nevabryan.com.

Must be at least 18 years old to enter contest.

You must include ALL pieces of information requested, or your entry is incomplete. Winners will be chosen at random from all correct and complete entries. International entries are NOT accepted.

Only entries received through nevabryan.com will be considered eligible. Odds of winning are dependent upon number of eligible entries received. Drawing governed by laws of the state of Virginia.

Contest accepts only one entry per person and only one entry per e-mail account. Duplicate entries will be voided. In the event of a dispute over the identity of an online entrant, entry will be deemed submitted by the holder of the e-mail account.

Use of automated devices is not valid for entry.

Electronic entries must be received by deadline noted on specific contest page.

Winner[s] will be notified by e-mail within 30 days of the drawing and names may or may not get posted to this website. All winner name listings will be name and city of residence only so as to protect the privacy of the winner.

Neva Bryan will not share entrant information with any third parties, except as required by law. Entry constitutes permission (except where prohibited by law) to use the winner’s name, hometown, and any text submitted for purposes of Neva’s advertising and promotion without further compensation. Neva Bryan may contact entrants in the future with information she feels may be of interest.

Any prize or prize notification returned to the sponsor as undeliverable will result in the awarding of that prize to an alternate winner. Substitution for any prize may be necessary due to unavailability, in which case a comparable prize of equal or greater value will be awarded. Sorry, no cash equivalent.

Please note that while Neva does read all your entries, she is unable to respond personally to them.

Neva Bryan, nevabryan.com, Brighid Editions, or the web host shall NOT be held responsible for technical failures in entry transmission, or for any damage to participant’s computer occasioned by participation in this contest/promotion or downloading any information necessary to participate in the promotion.

Not eligible to enter contest: Employees and contractors of any of Neva Bryan’s/Brighid Editions’/nevabryan.com’s contracted publishers, agents, and/or hired contractors (web design, publicists, printers, distributors, etc.) and affiliated companies and members of those employees’/contractors’ immediate families; individuals and companies that donated items for the prize.

Neva Bryan reserves the right to cancel the contest/sweepstakes if it becomes technically corrupted.

Winner will be notified by mail, e-mail or telephone within 30 days of the drawing.

All prize winners will be announced on nevabryan.com within 90 days of the close of the contest. All winner name listings will be first name and last initial and city of residence only so as to protect the privacy of the winner. Winner[s] is responsible for all applicable taxes.

All entries comply with the following: in no way, straightforward or implied, does any written submission constitute or indicate any collaboration between entrant and Neva Bryan, present or future. All submissions become the sole property of Neva Bryan.

Appearances

2009-08-06T06:36:00.001-07:00

Southwest Virginia Museum, Big Stone Gap, VA, August 8, 1:00 PM

YWCA, Bristol, TN, September 17, Noon

Coffee Depot, Christiansburg, VA, September 19, 10:00 AM – 4:00 PM

Java J’s Downtown, Bristol, VA, October 1, 7:00 PM

Sundial Books, Chincoteague, VA (signing only), October 10, 6:00 PM

Wise Public Library, Wise, VA, October 15, 6:30 PM

Homecraft Days, Big Stone Gap, VA, October 17-18, 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM

J. Fred Matthews Memorial Library, St. Paul, VA, November 7, 10:00 AM – Memoir Writing Workshop

Tales of the Lonesome Pine Bookstore, Big Stone Gap, VA, November 13, 7:00 PM – Memoir Writing Workshop

Hearthside Books, Bluefield, WV, December 19, Time TBA

Writing Exercise for All You Creative Types

2009-08-04T07:28:00.000-07:00

OK, writers. Here’s a stimulating exercise for you.

The next time you go on a trip, write down interesting street names and community names that you discover. Take those names and create a story or poem using them.

Below are street names I found on a recent trip. Feel free to plunder them. I think they would be good used in a child’s poem or story.

· Goose Market
· Fairystone
· Rock Castle
· Indigo Mountain
· Lemon Tree
· Cloud Break
· Goblintown
· Ironbelt

(Tolkien would have liked the proximity of those last two to each other. Very fitting.)

Ready. Set. Write!!!

Literary Readings: Does a small audience curb your enthusiasm?

2009-07-29T18:30:00.000-07:00

Recently a writer I know remarked on his deep disappointment that so few people had shown up for one of his readings. He said he felt “pathetic” and mentioned low book sales.

I advised him to treat three attendees the same as he would have treated 300 and it would still be rewarding.

He agreed that he always mustered genuine enthusiasm for the audience no matter the size, but admitted that he did not feel as gratified when there were fewer attendees.

I would argue that size doesn’t matter. (Get your mind out of the gutter.) I’ve spoken to standing-room only crowds and to an audience of one. Both were satisfying, but in different ways.

When I read to a room full of people, there’s an energy there that rouses the performer in me. It’s fun to read the different expressions on the faces in the crowd. They give me cues as to how to proceed. It’s large-scale interactivity.

On the other hand, when I’ve had only one person show up to a reading, I find myself connecting on a deeper level with that individual. It’s only happened to me twice, but both times I did the same thing. I came out from behind the podium, pulled up a chair to face the visitor, and gave the reading. Afterwards we sat and chatted: small-scale interactivity, but very meaningful.

On one of these occasions the attendee told me that I was very likeable. It tickled her to death that I sat down with her to read and talk.

While literary readings are great opportunities to sell books, I don’t look at them as serving just that purpose. To do so is to diminish the importance of the spoken word.

Yes, I want to sell books. However, I also want to enjoy the shared social literary experience.

The act of reading a book is one of isolation and interpretation. When I’m allowed to read to an audience – even an audience of one – I insert myself into someone else’s world temporarily. And, hopefully, I provide clarity to the story. I give it a voice.

Neva Bryan, author of St. Peter's Monsters - a novel.

Cover to Cover Interview

2009-07-29T08:00:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Hal Hubener, director of Blue Ridge Regional Library, for inviting me to be on Cover To Cover, the library's weekly TV program broadcast live on BTW Channel 21 (Comcast Cable), Collinsville. I had a great time and Hal was a wonderful interviewer. He really parsed the book. I was impressed!

What Readers Say about St. Peter's Monsters

2009-07-21T10:09:00.000-07:00

“I loved the flow of your book. You jumped around in time so seamlessly. Congratulations on a job well done!” — C.O.

“I absolutely loved your book and I read at least four novels a week!” — G.F.

“A great read. Peter and Wren had my heart from the beginning.” — V.H.

“I am becoming so absorbed in your book. I’m loving it!” — A.P.

“The book was very good. It read well.” — B.D.

“It was wonderful! I couldn’t put it down.” — D.C.

“Your book was great . . . waiting for the next one.” — S.B.

“You plot well. I was interested in the events of the story, and I knew, after I had read several pages, that you would keep me interested. I cared about the characters and wanted good things to happen to them.” — C.S.

“St. Peter’s Monsters is a very well written, very captivating and enjoyable book, and one of the very few books that I plan to reread. I have loaned it to three friends who all agree.” — D.B.

“The book was so well written! You are an excellent author and I hope you will continue to write and write and write some more.” — C.R.

“I thought the story was fantastic, cleverly presented, especially the way the chapters transitioned, and wonderfully written. I couldn’t put it down for more than a few minutes.” — C.M.

“It’s one of the best novels I’ve read that uses this area as the frame around the story. You captured the beauty of . . . Southwest Virginia in a love story filled with twists and turns, and an ending that, like a fine dessert, left the reader satisfied. Good work.” — M.A.

“It was a delight to read this book. The characters are well-defined. I hope [other readers] enjoy this book as much as I did.” — P.B.

“I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book and I did not want it to end. Keep up the good writing, and I can’t wait until your next book will be published. Keep writing!!” — P.L.

“It is awesome; it was hard to put down. You are a very gifted author. I love to read and I will be looking forward to your next novel.” — C.R.

“I let a few of my friends read my copy and they are all CRAZY about it!! They loved it and wanted their own copy and some even said they wanted to order one for family/friends.” — K.G.

“I enjoyed your book very much. I worked faster because I could hardly wait to get back to Peter and Wren.” — M.B.

Where to find St. Peter's Monsters, a novel by Neva Bryan

2009-07-10T13:05:00.000-07:00

St. Peter’s Monsters is available at these fine booksellers and retail stores: Joseph Beth, Lexington, KY; Family Drug, Lebanon, VA; Coffee Buy the Book, Pulaski, VA; Wise County Historical Society, Wise, VA; Zazzy’Z, Abingdon, VA; Coffee Depot, Christiansburg, VA; Binding Time Cafe, Martinsville, VA; Kraftin’ Korner, Lebanon, VA; Appalachian Arts Center, Wardell, VA; and Tales of the Lonesome Pine Bookstore, Big Stone Gap, VA.

It is available on-line at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Books-a-Million, Powell’s Books, and Target, as well as in some stores in the chains. It is available through nevabryan.com.

You may order a signed copy via snailmail. Send $14.00 (plus .70 tax if in VA) plus $3.99 for shipping and handling to: Brighid Editions, PO Box 1428, Saint Paul, VA 24283.

Books are always available during the author’s appearances. See her calendar for an event near you.

Publication Date: February 2009

Price: $14.00

Length: 294 pages

Cover Style: 6″X9″ Color Trade Paperback

ISBN: 978-0-615-26391-5

LCCN: 2008910946

St. Peter’s Monsters is the story of Peter Sullivan, a homesick college student teetering on the edge of alcoholism. He discovers bigger monsters than the bottle when a mysterious young woman enters his life. Wren has fled Peter’s beloved Appalachian hills and now he must find out why she is keeping secrets about her past.

As they turn to each other for comfort, they are linked together in a chain of love, tragedy, and murder . . . a chain that binds them when they find themselves back in the haunted shadows of the Virginia coalfields.

Blacksnake

2009-07-10T10:48:00.000-07:00

“Blacksnake.” Jimson Weed, vol. XXIV, new series vol. 8, no. 2 (Fall 2005).

Blacksnake

Coiled in my path like an ampersand.

My heart beats an ellipsis . . .
Punctuates the sentence of my original sin.

Serpent conjunction links me to my base nature.

What was beautiful about you before you came between
Adam & Eve?

The downside of technology in literary criticism

2009-07-02T13:05:00.001-07:00

When author Alice Hoffman read Roberta Silman’s review of her novel The Story Sisters, the author was not pleased. The review wasn’t stellar but certainly it wasn’t crushing. Hoffman, however, chose to respond in less than gracious fashion.

She tweeted nasty comments about Silman and the Boston Globe, and published Silman’s e-mail and phone number. Apparently that last action was meant as a call to arms: Hoffman fans of the world, unite! Tell off this critic!

Having been a Hoffman fan for many years, I do not feel a sense of unity with any other fan who might have chosen to answer that call before the author withdrew the tweets and issued a tepid apologetic statement.

I’m more inclined to be less inclined to read any future Hoffman books. Had she played the proverbial wet duck, she would be a much more sympathetic figure. Instead, she comes off as a hothouse flower.

There’s a danger in using technology as reprisal. Sometimes it backfires. Anyone who’s ever made a drunken phone call to an ex in the middle of the night knows how it works. Technology used in the heat of the moment equals regret, regret, regret.

Book Signing: Coffee Buy the Book

2009-06-30T12:27:00.000-07:00

I'll be signing copies of St. Peter's Monsters on Saturday, July 4 from 11 AM to 2 PM at Coffee Buy the Book, Pulaski, Va.

Autumn Sacrifice: a pantoum

2009-06-26T10:36:00.000-07:00

Mara mentioned villanelles at Spoken Word last weekend. Here's a form I like: the pantoum.

It is a series of quatrains; the second and fourth lines of each stanza are repeated as the first and third lines of the next. This pattern continues until the final stanza, which differs in the repeating pattern.

AUTUMN SACRIFICE

Holy ghost mist
Walks on water
In morning’s sacred hour.
Autumn hovers above,

Walks on water
In reflections of the sky.
Autumn hovers above,
Mild, then meek, in wind.

In reflections of the sky
Leaves deny death.
Mild, then meek, in wind,
Branches scratch testaments.

Leaves deny death,
But frosty breath withers.
Branches scratch testaments.
Sun draws blood,

But frosty breath withers
Holy ghost mist.
Sun draws blood
In morning’s sacred hour.

“Autumn Sacrifice.” Poetry. 2006 Explorations, MECC, Third Place.

Cinquains

2009-06-17T09:55:00.000-07:00

Cinquains are five-line poems popularized by Adelaide Crapsey. She did not invent the five-line poem, but instead re-invented it based on the simplicity of the haiku. One of the most common Crapsey cinquains follows this pattern: The first line has 1 word, the second 3, the third 5, the fourth 4, and the fifth 2.

Because it is so restrictive -- limiting the poet to few words -- the cinquain can be challenging. While the form is not a favorite in American poetry, it is lovely when mastered.

I wrote this cinquain a few years ago. It utilizes the word pattern 1, 3, 5, 4, 2 and the syllable pattern 2, 4, 6, 8, 2.

“Sumac.” Clinch Mountain Review (2006). Author: Neva Bryan. Editor: Warren Harris.

SUMAC

Sumac,
Fuzzy head bent,
Reminds me where I am:
Appalachia, backbone worn down
With grief.

We All Live Downstream: Writings about Mountaintop Removal

2009-06-11T07:33:00.000-07:00

I'm excited to have my work appear in the book anthology We All Live Downstream alongside work by:

• Earl Hamner (creator of the Waltons)
• Ashley Judd
• Robert Kennedy Jr.
• Wendell Berry
• Bobbie Ann Mason
• Ann Pancake
• Jean Ritchie
• Silas House
• Hal Crowther
• Jeff Biggers
• Denise Giardina
• Pamela Duncan
• Many other fine writers and performers.

We All Live Downstream is a multi-genre anthology of noted authors and young writers speaking out against mountaintop removal coal mining. There is the fifth-grader who vows to fight the destruction until he's "laid in the ground," the college student who recalls her shock and heartbreak at first seeing a mountaintop removal site, the best-selling novelist who believes that "to destroy mountains is to spit in the face of God." This startling collection includes writers from 17 states and features material from celebrated artists and activists such as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Wendell Berry, Earl Hamner, Ashley Judd, Silas House, Denise Giardina, Erik Reece, Bobbie Ann Mason, Bob Edwards, Penny Loeb, Hal Crowther, Jean Ritchie, Terry Tempest Williams, Jeff Biggers, Ann Pancake, George Ella Lyon, Ben Sollee and many more. Edited by journalist & activist Jason Howard (coauthor of Something's Rising), this book presents a rallying chorus of dissent against a reckless industry and drives home the point that energy (particularly domestic coal) is everyone's issue … not only at the source but all the way "downstream."

(www.MotesBooks.com)

News in Print - The Editorial Department

2009-06-10T09:25:00.000-07:00

Article on The Editorial Department's website about St. Peter's Monsters.

Click here.

Excerpt:

"Neva worked with TED Managing Editor Jesse Steele to make her book ready for publication, and while editing Jesse absolutely fell in love with Neva's evocative prose and powerful characters."

"Jesse was thrilled to be working on such a gorgeous novel and found herself thinking about Wren and Peter long after the work was done. "

What Readers Say about St. Peter's Monsters

2009-06-08T09:54:00.000-07:00

“It’s one of the best novels I’ve read that uses this area as the frame around the story. You captured the beauty of . . . Southwest Virginia in a love story filled with twists and turns, and an ending that, like a fine dessert, left the reader satisfied. Good work.” — M.A.

“The book was so well written! You are an excellent author and I hope you will continue to write and write and write some more. This was the first book I have read in a long time that kept my interest so well that I did not fall asleep after reading 4 paragraphs.” — C.R.

“It was wonderful! I couldn’t put it down. I was reading it every chance I got. The story left me with a great sense of hope. I missed reading it after I had finished.” — D.C.

“It was a delight to read this book. The characters are well-defined. I hope you enjoy this book as much as I did.” — P.B.

“I absolutely loved your book and I read at least four novels a week!” — G.F.

“It is awesome; it was hard to put down. You are a very gifted author. I love to read and I will be looking forward to your next novel.” — C.R.

“I am becoming so absorbed in your book. I’m loving it!” — A.P.

“I thoroughly enjoyed reading the book and I did not want it to end. Keep up the good writing, and I can’t wait until your next book will be published. Keep writing!!” — P.L.

“The book was very good. It read well. The best phrase: ‘Home is not a place, it’s people . . . people who love you.’” — B.D.

“I enjoyed your book very much. I worked faster because I could hardly wait to get back to Peter and Wren.” — M.B.

“I loved the flow of your book. You jumped around in time so seamlessly. I also loved the way you used newspaper clippings to cover a broad period of time. Again, congratulations on a job well done!” — C.O.

“I let a few of my friends read my copy and they are all CRAZY about it!! They loved it and wanted their own copy and some even said they wanted to order one for family/friends.” — K.G.

Sawmill Boys Excerpt

2009-06-04T06:46:00.000-07:00

Excerpt from “Sawmill Boys.” Appalachian Heritage, vol. 34, no. 4 (Fall 2006).

For more information about Appalachian Heritage, Berea College's literary journal, and to order back issues, visit http://community.berea.edu/appalachianheritage/

by Neva Bryan

"Where there’s loggers, there’s bound to be sawmill boys.”

Sawmill boys. I liken them to trees because they possess two kinds of beauty. The first kind is in their natural freedom, the beauty of a tree standing tall with its brothers. But when the sawmill gets a hold on them, they develop a second kind of beauty, the kind that comes from being cut down, sawed up, and spit out. Rough cut, splintered, shaped for utility.

A sawmill boy can take a 4X4 between the eyes that’ll lay him out flat on his ass and then get back up to finish his workday. They all wear a strange cologne of diesel fuel, hydraulic fluid, and cigarette smoke. Sawdust trails them like breadcrumbs for the lost. They’re lean, with knotty arms and hard faces, but their eyes are dreamy.

Wendell, my ex-husband, was a sawmill boy. I remember the first time I saw him, more than five years ago. He was coming out of the ABC store with a bottle of Jack Daniels tucked under his arm. He had that sawmill boy look – lean and hard – but he was dressed to party: Dark Side of the Moon t-shirt, faded jeans, black and silver biker boots.

His fair skin was ruddy from working outside all day. When I got close I saw that his knuckles were skinned, scabbed, and scarred . . . a perpetual state for sawmill boys, I learned later. At least he had all his fingers.

When he cocked his head at me and grinned, I saw a slight gap between his two front teeth. As he smiled, his eyes darkened from coffee-and-cream to pure black liquid. His hair was the color of my Granny’s apple butter; I thought how sweet it would be to free it from its tight ponytail and watch it tumble down around me. Just looking at him made me hungry.

Before I knew it, Wendell and I sat on the bank of the Clinch River sharing Jack and naming stars. By turns he was raunchy and sweet, sad and funny, goofy and sexy. I gave up to him with an immediacy – an urgency – that was quite foreign to me. It seems I had taken a 4X4 right between the eyes. Wendell Kennedy was a splinter who had worked his way straight into my heart.

Explain your book title

2009-06-03T13:10:00.000-07:00

The title came to me like phrases or entire lines of poetry sometimes come to me: it just popped into my head while I was driving. I get my best ideas at other inconvenient times, too, like when I’m in the shower, in a business meeting, or just at the edge of sleep.

I had played around with several other titles but none of them seemed to fit. I liked St. Peter’s Monsters immediately.

Peter, the title character, reminds me of the disciple we now name St. Peter. My character is a good person but all too human. He wants to do the right thing, wants to be the hero, and has good intentions, but he messes up often.

“Monsters” is fitting because Peter faces several kinds throughout the novel. He battles alcoholism and divorce. He fights homesickness for the Appalachian Mountains and the ugly stereotyping those of us from this region face. He encounters Wren’s monsters.

Some people have found the title confusing, supposing it means the book is a horror story. I guess that’s the downfall of letting my literary sense override my marketing skills.

So, writers, what’s your take on titles?

Nothing ever happens here

2009-06-01T08:53:00.000-07:00

My first book, St. Peter’s Monsters, is set in and around St. Paul and Castlewood, my home towns. When

people from the area find out, they say “nothing ever happens here.”

I say, “Something is always happening.”

Your duty is to take the time to notice it.

Think about it. At any given moment, a woman is giving birth (or a man is working on the conception). Someone else is dying. Another person is lying or stealing or – not very often – killing. Down the street, couples are worrying about the kids and the bills. Families are enjoying dinner. Boyfriends and girlfriends are fighting. Businesses are making money . . . or losing it. A mother is crying. Teenagers are gossiping, texting, sexting. Children are playing. A wife has been hit. Another has been hugged. A man is praying. A baby is laughing. A young person is studying.

The very fact that we’re breathing means something is happening!

Yes, my book is fiction. The things that happen in it are not real. That doesn’t mean real life in my town is any less dramatic than the stories I’ve created.

It seems we believe that what happens to each of us every day is not noteworthy because it happens to US . . . EVERY DAY. We find our own lives boring.

I challenge you to take the time to notice what’s happening within you and outside you. Notice life!

My Town

This is my town. At St. Paul’s edge, ducks flank the downy banks of Oxbow Lake. Poplars, maples and cedars shade its mile-long trail. On this Friday evening, the sun touches only treetops. I find a rock outcrop and soak up its heat like a lizard. In late September, the mountains hunch down around us and spread their blue shadows until the air grows cold.

Summer’s weariness is apparent here. A drought has left foliage brown. A single withered leaf floats on the lake’s current, spinning in the wake of a line of ducks. They paddle by me, their tails jacked up in the air, their feet pumping the dark water. The leader quacks orders and the sound makes me think of old men laughing at a dirty joke.

The birds waddle toward a family perched on a bench. The man removes his baseball cap and shoos them away from his child. The little girl tosses a piece of bread to the ducks, screaming with delight when they gobble the treat. When her mother tries to pull her to the car, she cries.

“I’m going to drag you if you don’t come on!” the woman threatens. The father stumps up the wooden stairs swinging his arms slow and wide. For a moment, the scent of cigarette smoke lingers in the air, before a gentle wind whisks it into the mercury sky.

In the distance, a coal truck’s Jake brakes punctuate the air with a shrill ellipsis. The driver is shifting gears as he prepares to drop his last load. That coal will go out of Wise County’s hills on a train, the one I hear sounding its horn now. The clatter of its wheels drowns the chatter of a squirrel somewhere above me.

I cruise through St. Paul. Many of my town’s thousand residents appear outside. “Better enjoy these last warm days,” a heavyset woman calls out. I shiver at the thought of coal-blackened snow.

Three teenage boys rib each other as they walk toward the high school grounds. They look like a small army: black t-shirts, cargo pants and dog tags. The football field’s loudspeakers echo across town as the announcer prepares for the game.

Some of us forgo Friday night lights for other pleasures. An old man carries his guitar into a storefront church. Across the street, a woman sells apples from her truck bed. The golden fruit blushes, looking pretty in stiff white paper sacks. An old woman worries her collar as she negotiates price with the vendor. She rests her hand on her paunch as if she is pregnant.

I pass a clump of political signs posted in an empty lot. A discarded lottery ticket flutters in the street. On a backstreet, kids congregate in muscle cars. As I pass, I hear the low, lazy laugh of a young man. It’s a sound full of desire and life and audacity.

I wonder if he’s ever known defeat or the frailty of the soul at 2 a.m.

The Magic of Writing

2009-05-28T06:30:00.001-07:00

"So tell me about your current writing project." "What's your next book about?"

Nothing breaks me out into a cold sweat faster than statements and questions like these. Why?

Superstition.

Normally I don't subscribe to the nonsense of superstitions. However, I am a bit quirky when it comes to talking about my current and future writing projects. A dreadful feeling falls across me when I discuss what I haven't finished. I'm certain that discussing works in progress jinxes them.

I heard author Silas House say that writing is a supernatural thing. I believe this. It's a lot of hard work plus a little magic.

Magic transforms the writer's words, gives them substance, imbues them with meaning. That transubstantiation is the completion of the spell. If you talk about your writing before the spell is complete, it loses its power.

So, if I seem evasive when you ask me about my next book, don't dig. I'm trying to retain the mystery and the magic of the process. Believe me, the book will be better for it!

Plumb Alley Day

2009-05-22T08:13:00.000-07:00

Visit my tent at Abingdon's Plumb Alley Day, Saturday, May 23, all day. I'll be somewhere in the vicinity of Hurt & Associates and 159 W. Main Street.

Taylor Books Meet-n-Greet the Author

2009-05-18T07:00:00.000-07:00

I’ll be at Taylor Books in Charleston, WV, on Thursday, May 21, from 10 AM to 2 PM.

Tell your friends and family in the area to come chat with the author of St. Peter’s Monsters.

Neva Bryan

St. Peter's Monsters recognized for creativity and originality

Now I'm on Twitter

More Reader Reviews of St. Peter's Monsters

Martinsville TV interview about my book

Enter my contest and win a basket of my favorite things:

Appearances

Writing Exercise for All You Creative Types

Literary Readings: Does a small audience curb your enthusiasm?

Cover to Cover Interview

What Readers Say about St. Peter's Monsters

Where to find St. Peter's Monsters, a novel by Neva Bryan

Blacksnake

The downside of technology in literary criticism

Book Signing: Coffee Buy the Book

Autumn Sacrifice: a pantoum

Cinquains

We All Live Downstream: Writings about Mountaintop Removal

News in Print - The Editorial Department

What Readers Say about St. Peter's Monsters

Sawmill Boys Excerpt

Explain your book title

Nothing ever happens here

The Magic of Writing

Plumb Alley Day

Taylor Books Meet-n-Greet the Author